Today, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake joined Dr. Andres Alonso, CEO of Baltimore City Public Schools, at Highlandtown Elementary School to announce that all of Baltimore City’s 205 public schools are now recycling. To celebrate the occasion, Mayor Rawlings-Blake presented Dr. Alonso with a 65-gallon recycling bin like the ones that the City purchased and distributed to every school.

“We are grateful to Dr. Alonso for working with the Department of Public Works to bring recycling to our schools,” said Mayor Rawlings-Blake. “As we continue our efforts to grow Baltimore, we need to find ways to become more sustainable. Recycling allows us to send less garbage to landfills and decrease the amount of stray debris that clogs inlets and pours into the Harbor.”

In the program, every school was given a new recycling bin and currently receives once a week City single stream recycling pickup. In the first two weeks of the program, the City collected nine tons of recyclable material and doubled that amount in the following two weeks.

Achieving 100% school recycling continues the City’s efforts to expand recycling options in Baltimore. The Department of Public Works continues to conduct regular outreach services to schools, communities, and businesses. In honor of Earth Week, the Office of Recycling held a free “Clean Your Files Day” on April 24. For additional information about recycling, citizens should call 311 or visit www.baltimorecity.gov