Resources

Recycling wherever you are

Interested in recycling at your school, community group or business? This website can help get you started; click on your city on the “How do I recycle?” page for a rundown of your community’s services, or find our toolkits and tips below for recycling wherever you are.

Event recycling toolkits

No matter its size or variety, almost every event creates waste, and that means you can recycle there. Our event recycling toolkit provides organizers of festivals and gatherings with an easy-to-understand checklist, contacts, printable signs and other essential resources for a less wasteful, more eco-friendly experience:

We’ve also got a separate event guide specifically for recycling during litter cleanups around the region:

Drop-off guides

If you don’t have curbside service or have an item that curbside programs won’t take, these guides can help you find the best place to go:

These guides will be updated often, so check back for more and let us know if you spot something out of date with the Contact form on the Home page.

For business owners

Your waste hauler and companies such as Marck Recycling in Rogers, TRG Fayetteville, Food Loops and Food Recycling Solutions may be able to accept or pick up a variety of materials for recycling; contact them to learn more.

Northwest Arkansas’ solid waste districts provide free, no-obligation business waste audits to give a rundown of what you throw away and suggest how you could recycle more of it. In some cases recycling can reduce your overall waste hauling needs and lower your bills. Find their contact information to the right (or below if on mobile).

In the private sector, some haulers and companies such as Food Loops offer similar audits.

For educators

Teachers have a crucial role to play in recycling, not just in teaching their students what it is but in building good habits that could last generations as well.

  • A good place to start is our glossary of recycling-related terms and concepts, which can help you put together your own lessons, discussions and activities.
  • You can reach out to the city of Fayetteville or one of the region’s two solid waste districts (contact information on this page) for lesson plans and other suggestions that may be customized by age group.
  • More resources are coming soon! Keep an eye on this space.

For elected officials

An excellent contract with a private waste hauling company is one of the best tools a city can use to improve its recycling: It sets the ground rules for the programs residents use every day and can adapt to each city’s particular needs.

In support of the region’s goal to make recycling more efficient and successful, NWA Recycles developed five recommendations for waste-hauling agreements. Learn more in our municipal waste contract toolkit. 

Recycling education contacts

Benton County Solid Waste District

Boston Mountain Solid Waste District

(Washington and Madison counties)

Fayetteville residents:

Your city also has community educators on staff who will help you start recycling. Give them a call at 479-575-8398.

Project Foundation

The Northwest Arkansas Council made recycling one of its priorities in the 2018 Greater Northwest Arkansas Development Strategy.

Why? For a few reasons, including the limited space in the region’s landfill facility, which would be expensive and difficult to replace. Newcomers and longtime residents alike tell the Council that they value recycling services and expect them throughout their communities. And recycling can power local businesses and jobs.

That prioritization led to a study titled Creating Circular Economies in Northwest Arkansas, which The Sustainability Consortium developed for the Council in 2020. That report describes the recycling systems that have already been built and where the region could go next.

The Sustainability Consortium’s work included a report Measuring the Economic Impact of Circular Material Flow in Northwest Arkansas from the University of Arkansas Center for Economic and Business Research. This estimates jobs, income and tax revenue resulting from more local collection and use of recyclables.

The Northwest Arkansas Council and Boston Mountain Solid Waste District also commissioned a study into the region’s recycling that also lays out several scenarios for where our cities, waste districts and other recycling programs can go in the next several years. MSW Consultants and Kessler Consultants released it in May 2021.

All of this prior work culminated in 2022 with a Northwest Arkansas regional recycling vision, a document endorsed by both waste district boards that lays out shared goals and a roadmap to reach them over the next several years.

Annual Reports

NWA Recycles has begun what's never been done before: tallying up all of Northwest Arkansas' recycling efforts into one place.

The 2022 Regional Recycling Report is the first of many annual reports that will help local leaders, businesses and citizens understand their recycling systems and make them better. It found that the region in 2021 collected and processed more than 41,000 tons of recyclable materials, whether they were simple bottles and cans or more complicated items like electronics and tires. Read on to learn more.