Windmoeller & Hoelscher Corp. (W&H) and Keep Blackstone Valley Beautiful, an affiliate of Keep American Beautiful, teamed up for a community litter pick-up in Lincoln, Rhode Island. In under two hours, the group of 10 collected more than 20 bags of garbage, including cans, bottles and wrappers, along with several tires and vinyl siding.

“It feels good, as a citizen, to be out there contributing to the community in a positive way, but picking up someone else’s garbage certainly adds a dose of frustration to the mix,” said Catherine Mattson, marketing communications manager at W&H.

As a supplier of machinery for the production of flexible packaging, W&H is concerned about what happens to that packaging at the end of its initial life cycle.

Andrew Wheeler, president of W&H, said, “We as a company went out to support the clean-up activities that are desperately needed in our immediate community. Today the area looks great, but we’re aware that within the coming weeks and months, litter will be strewn about again.”

“Legislators are threatening bans as a solution. But a huge part of the overall problem is the atrocious behavior of individuals disposing of their garbage on the roads,” added Wheeler.

Much of the litter that was picked up was made of easily recyclable and already recycled items such as aluminum, glass and plastic.