This was originally posted on RIFuture, by AgentGreen:

In 1986, Rhode Island became the first state to pass mandatory recycling legislation, setting an incredibly ambitious 70% recycling rate as its eventual goal. At the time, according to a 2008 issue paper by the Rhode Island Senate Policy Office, Rhode Island was widely viewed as a leader and forward-thinker in the field of waste recycling.

Flash forward to last week’s Providence City Council meeting, where several councilors spent more than an hour excoriating the implementation of the city’s new “no bin, no barrel” recycling policy. Several important facts did not get mentioned during the City Council debate, including:

• The overall recycling rate in Rhode Island has hovered between 15-20% for years, with Providence bringing up the rear at 10%.
• The “no bin, no barrel” program is expected to improve the city’s recycling rate to 20%, which would save the city more than $200,000 per year.

How did Rhode Island go from forward-thinkers in 1986 to where we are today? And, with the state’s landfill rapidly running out of space, where do we go from here? You’ll have a chance to hear what a few key Rhode Island thinkers, advocates and decision-makers have to say about recycling in Rhode Island at a public forum on Dec. 3 in Providence.

The forum, sponsored by the Apeiron Institute, will feature Mike O’Connell, executive director of the Rhode Island Resource Recovery Corporation (RIRRC), Daisy Diaz Rivera from the Providence Department of Public Works, Amelia Rose, from the Environmental Justice League, who helped train dozens of “Green Block Captains” ahead of the launch of Providence’s new recycling initiative, and Sheila Dormody, Rhode Island director of Clean Water Action, who helped pass Rhode Island’s producer responsibility laws that are taking the burden of handling toxic trash off of Rhode Island’s municipalities.

The Thursday, Dec. 3 forum will be held in the atrium at 17 Gordon Ave. in Providence. It’s free to Apeiron members and students. (You can also get in free if you tell them “Agent Green” sent you.) The doors open and snacks will be served at 5:30 and the panel discussion will begin at 6:30. Click here to find out more and register for the forum.

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