Recycle Montana gives recycling awards

Press release

Recently, Recycle Montana held its Recycling Legislative Event in the Rotunda of the State Capitol, Helena, to honor the recipients of the 2022 recycling awards and the winner of a recycling trailer grant for $10,000.

"It's important to recognize Montanans that promote recycling as well as incentivize our youth to recycle," Recycle Montana's Executive Director Candi Zion said.

Recycle Montana served lunch to the legislators who met invited businesses displaying items they create from upcycled, recycled, reused and refurbished materials as well as composting and recycling businesses.

The businesses present included Johnson Custom Knives, Tyler Johnson, Cut Bank; Herman's Eco Inc, Anna Herman, Deer Lodge; Sew Divine, Sherry Divine, Helena; Happy Trash Can, Ryan Green and Adrienne Huckabone, Bozeman; Pacific Steel and Recycling, Rick Farrow, Helena; and 406 Compost/406 Recycling, Matt Elsaesser and Haley McKnight, Helena.

Christy Pease, originally from Havre, won the Recycle Montana Lifetime Recycling Achievement Award for 2022. She was recognized for her many years of dedication to recycling on the Hi-Line and to Recycle Montana as a board member and in creating and maintaining their website for several years. She received custom-made mountain-style goblets from Goose Bay Glass, Townsend. 

The Recycler of the Year Award 2022 was awarded to We Recycle Montana of Bozeman and Dave Leverett. Leverett launched his original business, Full Circle Recycling, over two decades ago which was later expanded to include the recycling of biofuels such as cooking oil. Around the same time, he and a partner formed Four Corners Recycling at the famous Four Corners out of Bozeman collecting 4,000 tons their first year. All of these businesses expanded exponentially and now operate under the umbrella of We Recycle Montana. Currently, 25 families benefit by employment with We Recycle Montana. The lead team members are: Abe Schunk, general manager, Four Corners Recycling; Ryan School, metals and baled OCC manager; Peter Harned owner, Full Circle Recycling, and Dave Leverett, co-owner, founder.

High schools and high school organizations applied and competed for the Recycle Montana $10,000 Recycling Trailer Grant for 2022 with the award going to Twin Bridges FFA. They will be refurbishing and retrofitting a used trailer, a theme in keeping with Recycle Montana's promotion of the "Rs," to enhance and create more recycling opportunities for their high school and community. In their application, the group stated the recycling trailer will provide a means to grow and expand their existing efforts to promote environmental stewardship within the community and allow their students to take a leadership approach to building community connections. With the trailer, they plan to serve the needs of the FFA, BPA, Madison County Fair/ Rodeo Grounds, Twin Bridges, veterans, highway cleanup program, Senior Citizens Center, County Food Bank, 4-H, Twin Bridges Floating Flotilla, Twin Bridges Elementary School and more. The Twin Bridges FFA chapter currently collects school paper waste for the district and plans to expand their program in collecting cardboard, plastics, aluminum and large-scale salvage steel from the community.