Louisville Zoo's Innovative Recycling Program
The Louisville Zoo has partnered with WestRock Recycling to streamline waste management across its entire grounds. Visitors now encounter a simplified sorting system: instead of having separate bins for bottles, cans, or paper, you just have to separate dry waste from wet, compostable waste.
How the System Works
Dry Waste
Dry waste encompasses paper, plastic, metal, and cardboard materials positioned throughout pathways. WestRock Recycling professionals sort this material at their facility, ensuring proper material recovery.
Compost
Compost includes foods and liquids placed in marked bins near dining areas — African Outpost, Lakeside Smokehouse, and Wild Burger — then sent to Smith Creek, Inc. for processing into beneficial organic material.
Landfill
Only true landfill items such as diapers and wipes are collected in bathrooms and parking areas, dramatically reducing the zoo's overall landfill contribution.
The initiative benefits resource conservation, visitor convenience, and landfill reduction. This collaborative approach protects natural resources while minimizing environmental impact — consistent with the Zoo's core mission of bettering the bond between people and our planet.
