RESIDENTS RECYCLE RECORD AMOUNT AT POST-HOLIDAY RECYCLING EVENT

For the fourth year in a row, residents took advantage of the Post-Holiday Recycling Event on January 9 to recycle and properly dispose of holiday waste and unwanted electronics. This year's event brought in the largest amount of recyclable materials, including a thirty-five percent increase in electronics from last year.

"We had a fantastic turnout at this year's event and that just goes to show how much our citizens want to do their part to make Indianapolis a more sustainable city," said Mayor Ballard. "Recycling efforts like this really benefit our community and help improve our quality of life here in Indianapolis."

The Mayor's Office of Sustainability, in conjunction with Indy Parks, the Department of Public Works and Keep Indianapolis Beautiful, hosted the event last month at four city park locations, including Broad Ripple, Ellenberger, Garfield and Krannert Parks. Recyclable materials including Christmas trees, cardboard, Styrofoam and electronics were accepted. This was the first year that residents could drop off Styrofoam for recycling.

During a four hour period, volunteers collected an event record of tonnage of recyclable materials including:

* 97.09 tons of electronics (compared to 71.63 tons in 2009)
* 7.3 tons of cardboard (compared to five tons in 2009)
* 510 pounds of Styrofoam

"The post holiday recycling event is a great way for our citizens to get involved," said Office of Sustainability Director, Kären Haley. "Our citizens want to do the right thing, and this event is an easy way for them to properly dispose of their unwanted electronics and recycle other waste associated with the holidays."

Mayor Ballard launched SustainIndy and created the Office of Sustainability in October of 2008. SustainIndy is a bold and innovative enterprise aimed at delivering long-term cost savings to the city, building the local economy, improving our quality of life and enhancing our environmental and public health. Its efforts are designed to aggressively move Indianapolis forward in making it one of the most sustainable cities in the Midwest.