The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's WasteWise 2020 and 2021 award winners, announced earlier this month, prevented and diverted almost 408,000 tons from the nation's garbage stream.
Those hundreds of tons of waste otherwise would have ended up in landfills or incinerators and would have contributed to climate change, EPA said in its Feb. 3 news release. Prevention and diversion of all that waste saved more to $22.5 million in avoided landfill costs and prevented emissions that otherwise would have contributed to climate change "and other environmental impacts," the news release said.
"Innovation, courage, and knowledge to overcome pandemic-related challenges are the cornerstones of the WasteWise award winners," EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan said in the news release. "Their actions to creatively develop and implement solutions to reduce waste during a global health crisis contributed to reducing the pollution that’s fueling climate change, while helping conserve natural resources."
WasteWise, one of EPA's longest-running voluntary partnership programs, came to an end last year after 27 years, according to an announcement on the WasteWise page of EPA's website.
"We are grateful for the dedication of our WasteWise partners and their efforts to reduce and divert waste," the red-lettered announcement at the top of the WasteWise page says. "EPA is planning to evolve our Sustainable Materials Management partnership programs to align with our new priorities. At this time, we are no longer accepting new WasteWise partners. Please visit our website to learn more about how to engage with us as we re-imagine our partnership efforts for the future.
WasteWise enjoyed great success, with its partners diverting almost 249M tons of waste out of landfills and preventing 488 million tons in greenhouse emissions.
The WasteWise award winners, among other things, were recognized in narrative categories for achieving exemplary waste reductions in partner businesses and organizations. Winners were recognized for repossession of N95 respirators, implementing sustainable purchasing guidelines and in other areas.
The 2020 Region 2 WasteWise award winners were Impact Environmental in Bohemia, New York; Live Nation - PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel, New Jersey, Evelyn Hill, Inc. in New York and BB&T Pavilion in Camden, New Jersey.
The 2021 Region 2 WasteWise award winners were Ombligo, Inc. in Brooklyn, New York and ECOS: New Jersey in Parsippany, New Jersey.
