Delaware-based Dover Downs Hotel & Casino is in the process of implementing an in-room recycling program, allowing guests to participate in separating recyclables from regular landfill waste.

“Our goal is to reduce the amount of waste going to the landfill and to increase sustainability for the environment,” said Ed Sutor, president and CEO of Dover Downs. “We are in the process of converting receptacles in the bedrooms/suites area to a container for recyclables only, and keeping the waste receptacle in the bathroom for trash only. With the help of our green-conscious guests, we hope to see a significant increase in our overall recycling efforts.”

“We expect to dispose of at least one ton of recyclables per day from the in-room recycling, which means one less ton in the landfills,” added Rich Duncan, Director of Facilities for Dover Downs Hotel & Casino. “This will save the company an additional $135 per day in tonnage costs and transfer charges.”

The property disposed of more than four million pounds of waste in 2012, 50 percent of which were recycled. Figures for 2013 forecast recycling efforts increasing this year to 60 percent or better. “We now recycle just about everything we can, including scrap metal to light bulbs to garbage to organic materials including wood chips and straw from the barns and even grass clippings,” said Duncan. “We send five to six tons each week to the Peninsula Compost Company, the organic recycling center in Wilmington. The organic waste is turned into compost for gardens and landscapers.”

Per Delaware’s Universal Recycling Law, all commercial businesses in Delaware will be required to participate in a comprehensive recycling program no later than January 1, 2014. Dover Downs Hotel & Casino has been ahead of this curve, having begun wide-ranging recycling efforts in 2007.