By JOHN E. WEARE
KAB
Chandra, our Keep Alliance Beautiful office guru, stopped by the recycling center Tuesday morning, April 1. I gathered paperwork hanging around our office that needed to be filed – including a bill of lading from our hauler dated March 31. It had not occurred to that the day before already marked the end of this year’s first quarter. Furthermore, it was no April Fool’s joke when Chandra let me know later in the day that KAB’s recycling volumes for the initial three months of this year totaled 258,640 pounds. That is 61,530 pounds ahead of the first quarter of 2024!
As we rang in the New Year KAB was blessed to report a record volume (915,284 pounds) recycled through our center by our patrons in Western Nebraska. The accomplishment fueled motivation to reach the lofty goal of one million pounds in a calendar year. Now, we posted a high water mark for the quarter starting on January 1, edging the 257,615 pounds of material shipped out during the second quarter of 2024.
Importantly, our Keep America Beautiful affiliate would have nothing to process and ship without dedicated recyclers who utilize our facility and services. The Keep Alliance Beautiful staff overall and recycling center crew seeks to connect with the public and educate everyone about what we do. Patrons, and potential recyclers of course, should know which materials we accept, what is not welcome and proper recycling etiquette. To that end a large thermometer, in the vein of charting fundraising progress, is planned for the area among our trailers along Second Street (between Laramie and Cheyenne Ave.) in Alliance. The red “mercury” will start at the first quarter level listed above then continue to rise throughout the year thus informing the public of the climb toward a million pounds. This accountability is meant to rally and encourage as our steady stream of visitors deposit cardboard and empty sorted bags into the trailers, or drive by to bring their recycling to our front door.
Topping a quarter million pounds for the second time within four consecutive quarters is not surprising. Longtime recycling supporter H&H Sanitation brought a semi load of oversized cardboard bales then another dozen a few weeks ago. Promptly taking them plus another load within a week, Spud hauled away about 27 tons. His timely service has complemented the hard work by our crew to prep as much as we can every week to divert what would have been landfill fodder to raw materials for new glass, paper, cardboard and plastic, etc.
The numbers (in pounds), shipped out in 16 loads, by category through March 31, 2025: cardboard/paperboard – 171,353; #1-7 plastics – 7,608; milk jugs – 419; steel/tin cans – 6,795; aluminum cans – 2,975; magazines/books – 3,358; mixed paper – 31,781; electronics – 5,127; other – 4,158; glass – 20,124; and, Hefty bags – 4,942.
From my standpoint 2025 is the year of more: adding businesses to our pickup list, embracing new volunteers – especially to sort a backlog of curbside recycling, educating a broader percentage of people to avoid contaminated material and dumped items, and a time to welcome a new cohort of recyclers who will sustain the habit.
Want to see a full KAB thermometer when the temperature plunges this December? Stop by 107 ½ Cheyenne Ave. We’ll offer the nickel tour and take a minute to chat about how you can help carry us to a million.