Area businesses with exceptional recycling programs are encouraged to see how they rate against other businesses by participating in King County’s 2008 “Best Workplaces for Recycling” event.

Following the success of the inaugural list in 2007, King County has opened the application process for this year’s listing of the businesses that are tops in reducing the amount of recyclable materials that they send to the landfill.

All businesses operating in King County outside Seattle are eligible to apply.

Each year, businesses in King County send more than 250,000 tons of recyclable materials to the landfill, with an estimated value of more than $18 million. The “Best Workplaces for Recycling” showcases the best recycling practices for businesses, and encourages increased recycling efforts throughout the business community.

Part of the King County Solid Waste Division’s “Recycle More. It’s Easy to Do” recycling education campaign, the deadline to apply for the “Best Workplaces for Recycling” list is June 30.

The list will be publicized and announced to the public in early summer.

Interested businesses must complete a short, online application to determine their particular recycling level. To make the list, a business must meet at least 10 of the 33 recycling criteria, such as offering recycling bins at every employee workstation, purchasing recycled content products and offering employees tips on how to recycle more.

The online application is available at http://www.metrokc.gov/dnrp/swd/garbage-recycling/apply-best-workplaces.asp.

Twenty-one businesses were named to the “Best Workplaces” list in 2007 and were featured on the King County Web site and in the local media.

These businesses demonstrated the very best recycling programs in their businesses practices and for their employees. The list is available at http://www.metrokc.gov/DNRP/swd/garbage-recycling/best-workplaces.asp.

King County recycling information is available at http://www.metrokc.gov/recyclemore.