More than 400 players spanning 21 teams across Southern California collected and recycled over 1400kg of items, including 769kg of plastics, during 'Recycle.Goal.' The 7-week regional contest encouraged young athletes to recycle and learn about the value of recycling by rewarding them for their efforts.

"Plastics are a valuable resource, and ACC is pleased to see these kids collect hundreds of pounds of readily recyclable plastics and reduce litter by getting these plastics into the recycling stream," said Steve Russell, Vice President, plastics, American Chemistry Council. "These players should be proud of their efforts. Because of them, the plastics they recycled will go on to have second and third lives as useful new products, which helps conserve resources and support green businesses and green jobs."

As part of 'Recycle.Goal.', soccer teams comprised of players ages 10-13 competed to collect the most recyclable material by weight. The winning team, the Alliance FC under-10 girls, will receive tickets to an upcoming LA Galaxy event. Sports Authority, LA Galaxy, Keep California Beautiful and American Chemistry Council teamed up to launch "Recycle.Goal." in September citing a need for all Californians to work together to increase recycling and reduce litter.

The competition is such a success that it has inspired Diamond Bar Soccer League to conduct recycling programs on its own to raise money and clean up their cities. "This program is a real eye opener," said Antonio Gamboa, President of the Diamond Bar Soccer League. "Once we started collecting plastics, bottles and cans, we caught recycling fever, so we decided to start recycling other things. Recently, we started a league-wide printer cartridge recycling program. And soon we will start recycling electronic waste."

Posted by Fred Bugenhalgen