DUBUQUE AREA RECYCLING NETWORK

DUBUQUE AREA RECYCLING NETWORK (DARN). When the ideas of recycling were being discussed in the 1990s, four local groups began taking action. The Audubon Society, Boy Scout Troop 11, Dubuque Area Congregations United, and the Sierra Club at STEPHEN HEMPSTEAD HIGH SCHOOL established a weekly drop-off recycling program using a trailer on John F. Kennedy Road.

In response of the economic challenges facing the Dubuque landfill, a new Dubuque Area Recycling Network was announced. Based on estimates that over one million dollars of marketable materials and items are buried in the landfill annually, the Network announced its goals.

    1) Increase commercial food scraps diversion by 1,000 tons annually.

    2) Bring together eight stakeholders to plan for a facility established to
       take in used building materials and market them for reuse.

    3) Increase the number of identified businesses engaged in significantly
       improved diversion of their discards to recycling by fifty businesses
       annually.

    4) Develop a collaborative campaign to increase the volume of marketable
       reusables being diverted to beneficial use venues by 5% annually.

    5) Reduce toxins in the home by helping to divert household hazardous
       materials from landfill by 5% annually.

---

Source:

Giannakouros, Raki. "Don't Throw That Away, DARN It!", Julien's Journal, April 2013, p. 44.