Santa Fe - Since 2002, the New Mexico Recycling Coalition (NMRC) has recognized individuals, businesses and communities that work to reduce waste and support recycling and composting in New Mexico. Nominations for the 2017 Recycling Awards were reviewed by a committee made up of NMRC Board members with over 60 years of combined experience working in the recycling field. The southern part of New Mexico made a clean sweep during the 2017 awards with programs from Silver City to Las Cruces claiming all four awards. The 2017 Recycling Award winners include:

E. Gifford Stack Lifetime Achievement Award: Terry Timme, Town of Silver City

• Recycler of the Year: Mary Canavan, NASA White Sands Test Facility
• Diversion Program of the Year: South Central Solid Waste Authority
• Community Program of the Year: Keep Luna County Beautiful

The recycling awards were presented on June 7th at the NMRC Annual Meeting at Recycling training that took place at the Albuquerque Museum. Winners were presented with a certificate and a piece of recycled art made from found scrap metal and glass by Albuquerque artist, Mitch Berg.

Highlights of awardees include:

E. Gifford Stack Lifetime Achievement Award - Terry Timme
Terry is a PhD micro-biologist by training, but has dedicated the second part of his career to sustainability programming. As the Town of Silver City's Planner, Recycling and Special Projects member within the Office of Sustainability, Terry has implemented strong recycling programming in Silver City and surrounding communities with exceptional kindness, intelligence and a positive attitude that have set a precedent in the industry in our great state.

Terry retired from Baylor College of Medicine in 2005 and moved to Silver City, where he formed the recycling advisory committee that he has chaired ever since. Terry began working with the Town of Silver City when the Town created their Office of Sustainability in 2010. Initially his work focused on energy efficiency and renewable energy but because of his interest in recycling, and the foresight of the office directors, Nick Sussillo and Denise Smith, Terry was able to expand their mission to include waste reduction.

With Terry's help, in just the past five years, the Town of Silver City has ushered in a fully automated curbside, cart-based residential and business recycling system that is a model for excellent rural recycling in New Mexico. Terry helped to secure funding from the NMRC's American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funded recycling hub "improvement" grant in 2012, to allow the South West Solid Waste Authority (SWSWA) to bale single stream material and sort out valuable cardboard. Thus, Silver City and SWSWA went from seeing recycling as a cost, to a source of revenue, and Terry's leadership also dramatically increased transportation efficiency in the program.

Silver City's curbside recycling program has seen a recent update with residential curbside bins replaced with 96 gallon carts, updated commercial collection carts and automated trucks. Throughout all of the Town's updates and recycling progress, Terry is always willing to share best practices with fellow recyclers, including citizen groups in Cibola County, attendees at NMRC's biennial conference and residents of Silver City.

Beyond his work in his hometown, Terry serves as a sought-after-voice and opinion on the NMRC board of directors, where he has served as a member for the past four years and as a member of the Executive Committee for the last three years. Terry is set to retire in July and will be enjoying is retirement as a newlywed! He met his soul mate, Sara Boyett, in Silver City through work at the local Audubon chapter and the couple got married just a few months ago.

Recycler of the Year: Mary Canavan
Mary is a 21-year veteran of the NASA White Sands Test Facility (WSTF) Contractor Environmental Department with considerable professional experience and a variety of technical skills. Her WSTF career has been diverse, and includes project management, field work (both geological and archaeological), research, data evaluation, and report compilation. Since 2005, she has led the WSTF Sustainability Program Initiative Team (WSIT) in the development of the award-winning recycling program, chartered a preeminent Sustainable Acquisition process, developed associated training, and established an effective awareness program that engages employees and fosters the culture of environmental stewardship that has emerged at WSTF.

Additionally, Mary has been a champion for recycling for the last 12 years in her home, community and workplace. She is the Sustainability Program Lead at the NASA White Sands Test Facility in Las Cruces. Among her many responsibilities, Mary supports the site sustainable acquisition program, oversees the Environmental Management Program for Opportunities in Resource Conservation, is project lead for the site solid waste and recycling contract, and also happens to be an avid dumpster diver. During her tenure with the recycling program, the NASA facility recycling rate has risen from 37% in 2005 to 89% in 2016.

In 2016, Mary approached South Central Solid Waste Authority (SCSWA) about partnering with NASA to recycle usable materials that would otherwise go to the landfill. Material not used on the NASA site and that cannot be sold or sent to other federal agencies, are transferred to SCSWA and made available to the community, including schools and non-profits. Materials made available through SCSWA include office furniture, plastic barrels, various office supplies, and usable lumber.

Mary served as a volunteer for both the South Central Recycling Partnership and the Glass Recycling Subcommittee to increase community recycling in Dona Ana County. She currently serves on the Board of the Las Cruces Green Chamber of Commerce and heads the Green Committee which supports local businesses that want to reduce their environmental footprint.

Her latest project involves working with SCSWA and Keep Dona Ana County Beautiful to develop strategies to support recycling at large events including local festivals, public sporting events, and non-profit fundraising events.

In the words of one of her nominators, "You might say Mary has recycling in her soul... and has successfully moved multiple programs forward by partnering, building consensus, and developing innovative recycling programs that work."

Diversion Program of the Year: South Central Solid Waste Authority
In 2009 the South Central Solid Waste Authority, located in Las Cruces, New Mexico, launched one of the state's first large-scale curbside recycling programs. Since this time they have set a strong example for recycling excellence in New Mexico. Under the leadership of manager Patrick Peck, the Authority continues this trend by implementing new programs, adding services, educating residents, focusing on schools and being willing to serve as a leader and role-model in the state.

Accomplishments include diverting over 40,400 tons of household recyclables since 2011 and launching a sustainable glass program in a state that has few existing markets for glass. Since April of 2014 their glass program has diverted over 600 tons from the waste stream and created a product that is beneficially used by the community, as well as providing raw materials for a local sand-blasting small business. The Authority has launched a community tire shredding program that diverted over 60,000 lbs of shredded tires from the waste stream to the Dona Ana County International Jetport for beneficial use on their airfield.

Additionally, the Solid Waste Authority hosts over 50 community litter clean ups each year and has expanded their school program to include all 3 school districts in Dona Ana County.

Further accomplishments by SCSWA include a 24% Diversion Rate for the past 6 years (surpassing the state's diversion rate of 19%); providing over 32,000 households with curbside recycling, over 250 business with commercial recycling and over 40 school campuses with single stream recycling; and providing access to recycling at 8 County Collection Centers to serve Dona Ana County residents.

One of SCSWA's key strengths is their process of partnering with other agencies, building a consensus, and continuing to set - and accomplish! - new goals. SCSWA partners with the NM Environment Department (NMED): Solid Waste Bureau, NMED Health and Safety Bureau, NM Recycling Coalition, The New Mexico Chapter of the Solid Waste Association of North America, Dona Ana County, City of Las Cruces, City of Truth or Consequences, Sunland Park and Anthony.

To top it all off in 2016 they received the prestigious Occupational Safety and Health Administration's Steps to Safety Health Achievement Recognition Program (SHARP) Award for their proactive culture of safety. And they aren't stopping, to date in 2017 they have collaborated with the City of Las Cruces to host the first Zero Waste Event in Las Cruces and they have brought recycling services to the rural unincorporated community of Chaparral, New Mexico by building a new rural transfer station.

Community Program of the Year: Keep Luna County Beautiful
Keep Luna County Beautiful (KLCB) is a Keep America Beautiful affiliate that is managed by Joe Padilla and Jessica Etcheverry and implements numerous community building recycling initiatives, such as the "You CAN Do It" Program and the annual Community Yard sale.

"You CAN Do It" is a recycling program that assists children in low income families. The "You CAN Do It" program provides an opportunity for children to receive swim or bowling passes throughout the summer as rewards for recycling. The children collect 48 aluminum cans that are taken to the local extension office, the County's partner, where they turn the cans in for either a bowling or swimming pass. The cans are recycled and help to create a smart and simple solution that increases diversion, recycling education and the involvement of families and children in an impoverished area. From May 2014 through May 2017, the You CAN Do It Program collected 2,091 pounds of aluminum cans and gave away over 1300 bowling and swim passes to local children!

Since 2013, KLBC has hosted a community yard sale with approximately 80 vendors bringing their used personal items to sell, swap or give away at the centrally located Court House Park. This allows items to be reused, recycled and repurposed which in turn reduces the amount of materials that ends up in the local landfill. The popular event draws a crowd of over 2,000 community members twice per year to find deals on household items, as well as unique treasures. Luna County provides the park space free of charge and the Teen court participants clean the area after the event.

About New Mexico Recycling Coalition
New Mexico Recycling Coalition is a non-profit member-supported organization with the mission of inspiring New Mexicans to reduce, reuse and recycle. The organization serves as a recycling advocate working with a diverse group of stakeholders, communities, businesses, schools and grassroots activists to help build sustainable and efficient recycling programs. To learn more, visit www.recyclenewmexico.com.