Three arrows chasing each other in an infinite triangle. Ask an elementary school student or their great grandma and both will likely tell you the symbol means recycling. Alliance is fortunate enough to host a recycling center. Other communities in our state lack any such program to keep what could become new material out of the landfill. The Nebraska Recycling Council (NRC) came into existence in 2017 to promote and facilitate this practice.
Heather Creevan heads the not-for-profit NRC. She became executive director in 2019, of what had been the Nebraska State Recycling Association and WasteCap Nebraska prior to the merger. During the Keep Nebraska Beautiful Conference, Creevan gave updates and encouraged the affiliates in the conference room to see “what we can accomplish together.”
Though support and implementation of recycling by Keep America Beautiful affiliates varies by town/city/county, NRC has a broad approach as it provides consultation to municipalities, recycling centers, non-profits and private organizations. The NRC is member-based and has a long history of advocating for businesses, Creevan said, with a mission to: maximize the economic and environmental benefits of resource recovery in Nebraska.
“Education and information sharing is at the heart of the council,” she noted. In fact, the NRC is hosting a virtual conference this week (Oct. 5-7) — Nothing Wasted: Reducing Our Impact, Maximizing Our Resources.
The organization is headquartered in Lincoln with five full-time staff members, a board of directors and advisory council. The NRC is the seat of the Nebraska chapter of the U.S. Composting Council and chairs the Nebraska Measurement Taskforce.
Listening to the presentation I had forgotten a significant portion of the funding for our newest forklift had come from an NRC grant until I saw a photo on the screen of Bruce, a former co-worker, driving it. There is even a quote from KAB Executive Director Kathy Worley in the recycling equipment grants handout Creevan gave the two dozen or so affiliate representatives there. “Thanks to the NET and NRC, Keep Alliance Beautiful is the proud owner of a new forklift! KAB uses a forklift for daily operations at our recycling center. We unload trailers, weigh and stack bundles of recyclables, move totes, and share our services with the local mission store.”
The NRC distributed $244,000 last year. The grants pay up to $20,000 in equipment, which can be funded over two years, per organization; applicants must have been in business a minimum of two years; be in compliance with applicable laws, regulations and permits; and submit 24 months of recycling data after obtaining the grant equipment, among other requirements and limitations.
Current NRC projects and endeavors include:
> Glass recycling — Hastings hosted a meeting in July 2021
> Feedlot composting — goal is to test viability and make it so interested feeders can replicate it
> Grain bag recycling — want to have a statewide/year round collections system
> CRT (television) recycling program — gathered 272,000 pounds from Alliance and 13 other communities