Help Us Encourage Businesses & Apartments to Recycle
Salt Lake City prides itself in our commitment to sustainability, and recycling is the first and most basic tenet of that commitment.
This commitment to sustainability and recycling is why we have gradually increased the number of services offered to residents over the last several years from curbside recycling to compost to glass recycling. It’s also, in part, why we introduced the Call 2 Haul program last year to achieve greater diversion from the landfill.
Resident waste, however, only accounts for about 40% of the total amount of material being generated. That’s why we also have a construction and demolition recycling ordinance (targeting 9-10% of generated waste) and a business & multi-family recycling ordinance passed in December 2015 to target the rest. The latter went into effect in January 2018.
The business recycling ordinance is not aimed at small properties or businesses, nor those properties which provide lower-income, Section 8 housing. Instead, it is focused on the medium- to-large properties that are creating more waste.
More specifically, a business or property in Salt Lake City that generates more than four cubic yards of waste per week is required to offer recycling. This is approximately equal to eight, 96-gallon curbside containers and is roughly what multi-family properties with 15 or more units, and businesses with 10-15 or more employees, would produce.
Spread the Word
Only 10-15% of business waste was recycled before the ordinance went into effect. That number is gradually increasing, but we’d like your help!
Are you aware of a business or multi-family property that is not offering recycling? Let us know!
Simply fill out this form or email slcrecycles@slcgov.com and we’ll contact them to follow-up.
