NEWS INFORMATION FROM

THE OFFICE OF MAYOR STEPHEN R. REED
City of Harrisburg
King City Government Center
Harrisburg, PA 17101-1678
Telephone: 255.3040

FOR IMMEDIATE USE
14 May 2002

CITY TO PROVIDE “THE STRING THING” FOR NEWSPAPER RECYCLING

Harrisburg, PA — In an effort to further encourage newspaper recycling by city residents, Mayor Stephen R. Reed today unveiled the city’s new “String Thing”, a free, prepackaged device which allows for the easy bundling of recyclable newsprint. The “String Things” will be distributed free of charge to all city residential waste disposal customers on their normal trash collection day, with workers placing a new one in each recycling bin after it is emptied.

The Mayor said the newly implemented service to city waste disposal customers is a further enhancement of the city’s extensive weekly curbside recycling efforts, which were expanded last Fall with the addition of newspaper recycling. The City has had a glass, metal and plastic food item recycling program since 1989, when it became one of the first communities in the state to adopt a city-wide recycling program.

Reed said the “String Thing” is a completely recyclable device comprised of a specially-designed cardboard backing with a seven foot long piece of bundling twine attached. Simple instructions printed on each “String Thing” direct the user on how to easily bundle the pile of newsprint for city pickup. Binding the pile takes only seconds and can be easily accomplished by almost anyone.

The newsprint recycling program provides for the city’s collection of bundled newspapers, which are collected each week as part of a customer’s normal recycling pick-up. Customers are asked to bundle their newspapers in either brown paper bags or with twine or string and place them in the plastic recycling bin that is given to every city residential customer.

“With this new service,” said Mayor Reed, “residents will be able to quickly and conveniently prepare their recycled newspapers for pick-up with little fuss or muss. Since we adopted the program last year, customer feedback has indicated that searching for bundling materials each week is the most inconvenient aspect of the program, and a major reason why some citizens are not participating.”

Reed said the city has collected 85 tons of newsprint since September 2001, with an average daily pickup of around 900 pounds.

The Mayor noted that it is important for citizens to also follow some simple rules of the program, including placing only newsprint out for pick-up, rather than all paper goods; not to place their bundles in plastic bags; and to avoid having their bundles become rain-soaked by not placing them out until just before recycling crews are due. Wet newsprint is not recyclable and must be disposed of with regular trash, and customers are further encouraged to keep their bundled newsprint for the following week’s disposal if rain is forecast for their normal recycling day.

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