How much money is saved?
For every ton of materials that is diverted from the landfill, the avoided disposal costs are approximately $30/ton. Unfortunately, the avoided costs are not realized when the incorrect materials are placed in the blue recycling containers and the material is processed (added cost) and still needs to be landfilled. Participation statistics Diversion rate? Approximately a million tons of solid waste is thrown out by Phoenix residents each year. About half of that (500,000 tons) is solid waste collected from city-serviced residential units. About 120,000 tons of that is diverted from the waste stream and is processed for recycling. Consequently, the diversion rate for Phoenix Recycles is about 20%. This is comparable to national commingled residential recycling programs. Participation rate? Even though Phoenix Recycles is a voluntary program, over 90% of our solid waste customers have accepted blue recycling barrels (over 300,000 containers out of a potential 340,000). Each week 66% of t
