Town of Mentor Receives Honorable Mention in 2025 Wisconsin Recycling Awards

Monday, November 17th, 2025 -- 2:01 PM

In honor of America Recycles Day on Saturday, Nov. 15, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) announces the winners of the 2025 Wisconsin Recycling Excellence Awards.

Wisconsin’s recycling law bans certain materials from the trash and establishes a statewide recycling program. For the last 13 years, the DNR has celebrated outstanding recycling and waste minimization efforts through its annual awards recognizing high-performers and highlighting proven ideas and strategies that other organizations may use to improve their recycling efforts.

For 2025, the DNR is recognizing 22 organizations for going beyond what is required by law. “This year marks a new record high number of Recycling Excellence Award winners,” said Jennifer Semrau, DNR waste reduction and diversion coordinator. “The number of nominations we received exemplified an outstanding commitment to recycling, upcycling and food waste reduction.”

In addition to landfill-banned items, which include curbside recyclables and electronics, the winners diverted many tons of food waste, roof shingles, plastic bags and film, propane cylinders, bicycles and other common materials for reuse or recycling.

Awards are given in one of four categories: Projects and Initiatives, Overall Program, Special Events and Innovation.

Honorable Mention

• Town of Mentor (Clark County)

The town of Mentor (Clark County), which won a 2023 Recycling Excellence Award for the Special Events category, continues to host vital collection events for its residents.

The Annual Clean Up Day was held on May 17, 2025, offering residents a chance to drop off unwanted items. Collected materials included: two 40-yard dumpsters filled with furniture, one 40-yard dumpster of scrap metal, numerous tires, mattresses, bikes, rugs and lawnmowers.

In addition, a significant number of electronics and appliances were collected. The event not only diverted a large volume of waste from landfills but also fostered community pride and environmental stewardship.

The town of Mentor extends its sincere thanks to all workers, volunteers, vendors, and residents who made this effort a success. View their full profiles on the Wisconsin Recycling Excellence Awards webpage.

For more information on recycling in Wisconsin, visit the DNR’s What to Recycle in Wisconsin webpage.

Feel free to contact us with questions and/or comments.