Recyclebank and Waste Connections, Inc. Partner to Bring Rewards-for-Recycling Program to City of The Village

CITY OF THE VILLAGE, Okla., March 31, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Mayor Dave Bennett, along with the City Council, Waste Connections of Oklahoma and Recyclebank hosted a kickoff this morning to launch The Village's new recycling program. Recyclebank rewards people for taking everyday green actions with discounts and deals from hundreds of local and national businesses. It is the first recycling rewards program in the state of Oklahoma.

City of The Village residents will start seeing the benefits of the recycling program on Monday, April 4, 2011, when the program officially launches with the first recycling pickup by Waste Connections. The new recycling program includes 95-gallon recycling carts, twice-monthly collection and the ability to earn rewards for recycling through Recyclebank. The launch event, held this morning at City Hall, was attended by the Mayor; Bruce Stone, City Manager; Brenda Merchant, Municipal Manager, Waste Connections; Fred Hannon, Southeast Vice President, Recyclebank, along with City department directors, local Recyclebank reward partners, and neighborhood residents.

"City of The Village is proud to bring this innovative recycling solution to residents and be the first city in all of Oklahoma to participate in this program," Mayor Bennett said. "The larger recycling carts will allow citizens to recycle much more than with other common recycling systems, and the great part is that they will be rewarded for the amount they recycle."

Recyclebank motivates people to take greener actions, like household recycling, by rewarding them with points that are redeemable online for rewards from local and national retailers, restaurants, pharmacies, grocers, and more. The more a community recycles, the more Recyclebank Points participating households earn. To earn points for recycling, residents need to register with Recyclebank and add home recycling to their accounts. Instructions have already been mailed to each resident.  Local partners include BUY FOR LE$$ Grocery Stores; Borgata Salon; Papa Dio's Italian Restaurant & Wine Bar; Papa Murphy's Take 'n' Bake, Salon 9309; Valvoline Instant Oil; Westlake Ace Hardware, El Sombrero Mexican Restaurant; Subway; Paper Crown; Evolution Haircare; Green Light Wireless and He Rui. National reward partners include The Coca-Cola Company®, Unilever, Green Works®, Yoplait, Ziploc®, Bed Bath & Beyond and more.

"Recyclebank is helping to create a culture that encourages people to take simple steps toward greener lifestyles," said Recyclebank Vice President Fred Hannon. "We're excited to partner with Waste Connections and expand our services into City of The Village—first in the state—bringing valuable rewards to the families here, while helping The Village to achieve environmental solutions."

In March, Waste Connections delivered new recycling carts complete with the new recycling schedule— recycling collection will occur twice a month—and details of the enhanced recycling program, which includes a switch to single-stream recycling where all recyclables go into one container.  

"We're excited about our new service in the City of The Village and encourage residents to recycle more with Recyclebank rewards," Waste Connections Municipal Manager Brenda Merchant said. "It is a win-win situation—The Village will save money over time by sending less waste to the landfill and residents will reap rewards for recycling."

MORE INFORMATION

• City of The Village recycling program overview:  www.thevillageok.org or call 405-751-8861
• To sign up for Recyclebank: www.Recyclebank.com or call 1-888-727-2978

ABOUT WASTE CONNECTIONS, INC

Waste Connections, Inc. is an integrated solid waste services company that provides solid waste collection, transfer, disposal and recycling services in mostly secondary markets in the Western and Southern U.S. We serve approximately two million residential, commercial and industrial customers from a network of operations in 26 states: Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Washington and Wyoming. As of December 31, 2009, we owned or operated a network of 134 solid waste collection operations, 55 transfer stations, 37 recycling operations and 43 active landfills. In addition, we provided intermodal services for the rail haul movement of cargo and solid waste containers in the Pacific Northwest through a network of six intermodal facilities.

ABOUT RECYCLEBANK

Recyclebank is the company that rewards people for taking everyday green actions with discounts and deals from more than 3,000 local and national businesses. Through its online platform and partnerships with municipalities, haulers, small businesses and corporate brands, Recyclebank is empowering individuals to make a collective impact on the environment by increasing household recycling, reducing household energy usage and taking other environmentally-preferred actions. Recognized as a Technology Pioneer by the World Economic Forum, a Champion of the Earth by the United Nations Environment Programme and for Outstanding Excellence in Public/Private Partnerships from the U.S. Conference of Mayors, Recyclebank is headquartered in New York City. For more information, visit www.Recyclebank.com.

MEDIA CONTACTS
Jeana Tahnk, Bateman Group
(609) 240-5385 and [email protected]

SOURCE Recyclebank