Neighborhood Recycling Challenge: Team Tuesday Increases Recycling Rate by Seven Percent

City average drops modestly during first week of neighborhood competition.

Team Tuesday recycled 34.5 tons of waste last week - 16.2 percent of the total tonnage collected on that day. Recyclers in the Tuesday neighborhoods, which includes Elmhurst, parts of Mt. Pleasant, Charles, parts of the West End and Wanskuck, grew their recycling rate by 7 percent during the first week of the city-wide completion. Friday's recyclers, including downtown residents, families on Smith Hill, in Federal Hill and parts of South Providence, increased their rate by 6.3 percent. Overall, though, the city's recycling rate dropped 0.8 percentage points, from 14.9 percent to 14.1 percent.

Based on data from the first week of the challenge, Team Tuesday jumped out to an early lead, followed closely by Team Friday. Team Monday - East Side neighborhoods - are in third place, seeing their recycling percentage fall 0.8 percentage points to 24.5 percent. Team Wednesday - Olneyville, Manton, parts of Mt. Pleasant, parts of Valley, Hartford and Silver Lake - saw a 0.9 percentage point drop in their rate from the starting benchmark. Team Thursday - parts of South Providence and the Jewelry District - reported a 3.2 percentage point reduction in their recycling rate.