The City of Knoxville is pleased to be among the organizations partnering with the Tennessee Valley Earth Partnership to make Saturday Night on the Square a recycling event. The show on June 23 will bring thousands of music lovers to downtown beginning at 4 p.m. "In addition to the great sounds and good times, the event will also produce an estimated 24,000 pounds of trash," said John Homa, the City of Knoxville Public Service Division's Solid Waste Reduction Specialist, "and that is something Knoxville would like to see reduced." With the help of Keep Knoxville Beautiful and the Tennessee Valley Earth Partnership - the organization that coordinates EarthFest - the City hopes to do just that and keep thousands of pounds of recyclable materials out of landfills. Extra recycling containers will be placed throughout the Square for the event but everyone will have to play a role to make the environmental effort work according to Mayor Bill Haslam."To make Saturday Night on the Square a successful recycling event we are going to need help from concert goers," he said. "We hope that Knoxville citizens will work with us and take the time to throw their discarded items in the correct containers." Event goers can also help limit the amount of trash generated at the downtown show by not bringing or discarding unacceptable materials at the event. Materials like Styrofoam and tin foil, for example, should not be placed in recycling containers.

"We are looking to recycle as many cans, plastic bottles and cups as possible," said Bob Whetsel, Public Service Division Director. "Specially labeled collection containers for recycling will be placed in visible areas and next to each trash can that our service area crews put out, giving event goers a choice to do the right thing with their recyclables." Cat Wilt, Board President of the Tennessee Valley Earth Partnership, indicated that the organization is excited about the effort and noted that with a little education, a lot of volunteers, and assistance from the public it will be a successful recycling event."The citizens of Knoxville have repeatedly shown, whether at EarthFest or Sundown, that they appreciate the opportunity to recycle at these types of events," she said.Other partners in the recycling effort with City are Snukals Productions, Advanced Polymer Recycling, Knoxville Area Chamber Partnership, University of Tennessee Recycles, SP Recycling, CAC Americorps, and the Knoxville Recycling Coalition.