Wisconsin City Expanding Curbside Program

The City of Madison, Wis., will be expanding its recycling program by adding milk cartons, aseptic packages, and aluminum foil pans and trays to its curbside collection.

"I am very happy to announce this Earth Day present for Madison residents," Mayor Dave Cieslewicz said. "This is another chance for our citizens to convert more of their trash into a resource for industry."

The expansion is made possible by the efforts of Recycle America Alliance, which handles the processing for Madison's recycling program. According to Cieslewicz, RAA has found a market for milk cartons and the aluminum material.

"We believe that we will be able to recycle up to 300 additional tons of material annually because of this change," said Cieslewicz. "That will save over $8,000 in landfill fees and generate $3,000 in new revenue."

The new material to be recycled includes: Paper milk and juice cartons, juice boxes, aseptic soy milk; and tofu containers, aluminum foil pie, cake and roasting pans

George Dreckman, the city’s recycling coordinator, said, "We will only be taking aluminum foil pans and pie plates. We cannot take regular aluminum foil because our markets do not want it."