PA Resources Council Partners In Pittsburgh To Reduce Waste At 3 Events

The PA Resources Council partnered with a variety of local organizations at three high profile events in the Pittsburgh Region to reduce waste or reusing unwanted products.

4th Annual ReuseFest

On June 13 PRC held its 4th Annual ReuseFest event at UPMC Passavant. This event, which aims to divert material from the landfill by connecting it with local nonprofits who focus on reuse, was the largest in the event's history!

We had over 203 cars come through, dropping off a large variety of items. PRC would like to thank UPMC for sponsoring the event, UPMC Passavant for hosting, and the UPMC Passavant Green Team and the Passavant Foundation for all their assistance in preparation for the event.

Combined, the nonprofits (Global Links, Goodwill, Pittsburgh Center for Creative Reuse, Off the Floor, Construction Junction, #PghGivesBack, Animal Rescue League & Wildlife Center, and Free Ride) took in over 10,950 pounds of material for reuse!

Three Rivers Arts Festival

In one of the most extensive collaborations to date, the 2015 Three Rivers Arts Festival was a milestone in the greening of large-scale events in Pennsylvania.

In partnership with the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, FlySpace Productions, Point State Park DCNR, and Green Gears, PRC's Zero Waste team delivered a 75 percent waste diversion rate with the lowest amount of landfill waste generated to date-- approximately 8 tons.

Organic waste and recycling totaled 22.83 tons and cooking oil recycling totaled at 1.41 tons. PRC was involved in every step of the green planning process for this iconic festival. Some major highlights of this year's initiatives include:

-- Extensive pre-event planning with organizers to maximize reduction and reuse of materials

-- 100 percent compostable serviceware from all vendors

-- Compostable waste stream collection

-- Recycling waste stream collection

-- Waste cooking oil collection

-- Pallet collection for reuse

-- Bike valet

-- Bulk water distribution

-- Zero-emission pedi-cabs for waste material transport

Three Rivers Marathon

Pittsburgh Three Rivers Marathon, Inc. (P3R) and Zero Waste Pennsylvania, a project of PRC, announced this week, that the 2015 DICK's Sporting Goods Pittsburgh weekend of events was the greenest to date, with 90 percent of the event's waste diverted from landfills, an increase of 10 percent from last year.

For the past four years, ZWPA has worked with P3R to incorporate greening efforts at every stage of race weekend, including composting cups, food, and more, as well as recycling water bottles and donating clothes left behind by runners to Goodwill.

Since 2012 the event has diverted more than 39.3 tons of waste from landfills!

"PRC works hard to keep valuable materials from landfill and is proud to work with P3R on their continued greening efforts,: said Teresa Bradley, ZWPA Manager.

"P3R is committed to making sure the City looks just as beautiful - or more beautiful - after the race as it did before," said P3R CEO Patrice Matamoros. "With more than 3,000 volunteers, 40,000 runners, and up to 200,000 spectators each year, this is a challenge, but one that P3R is tackling with a comprehensive approach to 'greening' the race and promoting sustainability."

For more information on activities and programs around the state, visit the PA Resources Council website.