Waste Management and the San Diego Convention Center Calling All Eco Superheroes to Action at Comic Con

SAN DIEGO, July 17, 2014 /3BL Media/ — Eco-friendly champions, Waste Management and the leaders of the San Diego Convention Center Corporation have joined forces yet again to lead event attendees in pursuit of a greener planet at this year’s Comic-Con which takes place July 24 through 27.

The duo is on a mission to increase recycling at the San Diego Convention Center from set-up to tear down of the annual event, adding to the nearly 285,000 tons of materials already saved from the clutches of local landfills since 2011.

“We are inviting all Comic-Con attendees and vendors to join our quest to help save valuable resources from going to waste,” said Eloisa Orozco, spokesperson for Waste Management of Southern California. “As Comic-Con is one of San Diego’s biggest annual events, this is a great opportunity to support our environment by recycling as much as possible while at Comic-Con and then taking that mindset home once the event is over.”

Waste Management and the Convention Center are calling on Comic-Con attendees and vendors to appropriately dispose of trash and recyclables. Comic-Con goers and exhibitors are encouraged to keep the following earth-friendly tips in mind:

• With the high volume of traffic during Comic-Con, attendees are encouraged to reduce their carbon footprint by utilizing public transportation to and from the Convention Center;
• While at the event, look for the 150 marked recycling containers throughout the Convention Center to keep recyclables out of the waste stream;
• Comic-Con exhibitors can donate usable materials left over from the event. These materials, which would otherwise take up valuable space in a landfill, will go to local non-profit organizations: http://www.visitsandiego.com/resources/DonationsFlyer.pdf

“Environmental sustainability is a key priority of our corporation and we constantly strive to improve on our strong record of success,” said Carol Wallace, president and CEO of the San Diego Convention Center Corporation.

Waste Management and the San Diego Convention Center Corporation have devised several new additions to their comprehensive recycling effort for the event. In addition to using only natural gas Waste Management collection trucks to pick up waste and recyclables, the efforts this year include:

• Recycling all exhibit floor carpet used during the event;
• Installation of a larger automated baler to increase compacting capacity of recyclable materials such as cardboard and newly captured stretch wrap used to cover shipping boxes. Baling the materials helps compact the material and thus reduces the number of collection trips.

ABOUT WASTE MANAGEMENT
Waste Management Inc., based in Houston, Texas, is the leading provider of comprehensive waste management services in North America. Through its subsidiaries, the company provides collection, transfer, recycling and resource recovery and disposal services. It is also a leading developer, operator and owner of waste-to-energy and landfill gas-to-energy facilities in the United States. The company’s customers include residential, commercial, industrial and municipal customers throughout North America. To learn more about Waste Management, visit www.wm.com or www.thinkgreen.com.

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