Wisconsin DNR Announces Winners of 2023 Wisconsin Recycling Excellence Awards

Thursday, November 16th, 2023 -- 12:01 PM

In honor of America Recycles Day, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) announces the winners of the 2023 Wisconsin Recycling Excellence Awards.

The 2023 award winners formed partnerships, engaged community members and implemented systems and equipment to achieve their waste reduction and recycling goals.

Their efforts resulted in many tons of materials diverted from the landfill, cost-savings for residents, businesses and communities as well as increased access to donation, recycling and disposal services.

Some local winners include the Town of Mentor in Clark County. A few years ago, concerned residents voiced their wish for the town of Mentor to hold collection events for hard-to-get-rid-of items.

Following that town hall meeting, an annual Cleanup Day was started as a designated day when residents could dispose of old appliances, mattresses, furniture, tires and other unwanted or hard-to-get-rid-of items.

Held in August this year, residents came out with a line of trucks and trailers even before the event started at 9 a.m., so town workers began the event early. Two 30-ton dumpsters were quickly filled and required a third for overflow. The event collected over three tons of electronics and appliances, 40 tons of mixed metal and 114 tires.

The Town of Frankfort in Marathon County wanted to expand beyond the average recycling and waste services and is now providing an important service for their residents. The town holds an annual “Tire Day” on the fourth Saturday in September. Working with Bee Line Tire Recycling, the event provides tire recycling for a small fee, which is substantially less than other outlets.

This simple act allows residents to have a reliable recycling opportunity they can count on and prevents illegal burning and dumping in ditches, rivers, forests and along roadways. The response has been so enthusiastic that the town is working to expand to include a spring event and additional materials, including appliances and electronics.

Ashley Furniture’s, in Trempealeau County, commitment to being a sustainable company includes limiting waste while also reusing and recycling as much as possible at their manufacturing facilities throughout the country.

They developed a company-wide tracking program for their recycling and waste management efforts which tracks cardboard, plastics, metals, wood by-products, polystyrene, polyurethane foam, electronics and more. In 2022, their Wisconsin facilities recycled 33,645 tons of materials and over 92,500 tons were recycled nationwide.

Cortec Coated Products, a manufacturer of coated specialty paper, board and films for the printing and packaging industry in Eau Claire, is pursuing sustainable and eco-friendly practices. They specialize in applying a special liquid to paper that prevents corrosion and allows the paper to remain recyclable and safe for the environment.

Cortec has been collecting and recycling their scrap paper to optimize their management of paper waste. Since this recycling tracking initiative started in 2017, Cortec has recycled a total of 616 tons of paper, which is equivalent to 12,320 trees left untouched.

Finally, Eau Claire County prides itself on providing an accessible and expansive recycling program for its residents while leveraging partnerships with community organizations and businesses.

In addition to operating a traditional curbside program and rural recycling sites, the county has added specialty recycling opportunities for residents. In 2022, the county partnered with First Choice Computer Recycling for free electronics and batteries collection year-round, collecting over 620,000 pounds.

The county also partnered with 7 Rivers Recycling, Kersten Family Junk Removal and No Boundaries Tiny Homes to offer an affordable mattress recycling option, which diverted 220 mattresses from going to a landfill.

They received a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to tackle food waste, have sold over 300 home composting bins and worked with a local composter to increase school and business composting.

The county also partners with local recyclers, community organizations and businesses to provide robust recycling, composting and waste reduction education. In 2023, an Earth Week Open House hosted by a local brewery had more than 30 vendors attend to promote their sustainable businesses and organizations to over 200 attendees.

Congratulations to the 2023 Recycling Excellence Awards winners. View their full profiles and learn what advice the winners have for others looking to start or improve their waste reduction and recycling efforts on the Wisconsin Recycling Excellence Awards webpage.

For more information on recycling in Wisconsin, visit the DNR’s What to Recycle in Wisconsin webpage.

Feel free to contact us with questions and/or comments.