Lakewood Recycling Down Slightly Citywide

LAKEWOOD, OH — Lakewood continues to be one of the county's leaders in recycling, but its performance in 2016 declined slightly versus 2015, according to a new report from the Cuyahoga County Solid Waste District. Lakewood's 2016 recycling rate was 50.09 percent, versus 51.62 percent in 2015.

The recycling rate is the percentage of residential waste diverted from landfills through community reuse, recycling and composting programs. The recycling rate is calculated by dividing the tons recycled by totals tons of waste generated.

In Lakewood, there were 16,357.70 tons of landfill waste (aka waste that could not be recycled) generated in 2016. The city also had 5,259.81 tons of recycled waste (think cans, boxes, etc.) and 11,159.93 tons of recycled organics.

Despite the small dip in recycling rate, Lakewood continues to lead all suburban communities in the county in recycled waste. Only Cleveland had more recycled waste, with 28,105.53 tons.

Still, in 2015 the city had 5,081.56 tons of recycled waste, and 11,920.67 tons of recycled organics. In fact, the 2016 recycling rate in Lakewood is the lowest in three years. The 2014 recycling rate was 50.48 percent.

The city's recycling rate is still one of the highest in Cuyahoga County, but declined versus its own performance.

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With a 2016 recycling rate of 76.59 percent, Cleveland Heights leads all of Cuyahoga County in recycling and reuse of waste. With Cleveland Heights leading the way, Cuyahoga County recycled 265,210 tons of residential waste last year, according to the report. That's 36.13 percent of all residential waste in the county, a 0.71 percent increase from 2015.

Over a 15 year period, a lot of progress has been made with recycling and making Cuyahoga County greener. In 2001, the recycling rate was less than half of 2016's 36.13 percent.

“The numbers are encouraging. The numbers prove that Cuyahoga County is moving in the right direction for recycling, composting and waste reduction,” says Jessica Fenos, planner for the Solid Waste District, in a statement.

Of the 59 communities in Cuyahoga County, 44 improved their recycling rate from 2015. Plus, 46 communities beat Ohio's recycling goal of 25 percent, with 15 communities achieving a recycling rate of 50 percent or more, including organics.

One of the notable regressions in the county was Cleveland, which saw its already paltry recycling rate fall even lower in 2016. The city's recycling rate fell to 13.63 percent from 15 percent in 2015. The county's largest city also generates 180,470.86 tons of landfill waste each year.

The 2016 report is available for viewing here.

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