Chattanooga, Tennessee, addresses hard-to-recycle items
Chattanooga, Tenn., is adding a fourth R to the eco trio of reduce, reuse and recycle with recovery.
That recovery R has been sparked by the Hefty ReNew program that started in October 2022 and is now in its second year in Tennessee’s fourth largest city.
The project collects hard-to-recycle items and turns them into a variety of materials, some of which are used in construction.
“We actually started hearing about the program from our residents. The residents were sent postcards about the Hefty program, which sparked our interest,” explained Roshonda Woods, solid waste manager for Chattanooga’s Department of Public Works Solid Waste and Recycling.
When the Hefty team approached the city about a partnership, Woods said her department researched and then tried a pilot program that was successful. “So, we fully implemented the program.”
She said the city has been recycling for about 15 years. Chattanooga has used a single-stream system in which recyclable items do not have to be sorted, and both curbside pickup and collection sites. “We have a household hazardous waste (HHF) facility that receives paint and other hazardous material and a wood recycle facility (WRF),” Woods added.
The ReNew project does not replace the existing recycling but adds to it with special collection bins at the city’s five recycling centers. Residents purchase special orange Hefty ReNew bags at local retailers like Target and Walmart. The hard-to-recycle items must be dry, clean and free of any aluminum foil before going into the bags and being deposited in the special roll-off bins at the collection centers.
Graphics were used to educate Chattanooga residents on how to participate in the Hefty ReNew program, which uses special orange bags for hard-to-recycle plastics. (Graphic provided by Chattanooga, Tenn.) 
This graphic highlights how the Hefty ReNew program works in Chattanooga, starting with customers using the orange bags to capture hard-to-recycle plastics before dropping them off at one of five drop-off locations. The city then delivers the bags to its material recovery facility, where they are sorted and baled to be sent to approved end market conversion facilities. (Graphic provided by Chattanooga, Tenn.)
Orange ReNew bags contain hard-to-recycle items to prevent contaminating other plastic recycling streams. The bags of recyclables are baled at the processing site and sent to approved end-market conversion facilities. There, the orange bag and its contents are processed into new materials.
Woods said examples of hard-to-recycle items are paper plates, take-out containers, food storage containers, grocery bags and plastic wraps from paper towels and toilet paper packages. Also included are candy wrappers, cereal, dry mix and cracker box liners, as well as plastic straws and stir sticks.
The goal of the hard-to-recycle program is to keep these items out of landfills and give them new life as building supplies, such as plastic lumber, concrete blocks, and cement kiln fuel that is a coal replacement for making cement. Referred to as end-of-life solutions, recycled plastics can also become park benches, roofing cover boards and drainage materials for agricultural and stormwater applications.
In its first year of the program, the city of Chattanooga collected more than 40 tons of hard-to-recycle plastics.
The city’s mayor Tim Kelly congratulated local residents for their participation in the program in a recent press release announcing the continuation of the program into a second year. “Localism and leadership in the green economy are at the core of the One Chattanooga plan and our climate plan. The Hefty ReNew Program is an example of how we are putting those plans into action.”
One Chattanooga is the city’s vision for the three years from 2022 to 2025. It is composed of seven goals, including early learning for all families, economic vitality for the Black community, affordable housing for all residents, infrastructure and public transit improvement, a competitive regional economy, racial and economic equality in public health outcomes and an effective and responsive local government.
The plan is intended to be reviewed and updated regularly to include new developments, such as the Hefty ReNew program.
Since its beginning in Omaha, Neb., in 2016, the ReNew program has been implemented in cities, such as Boise, Idaho; Lincoln, Neb.; Atlanta, Ga.; Covington, Ky.; as well as Dayton and Cincinnati, Ohio.
While new recycling programs can be slow to become part of a municipality’s standard practice, Woods said that Chattanooga residents have received this opportunity with enthusiasm. “It shows that we’re doing our part in diverting items from the landfill. We’re getting valuable feedback from our residents.”
Next Article: Frederick hopes to expand residential compost program
