DOVER – The latest round of DNREC’s Universal Recycling Grants and Low-Interest Loan Program has awarded nearly $268,000 to 12 different Delaware entities, municipalities, school districts and multi-family housing complexes. DNREC’s grant and loan program – an outgrowth of Delaware’s Universal Recycling Law championed by Delaware Governor Jack Markell – has advanced recycling collection programs, promoted recycling education efforts and spurred a range of innovative recycling initiatives with grant funding.

The grant progam’s emphasis has focused recently on helping Delaware schools and businesses achieve recycling requirements and eventually exceed diversion goals that can rank Delaware even higher nationally as a leader in single-stream recycling.

“Recycling not only reduces schools’ and businesses’ environmental footprint but can save them money,” said DNREC Secretary David Small. “To achieve the statewide goals of the Universal Recycling Law, we continue working with businesses on improving the recycling rate across the commercial sector. DNREC’s recycling grants program is a great opportunity to assist the educational and business communities with recycling start-up costs. And as Gov. Markell has stressed, universal recycling has helped drive both environmental and economic benefits for our state and its citizens.”

Awarding of grants in the most recent cycle of the Universal Recycling Grants and Low-Interest Loan Program and the amounts awarded by DNREC for each grant winner, along with project summaries, can be found below:

The Universal Recycling Grant and Low Interest Loan Program was created by the Universal Recycling Law. The law provides a framework to ensure recycling options are available for all in Delaware. The most recent requirement was effective Jan. 1, 2014, and requires commercial businesses actively participate in a comprehensive recycling program. The commercial sector includes any for-profit or not-for-profit retail or wholesale stores, offices, food service establishments, warehouses, and other manufacturing, industrial or processing activities, and institutions such as social, charitable, educational, health care, and professional and government services.

To help Delaware’s schools, businesses and institutions start or expand their recycling programs, DNREC will continue to offer the Universal Recycling Grant and Low Interest Loan Program. “We hope to announce the next cycle in January,” said Bill Miller, environmental program manager and DNREC recycling team leader, “and we will probably accept applications for a two-month window.” Funding is typically awarded for equipment and outreach/education, but creativity is welcome.

Schools, business owners, and organization managers are encouraged to explore the growing recycling opportunities in Delaware. To learn more about legislative requirements, grant funding, commercial recycling toolkits, free technical assistance, and more please visit: www.recycling.delaware.gov or call 302-739-9403.

Media Contact: Michael Globetti, DNREC Public Affairs, 302-739-9902

Vol. 46, No. 2

Take your tree to a yard waste site or contact your waste collector

DOVER – Delawareans are encouraged to give their recycling spirit a boost after the holiday season by delivering their Christmas trees to one of many yard waste recycling facilities located throughout the state. Please note that Christmas trees are no longer accepted for recycling at any Delaware State Park locations.

Christmas trees will be accepted free of charge for recycling from residents at the facilities listed below. Residents may be able to bring their trees as soon as Dec. 26 and as late as Jan. 30, 2016, but should contact the facility for specific hours and details. Trees will not be accepted from commercial haulers or tree vendors without prior approval. Artificial decorations, including hooks, wire, tinsel and ornaments, as well as wood and metal tree stands, must be removed from all trees before dropping them off for recycling.

“Many Delawareans have been recycling their Christmas trees for many years, and we encourage everyone to establish or continue this eco-friendly tradition,” said Bill Miller, program manager in DNREC’s Solid and Hazardous Waste Management Section. “Recycling these trees that are a product of nature is a wonderful way of giving back to the environment.”

Christmas tree recycling saves valuable landfill space. At least 18 percent of residential waste is composed of grass, leaves, brush, trees and other lawn maintenance and landscaped materials. Prior to Delaware’s yard waste bans, these materials – considered a resource for composting and reuse rather than waste – were deposited in landfills, taking up valuable space and limiting local markets for mulch and compost products.

Many entities collect Christmas trees, including various waste haulers and landscapers. Your regular trash hauler may offer special collections for Christmas trees in January.

Kent County will collect Christmas trees from Jan. 11-15 and 18-22 on your regular trash day for customers in trash districts that have the yard waste collection service.

Christmas trees, stripped of all decorations and detached from tree stands, can be dropped off by Delaware residents for free at any of the following locations:

New Castle County

• Polly Drummond Hill Road Community Yard Waste Demonstration Site
  Located in the Pike Creek area on Polly Drummond Hill Road, about 1/2 mile north of Kirkwood Highway. Hours: ONLY Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. through Jan. 10. Site will close Jan. 11, 2016 through May 7, 2016 (More information: www.dnrec.delaware.gov/yardwaste)
• South Chapel Yard Waste Site (operated by Holland Mulch)
  1034 S. Chapel Street, Newark, DE 19702; phone 302-737-1000
  Hours: Monday-Friday 7:30 a.m.-4 p.m.; Saturday 7:30 a.m.-noon*
• Copeland’s Mulch Depot (free for trees purchased at Copeland’s; otherwise $2)
  2 Honeysuckle Drive, Stanton, DE 19804; phone 302-633-9536
  Hours: Monday-Friday 9 a.m.-3 p.m.; Saturday 9 a.m.-1 p.m.*
  Closed until Jan. 4.
• Holland Mulch
  135 Hay Road, Edge Moor, DE 19809; phone 302-765-3100
  Hours: Monday-Friday 7:30 a.m.-4 p.m.; Saturday 7:30 a.m.-noon*

Sussex County

• Blessings Greenhouses
  9372 Draper Road, Milford, DE 19963; phone 302-393-3273
  Hours: Monday-Saturday 7 a.m.-5 p.m.*
• Blue Hen Organics
  33529 Fox Run Road, Frankford, DE 19945; phone 302-732-3211
  Hours: Monday-Friday 7 a.m.-4 p.m.*
• Grizzly’s Landscape Supply Service
  18412 The Narrow Road, Lewes, DE 19958; phone 302-644-0654
  Hours: Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-4 p.m.*
• Kaye Construction
  22288 Coverdale Road, Seaford, DE 19973; phone 302-629-7483
  Hours: Monday-Friday 7:30 a.m.-3 p.m.*, closed until Jan. 4
• Millville Organic Center
  Whites Neck Road (0.5 miles north of Route 26) Millville, DE 19967; phone 302-423-2601
  Hours: Monday-Friday 9 a.m.-4 p.m.*
• Selbyville Pet and Garden Center (free for active customers within the last 6 months)
  38205 DuPont Boulevard, Selbyville, DE 19975; phone 302-436-8286)
  Hours: Thursdays and Fridays 9 a.m.-5:30 p.m., Saturdays 9 a.m.-4 p.m.***
• Stockley Materials
  25136 DuPont Boulevard, Georgetown, DE 19947; phone 302-856-7601
  Hours: Monday-Friday 7 a.m.-5 p.m.*

*Please call ahead as businesses may alter their hours of operation around the holidays.

Only Christmas trees from residents will be accepted for free. Facilities may charge a fee for other yard waste. Other locations throughout the state also accept Christmas trees for recycling for a fee. For information on other yard waste drop-off sites in Delaware, go to: www.dnrec.delaware.gov/yardwaste and click “Yard waste drop-off options.”

Delawareans are also reminded that DNREC’s Polly Drummond Hill Road yard waste site is closing Jan. 11, 2016, and will reopen on May 7, 2016 for Saturdays only. For more information, click: DNREC’s Polly Drummond Hill Road yard waste site to close Jan. 11, 2016; will reopen next May Saturdays only.

For more information about yard waste, visit DNREC’s website, www.dnrec.delaware.gov/yardwaste or call 302-739-9403 ext.1.

DOVER – This year’s DNREC-sponsored 29th annual Delaware Coastal Cleanup held on Sept. 19 drew 1,492 volunteers, who collected 7.8 tons of trash from 50 sites along more than 80 miles of Delaware’s waterways and coastline stretching from Wilmington to Fenwick Island. About one-quarter of that trash – aluminum cans and glass and plastic bottles – was recycled this year.

DNREC organizes the annual cleanup with co-sponsors including: the Ocean Conservancy; Delmarva Power, which donates t-shirts; Edgewell Personal Care/Playtex Manufacturing Inc., which donates gloves; DelDOT, which donated safety vests for roadside sites; and Waste Management, which hauls trash and recyclables collected by volunteers.

“We think it’s fantastic that each year this event attracts a huge number of people who want to do something positive for the environment,” said Matt Likovich, spokesman for Delmarva Power, which has sponsored Coastal Cleanup for 24 consecutive years. “We appreciate the volunteers’ time and energy in helping to clean up our beaches and riverbanks.”

“In addition to marring the natural beauty of our beaches and waterways, trash can be dangerous to marine life and unhealthy for water quality,” said Delaware Coastal Cleanup Coordinator Joanna Wilson. “Each year, the Coastal Cleanup helps make a difference for marine life and water quality – and it’s the hundreds of dedicated volunteers, many of whom come back year after year, who make the Cleanup possible.”

Some of the more unusual items found during this year’s cleanup were a raincoat, assorted underwear, numerous flip-flops, a rubber swim cap, a hair dryer and flat iron, a wig, more than a dozen pairs of sunglasses, a perfume bottle, a housekey on a ring, boat seat cushions, a can of Sterno, a tent, two propane tanks, a bow and arrows, a bike pedal, a dog leash and more than 20 bags of dog waste, beach chairs, a boogie board leash, an umbrella holder, children’s sand shovels and toys, a smoke detector, a recliner, a metal bed frame, four dozen condoms, light bulbs, a paint roller and paintbrush, ceiling tiles, buckets, plastic storage containers, a mop head, trash cans, coat hangers, a sink, a toilet seat, carpet pieces, batteries, lawn chairs, a rusty fire pit, flower pots, stakes, zip ties, a microwave, plastic and wood fencing, a teacup, chopsticks, tiki torch holders and four shotglasses, one of which was still full.

Some items were notable in their numbers. Statewide, volunteers picked up 20,410 cigarette and cigar butts, an increase of 1,533 from last year’s total of 18,877. The number of fishing-related items also increased from 989 last year to 1,317 this year, including more than 100 crab pots, nearly 500 yards of fishing line and 226 fishing nets and pieces; volunteers also found fishing rods, reels, lures and hooks. Balloons decreased, from 1,214 last year to 458 this year. Other items included 1,064 fireworks, 424 shotgun shells, eight tarps and 2,433 plastic bags. In addition to 36 passenger vehicle tires, car parts included a battery cable, license plate holder, taillight, hubcaps, fenders, a bumper, a car mat and a transmission.

This year, more than 23,000 pieces of food/beverage-related trash were picked up, a reduction compared to nearly 28,000 last year. This year’s notable numbers included 5,067 food wrappers, 3,603 plastic bottle caps, 1,747 lids, 1,657 straws, 3,785 plastic beverage bottles, 2,074 beverage cans, 1,698 glass bottles and 1,444 paper, plastic and foam cups and plates.

The Delaware Coastal Cleanup is part of the International Coastal Cleanup, the Ocean Conservancy’s flagship program dealing with marine debris and data collection. The types and quantities of trash collected are recorded on data cards and forwarded to the Center for Marine Conservation, which compiles the information to help identify the source of the debris and focus efforts on eliminating or reducing it.

Delaware’s next Coastal Cleanup is set for Saturday, Sept. 17, 2016. Registration will be posted on DNREC’s website at www.delaware.dnrec.gov next July.

For more information on The Ocean Conservancy or the International Coastal Cleanup, please visit www.oceanconservancy.org.

Media Contact: Joanna Wilson, DNREC Public Affairs, at 302-739-9902

Vol. 45, No. 374

DOVER – DNREC is again inviting Delaware residents to recycle their old and disused car tires through another of the Division of Waste & Hazardous Substances’ Scrap Tire Drop-Off Days. The event, scheduled from 8 a.m. – 2 p.m., rain or shine, on Saturday, Nov. 7 will take place at the Delaware State Fairgrounds, 18500 South DuPont Highway, Harrington, DE 19952.

The drop-off event provides residents the opportunity to bring up to 10 passenger car or light duty truck tires from their households for recycling. Scrap tires from businesses, commercial dealers, large truck or equipment tires, or tires on rims will not be accepted. The event is limited to Delaware residents, and requires proof of residency in the form of a driver’s license or utility bill.

DNREC’s Solid & Hazardous Waste Management Section oversees the scrap tire program. The program, currently responsible for removing large, unsightly scrap tire piles throughout the state, will soon include a scrap tire pile compliance program. Scrap tire piles can create environmental hazards, blight the landscape and contribute to an increasing population of mosquitoes. Careful management of scrap tire piles can help minimize risk.

The Delaware Scrap Tire Management Program is funded by a state fee of $2 for each new tire sold. Enacted Jan. 1, 2007, the fee is diverted to the Scrap Tire Management Fund, a matching fund and program created to remove and address scrap tire piles statewide.

For more information about upcoming Scrap Tire Drop-Off Days, for assistance with removing a qualifying scrap tire pile from your property, or scrap tire management in the state, please visit DNREC’s website at www.awm.delaware.gov/Info/Pages/ScrapTire.aspx or contact the Scrap Tire Management Program at 302-739-9403.

Media Contact: Michael Globetti, DNREC Public Affairs, 302-739-9902

Vol. 45, No. 353

DOVER – Volunteers are encouraged to preregister on the DNREC website for the 29th annual Delaware Coastal Cleanup, to be held from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturday, Sept. 19. The DNREC-sponsored cleanup spans the First State’s 97-mile eastern coastline and includes river and ocean shorelines as well as wetland and watershed areas. This year, 50 sites in New Castle, Kent and Sussex counties are targeted, and many of those sites are filling up fast with volunteers, so it’s a good idea to register early.

Pre-registering helps ensure enough supplies are packed for the volunteers at each site. To see a map of this year’s sites, or to pre-register, go to www.dnrec.delaware.gov/CoastalCleanup. Pre-registration will close on Wednesday, Sept. 9 at close of business.

At last year’s Coastal Cleanup, 1,805 dedicated volunteers from civic organizations, youth groups, businesses and families collected 3.5 tons of trash from 46 sites along Delaware’s shorelines and tributaries. About one-third of that trash – mostly aluminum cans and plastic bottles – was recycled. Volunteers’ more unusual finds included chopsticks, a laundry basket, runner’s race number tag, electric saber saw, windshield wiper, basketball, baseball, bowling ball, tennis balls, paint brush, tweezers, tiki torches, Barbie doll, glow stick, auto fender, plastic trellis, shingle, flashlight, toilet seat, Christmas lights, telephone box, TV, coat, engine, pinup girl postcard, an unopened 12-pack of razors, hubcap, and a message in a bottle.

Delaware’s Cleanup is part of the Ocean Conservancy’s International Coastal Cleanup, the world’s largest annual clearing of trash from coastlines and lakes by volunteers. Hundreds of thousands of people all over the world help each year to rid the environment of marine debris and collect detailed information on the types and quantities of refuse they find. This information is recorded on data cards and forwarded to the Center for Marine Conservation, which compiles data for all of the cleanups held in the country and around the world. This information helps identify the source of the debris and focus efforts on eliminating or reducing it.

The Ocean Conservancy supplies trash bags, data cards and marine debris brochures. Delaware’s cleanup is co-sponsored by Delmarva Power, which provides t-shirts for the participants. DNREC is responsible for organizing the event, recruiting volunteers, distributing supplies, ensuring trash removal and tabulating data. Edgewell Personal Care, Playtex Manufacturing Inc., which provides gloves, and trash and recyclables hauler Waste Management also return as sponsors. The Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT), which provides safety vests for roadside site volunteers, also joins the sponsor list for the 2015 cleanup.

For more information about the Ocean Conservancy and the International Coastal Cleanup, visit www.oceanconservancy.org. For more information about the Delaware Coastal Cleanup, please call Joanna Wilson, Delaware Coastal Cleanup coordinator, at 302-739-9902.

Media Contact: Joanna Wilson, DNREC Public Affairs, 302-739-9902.

Vol. 45, No. 274