Dive summary:

• It may not be the biggest city, or the most famous, but Fresno, Cal. has shown to be the most innovative in citywide recycling with an average rate of 73% landfill diversion.
• The most effective measure to increase recycling has been an aggressive education platform in schools according to Patrick Wiemiller, Fresno’s public utilities director.
• Fresno is an agriculture city, which adds to the importance of optimized space and resources, a landfill does no good for farming, but recycling to add nutritious material back into the soil helps both crops and livestock.

From the article:

With such large volume, recycling is an issue of proportion. John Mohoff of Sunset Waste Systems took me through his processing facility, a sprawling warehouse of conveyor belts that sort plastics, metals, and papers and prepares them to be crushed into giant cubes. “When we started, it was just paper, aluminum, tin, and glass,” Mohoff said. “Now we can do all kinds of plastics. And film too.” In total, that translates to nearly 7,000 tons of things that Fresnans throw out each month that ends up being repurposed. ...