City of San Saba’s recycling efforts receive recognition

The City of San Saba began their recycling efforts with the Cooperative Teamwork & Recycling Assistance (CTRA) in October 1999. Since then, CTRA has become Keep Texas Recycling (KTR), a division of Keep Texas Beautiful (KTB), which provides a variety of services that help increase recycling opportunities throughout the state of Texas. The San Saba center has benefited from such services as in 2022, they received a Coca-Cola Southwest Beverage grant. The grants funds provided for the purchase of magnets and recycle bin stickers which identified recyclable items accepted at the San Saba recycling center and also for educational materials to inform the public regarding proper recycling. With limited resources, the recycling process can be a tedious chore but the crews at the center get it done as can be seen by their recycling results. Juan Montoya and his recycling team: Alonzo Jimenez, Jose Rocha, Ramiro Martinez, Rick Reynolds, Paul Alcorn, and Robert Carrol have been recognized several consecutive years for their recycling efforts, and 2022 was no exception. Ms. Killian, KTR Program Manager, recently presented Mr. Montoya with a Certificate of Recognition for Outstanding Recycling Efforts in 2022.

Since 1999, San Saba has recycled 2,523 tons or 5,046,000 pounds of material. That is the equivalent of total savings in landfill fees of $88,307.45; total savings from landfill in cubic yards of 7,730; total savings in trees of 42,892; total savings in pounds of air pollution of 151,383; total savings in gallons of water of 17,661,454 and total savings in KW hours of 10,344,567. Wow! After receiving the Coca-Cola Southwest Beverages grant, San Saba implemented a plastic beverage bottle recycling challenge in conjunction with their city-wide cleanups, applied recycling stickers to the recycling bins, and distributed to the community, magnets and flyers identifying recyclables. Since said implementation, Mr. Montoya and his recycling team have noticed an increase in plastic beverage bottle recycling and the reduction of contaminated curbside recyclables. With the community’s continued recycling support, our goal is that San Saba will again be recognized in 2023. Thank you to Mr. Montoya and the City Recycling Center crew; because of all their efforts, San Saba has been recognized for outstanding recycling efforts for several years.