Explore Fairbanks, Golden Heart Waste Management Partner to Support Recycling
Juanita Webb, Explore Fairbanks’ Community Engagement Manager, presents Golden Heart Waste Management’s Buddy Lane with a check for $7,500 in support of recycling outreach. West Valley teacher Austin Anderson and the school’s Climate Defense League club take the first step by receiving a new recycling bin.
Photo Credit: Joshua DuVall | Fairbanks North Star Borough School District
With $7,500 in funding previously earmarked for the 2014 Arctic Winter Games recycling program, Explore Fairbanks’ Golden Heart Giving program is partnering with Golden Heart Waste Management (GHWM) to provide recycling outreach to school-aged children.
The Arctic Winter Games funding was restricted to recycling only, making the partnership a good fit. The money will help West Valley High School’s Climate Action Committee develop a pilot recycling program. Students and community partners will study how much recyclable material goes from the school to the landfill, what the logistics of recycling in Fairbanks schools would be, and the associated costs.
Steps Toward Broader Efforts
As the first step in the outreach, West Valley High received a new recycling collection bin.
“It is really inspiring to see how West Valley students are leading the way with their focus on responsible stewardship of our shared resources and land,” says West Valley High Principal Mark Winford. “Our district has always wanted to have a bigger involvement with recycling in our community, and these new partnerships may be the first step in establishing a sustainable way for schools to recycle.”
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January 2026
With support from Explore Fairbanks, GHWM plans to expand outreach to develop a curriculum on recycling for schools, to support a second annual GHWM Recycling Symposium in January 2025, and to partner with local businesses throughout the Interior.
GHWM has a growing, regularly scheduled recycling route within the Fairbanks North Star Borough, which picks up the most common recyclable materials. The waste management company is committed to educating the next generation about the benefits and numerous ways of recycling.
“Alaska ranks last in the nation with a 16 percent diversion rate of recyclable material from our landfill; the Fairbanks North Star Borough’s rate is less than 2 percent. In the first six months of operation, GHWM was able to divert 50 tons of recyclables from the landfill,” says GHWM Environmental Manager Buddy Lane. “As more GHWM customers in the business community take part in our recycling program week after week, it is Golden Heart Waste Management’s goal in the next year to divert 200 tons from the landfill.”
With West Valley High catalyzing the change, Winford says, “The students were vital in making this happen; they were ready and willing. Now we just have to see if we adults can keep up!”
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