Jim Fisher, assistant department director, City of San Diego Public Utilities Water Operations, and Mark Chandler, Environmental Management representative, City of San Diego Public Utilities Water Operations accept the Recycler of the Year Award on behalf of the water department. Photo: Gina Yarbrough
SAN DIEGO–Mayor Jerry Sanders recognized local companies and organizations for their commitment in protecting the environment and conserving natural resources at the 18th annual Waste Reduction and Recycling Awards at SeaWorld San Diego.
The awards program, sponsored by the City’s Environmental Services Department, was led by Sanders, who presented commemorative plaques to representatives of each company and organization.
“Recycling is going to be one of the ways we save landfill costs. We save landfills which are unbelievably hard to put in, but it also helps the environment tremendously,” said Sanders. Without recycling, the landfill at its current projection would be filled in 2016. “It costs hundreds of millions of dollars to build a new one. By recycling, we are about 64% recycling now. That means we extend the life of the landfill.”
The waste diversion programs of these businesses and organizations contributed to the City of San Diego being able to decrease the amount of trash brought into the MiraMar Landfill by 300,000 tons compared to two years ago. This decrease, coupled with a recent height increase agreement with the Marine Corp Air Station Miramar, and two recycling ordinances has resulted in the lifespan of the landfill being extended from 2012 to at least 2019.
This year’s recipients were:
- Recycling Partner Award — San Diego County Apartment Association.
- The Recycler of the Year Awards were presented to:
- Bayside Owners Association
- Celebrity Mercury – Celebrity Cruises
- City of San Diego Public Utilities Department-Water Operations
- Embassy Suites San Diego-La Jolla
- General Dynamics/NASSCO
- IKEA San Diego
- Kaiser Permanente
- Navy-Region Southwest
- Reuben H. Fleet Science Center
- San Diego Convention Center
- San Diego International Airport
- San Diego Padres – Petco Park
- SeaWorld San Diego
Director’s Recycling Awards were presented to:
- Allied Waste Services
- Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
- San Diego State University
- University of California, San Diego
- Qualcomm, Inc.
- Cassidy Turley BRE Commericial
- Celebrity Constellation – Celebrity Cruises
- COBHAM
- Nolte Associates, Inc.
- Von’s
- VA San Diego Healthcare System
- City of San Diego Public Utilities Department Waste Water
- Cox Communications
- Union Tribune
- SAIC
- San Diego Zoo
- Stanley Steamer
- Hewlett Packard – San Diego
- Kyocera Communications, Inc.
- Greenfield Paper Company
- La Jolla/Ridford Library
- Neyenesh Printers
- San Diego Futures Foundation
- Pt. Loma Nazarene University
For more information about establishing business recycling programs, contact ESD’s customer service at (858) 694-7000, or visit www.recyclingworks.com.