December 10, 2008
Mayor Bill White announced today the three winning ideas from the Recycle Ike contest for new ways to recycle green debris and keep it out of our landfills. The City of Houston has collected over 5 million cubic yards of green debris resulting from Hurricane Ike and has directed significant amounts to mulch and composting applications. The purpose of the contest is to help develop new markets for recycled green debris to deal with volume spikes from storms like Ike as well as the area’s on-going vegetative and woody waste trash collection.
“We need to keep this waste out of our landfills and coming up with new markets for recycling green material is good for our region, both environmentally and economically” said Mayor Bill White. “I am impressed with the caliber of ideas coming from the Recycle Ike contest.”
Some 208 proposals were submitted to the online contest from six different countries and 33 different states. Five judges from the private and public sector included a successful renewable energy entrepreneur, a venture capitalist, a green material recycler, a climate change expert, and the city’s sustainability director. The top ideas were selected based on originality, practicality, and sustainability.
The winning ideas are:
- First Place: Biochar
- Team: Rice University group led by Bill Hockaday
- Second Place: Bioreactor Sand Pits
- Third Place: Houston Farm Corps
The sponsor for the Recycle Ike contest is Living Earth, a local mulching and green debris recycling company. The first place team will receive $10,000, the second place team will receive $5,000, and the third place team will receive $2,500.
Ten additional teams were identified as honorable mentions for their ideas. Winning results and details of their entries are posted on the www.recycleike.com web site.
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