EPA inducts King County into WasteWise Hall of Fame

2004 Archived News

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has distinguished King County’s outstanding recycling collection, waste prevention and "buying recycled" practices by making King County the first government agency inductee into the national WasteWise Hall of Fame.

“King County works hard to improve efficiency, to save money and to conserve natural resources by preventing waste and reusing materials, and the WasteWise program has helped us become a national leader with these efforts,” said King County Executive Ron Sims. “This is quite an honor, since more than 1,500 businesses and institutions are WasteWise partners nationwide.”

The EPA created the Hall of Fame for its WasteWise program last year to honor WasteWise members that have repeatedly won top awards in the program. Last year, Kodak, Virco Manufacturing and PSEG (a New Jersey-based utility company) were the first inductees into the Hall of Fame. This year General Motors and King County were inducted (in Washington DC, on Oct. 15). King County is the first and only government agency in the WasteWise Hall of Fame.

On Nov. 8, Sims will recognize King County employees who helped win the WasteWise Hall of Fame award and honor four private sector and non-profit partners who have helped King County meet its environmental goals. The partners are Wright Runstad, Sea-Dru-Nar, Total Reclaim and the RE Store. The recognition event is set from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m., in the 8th floor conference room at King Street Center.

Being a WasteWise partner involves setting goals and evaluating internal recycling collection, waste prevention and "buying recycled" practices. King County’s Solid Waste Division administers the program. The County's 2003 achievements cited in the award application include: Thirty-eight million pounds of materials collected internally for recycling; $5.1 million worth of recycled paper and other environmentally preferable products purchased; $3 million in savings from reuse projects.

More information about the King County WasteWise program and its accomplishments is available at: http://www.metrokc.gov/dnrp/swd/about/waste-wise. Learn about the EPA’s 2004 WasteWise awards at: http://www.epa.gov/wastewise/about/winners.htm.