Pasadena recycles most Rose Bowl waste
Playing host to the Rose Bowl Game on Jan. 1, Pasadena, Calif., made sure to comply with its own rules to divert 50 percent of its waste from landfills. After USC walked off with the trophy (defeating Illinois 49-17) and the tailgaters drove home, the city weighed in 6 tons of aluminum cans, plastic and glass bottles, and cardboard collected from 93,000 football fans. The city’s Public Works Department retained Long Beach, Calif.-based SCS Engineers to design, implement and manage the recycling program for the event. The city, the L.A. Conservation Corps and Coca-Cola set out recycling bins around the stadium and distributed recycling bags to tailgaters. In the final count, L.A. Conservation Corps estimates 70 percent of the bottles and cans generated at the event were collected for recycling.