More than a dozen partners were recognized this year in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s Responsible Appliance Disposal (RAD) Program for their recycling efforts.
The companies were formally recognized during an awards ceremony for program achievements during this year's annual RAD Partner Meeting on Nov. 17 in Washington, according to an EPA press release.
"Even after 15 years, our RAD partners continue to go above and beyond when it comes to appliance recycling," Joe Goffman, the EPA's principal deputy assistant administrator for the Office of Air and Radiation, said. "Their successful efforts to recycle foams and reduce the amount of durable goods sent to landfills is having a positive impact on our environment, and we congratulate these RAD Leadership Award Winners on their achievements."
Joe Goffman, the EPA's principal deputy assistant administrator for the office of air and radiation
| linkedin.com/in/joseph-goffman-b90969148/
The EPA RAD awards were given out in three categories this year: RAD Champion, RAD Program Growth, and RAD Ambassador.
EPA's RAD Champion Award, which recognizes those partners that had the highest rates of appliance foam recovery, was awarded to ten partners, the release said. They managed to recover foam in 100 percent of the appliance units they collected last year. Those recipients, listed by the EPA in a separate document, were Butler County Recycling & Solid Waste District in Hamilton, Ohio; Consumers Energy in Jackson, Michigan; Delmarva Power in Wilmington, Delaware; General Electric Appliances in Louisville, Kentucky; Los Angeles Department of Water and Power in Los Angeles; Modesto Irrigation District in Modesto, California; Northern Indiana Public Service Co. in Merrillville, Indiana; Palo Alto Utilities in Palo Alto, California; Silicon Valley Power in Santa Clara, California, and UGI Utilities in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania.
The EPA also awarded the RAD Program Growth Award to partners that showed the greatest annual increase in units they processed, the release said. Those recipients are Liberty Utilities in Salem, New Hampshire, New York State Electric & Gas in Binghamton, New York, and Unitil in Hampton, New Hampshire.
This year's RAD Ambassador Award, recognizing the partner with exemplary practices promoted by the RAD program, went to Sacramento Municipal Utility District in Sacramento, California. The utility district received the award for its appliance recycling program models that included a new approach to recovering and recycling appliance units and for work at partnering with local retailers, the EPA said.
RAD celebrated its 15th anniversary this year and its second annual RAD Leadership Awards Ceremony. Since 2006, RAD has prevented almost 1.5 billion pounds of metal, plastic, and glass from finding their way into landfills, according to the EPA. The ceremony also recognized high-achieving RAD partners for their reduction of ozone-depleting substances and greenhouse gases.
