<b>Recycling at Work Awards to Be Given</B>

The U.S. Conference of Mayors will hold a special ceremony honoring the winners of the 8th Annual 'Recycling at Work' Awards, in conjunction with the Municipal Waste Management Association Annual Meeting. The event will be on March 5.

Also on March 5, the U. S. Conference of Mayors will release a 2001 Recycling At Work Best Practices Guide detailing the success stories of the winners at the awards ceremony. The guide shares the case studies of these award-winning programs and provides a road map for other cities to replicate them.

In announcing the awards J. Thomas Cochran, executive director of the Conference, said, "The Awards Program for the Recycling at Work Campaign recognizes pioneers who have fulfilled a commitment to improving the environment in their communities. The winners of the award have provided us the roadmap, and made it easier for others to succeed."

The 8th Annual Recycling At Work Awards honor the companies, organizations, universities, individuals, local, state, and federal government entities whose leadership makes recycling successful. Recycling At Work, a campaign of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, is a collaborative effort of leaders in the public and private sector to establish an office-recycling ethic in America. Mayors actively participate in this partnership in an effort to preserve natural resources by recycling and buying recycled-content products and to reduce some of the millions of tons of solid waste sent to their increasingly crowded landfills.

The awardees and the categories are the following:

Dell Computer Corp., DMA/Robert Rodale Recycler of the Year; Award

Naval Undersea Warfare Division, Newport; DMA/Robert Rodale Recycler of the Year; Award

Norm Thompson Outfitters; DMA/Robert Rodale Environmental Mailer of the Year; Award

Jackson County; Clean Your Files Day; Award

Massachusetts Operational Services Division; Buy Recycled; Award

IDOA Greening the Government; Buy Recycled; Honorable Mention

Collins & Aikman Floorcoverings; Closed Loop; Award

Saint Paul Neighborhood Energy Consortium; Public Education; Award

The City of San Diego; Public Education; Award

Southern California Edison; Employee Education and Outreach; Award

Bear Creek Corporation; Environmental Responsibility; Award

John Deere Credit, Environmental Responsibility; Honorable Mention

Unified Governments of Athens-Clarke County; Commercial Recycling Program; Award

The two top awards are the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) Robert Rodale Awards. DMA established the annual Robert Rodale Environmental Leadership Awards competition in 1991 to recognize environmental leadership. These awards honor the memory and spirit of Rodale's long-time chairman and chief executive officer, the late Robert David Rodale. The two top awards, Recycler of the Year and Environmental Mailer of the Year, include a $5,000 cash award, funded by Rodale, to be donated in the names of the winners to an environmental cause of their choice.