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Recycling Champions

The Recycling Coalition of West Virginia honors Recycling Champions who reach beyond their normal responsibilities to contribute time and service to support the recycling industry in the Mountain State. These Recycling Champions provide recycling leadership across the state and make a significant contribution to the recycling community.

Jefferson County resident Lyle Campbell “Cam” Tabb was posthumously honored as a Recycling Champion by the Recycling Coalition of West Virginia for his important contributions to recycling and composting education in the Mountain State.

The Tabb family has farmed in Jefferson County West Virginia since 1872. In 1976, Tabb, with his parents, his wife Jane, and brother Howard founded the business Lyle C. Tabb and Sons Inc., near Leetown on a part of the family farm known as Vinemont. The farm operation evolved to embrace organic fertilizer and in 1994 became the first “Certified Yard Waste Compost Operator” to be certified by the West Virginia department of Environmental Protection.

Tabb established a free drop-off for grass clippings and leaves. Once processed on-site, these items are sold as compost or added to the topsoil mix that is utilized in the farming operation. A roll off container service was established to support the disposal needs of other farms, construction sites and storm debris recycling. Once filled, the containers are transported back to the farm where the manure, pallets, scrap lumber, tree debris, food waste, and limbs is turned into firewood, animal bedding, compost, topsoil blend and mulch or used in lieu of commercial fertilizer.

Today the free drop-off location allows the public to drop leaves and yard waste - as is or in biodegradable bags 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The company also supports private partnerships by being the backbone to the management of brush, leaves and grass for the regional municipalities and county solid waste authorities. Their support enables the municipalities and counties to offer affordable collections for food waste, lumber waste, yard waste and brush. The company offers more than 70 roll-off containers spread across hundreds of businesses in Berkeley and Jefferson County for all types of organics. The life of Cam Tabb continues to impact the region. His commitment to the community is evident in his service to others including the Farm Service Agency, Jefferson County Planning Commission, Prostate Cancer Survivor Counsel, Jefferson County Fair Association and Clarke County Young Farmers.

Katherine Mariska teaches at Romney Elementary in Hampshire County and encourages her students to embrace environmental stewardship.

In October, her class buried a school breakfast and dug it up on Earth Day the following spring. Once the students witnessed how unchanged the plastic fork, juice cup and straw were, the class stopped using single-use items and started composting food waste.

The class takes part in the West Virginia Climate Change Professional Development program and learns how to recycle paper, plastic and cardboard. In addition, Romney Elementary students have collected over 236 pounds of plastic film for the Trex School Challenge.

Lucie Refsland of Greenbrier County Lucie Refsland, of Lewisburg, was honored as a Recycling Champion by the Recycling Coalition of West Virginia.

Refsland has been recycling for decades and currently is serving as a board member of the Greenbrier County Solid Waste Authority.

Her passion for recycling is contagious. She volunteers her time supporting the efforts at the Greenbrier Recycling Center and once a month holds a question-and-answer workshop at the center. She also writes a newspaper column called “The Recycling Lady” which appears in five different newspapers. She uses the column to answer questions, update recycling news and provide interesting insight to the industry.

Refsland’s impact is evident as her community strives to recycle more material and to do it correctly. She has inspired new programs to collect toothbrushes, empty toothpaste tubes and empty dental floss containers for recycling.

Terree Hofe works diligently to recycle as many materials as possible.

Every week, she collects all the cardboard associated with the Springfield Assembly Food Pantry, along with other boxes in the congregation that accumulate. She also picks up cardboard at Capon Bridge Elementary, along with other recyclable materials from the school’s classrooms. As a volunteer librarian at the school, Hofe cleans up and mends donated books so students are able to receive free books.
In her personal life, Hofe saves and cleans cans, plastic bottles and paper for recycling.

If she is attending an event in public and sees a person ready to throw a bottle or can into the trash, she intervenes and helps to see that it is recycled. If drinking from a plastic water bottle or glass herself, she saves them until she gets home to add to the recycling. Hofe is responsible for coordinating the Backpack Ministry at Capon Bridge Elementary with multiple churches, providing filled bags weekly for students/families in need. She ensures all the cardboard cartons of the 100-plus items of food that come in are recycled. If anything is brought in with heavy plastic wrap, she collects that as well.

North Fork Disposal in Pendleton County has been honored as a Recycling Champion by the Recycling Coalition of West Virginia, in collaboration with the state’s 50 solid waste authorities.

Recycling Champions are businesses or people who reach beyond their normal responsibilities in contributing time and service in support of the recycling industry in West Virginia.

North Fork Disposal, owned by the Bennett family, operates the only drop-off recycling center in Pendleton County. The facility recycles approximately 133 tons of material a year. Northfork also has drop-off sites at businesses and schools throughout the county and works with the local 4-H club to enhance recycling, thus providing Pendleton County with a much-needed service typically not available to rural counties.

Gayle Allen of Hampshire County nominated by Susan Parker WV DEP Youth Environmental Program and Region VIII Solid Waste Authority.

Mrs. Allen has overseen the school's participation in plastic film recycling challenge through the Trex company. Last year they collected 4,408 pounds of plastic.

Kevin and Ashley Strum

Of Berkeley County are committed to making sure students have access to a recycling program.

Teresa Blackmonof Wyoming County nominated by Wyoming County Solid Waste Authority and Brittany Bauer.

Blackmon helped Wyoming East High School the start a recycling program which has expanded to local offices, businesses and throughout the community.

Nominate a Recycling Champion

Know someone who reaches beyond their normal responsibilities to contribute time and service to support the recycling industry in the Mountain State?

You know a Recycling Champion. Recycling Champions provide recycling leadership across the state to make a significant contribution to improve the recycling West Virginia. The Recycling Coalition of West Virginia, in collaboration with the West Virginia Solid Waste Management Board and the state’s fifty solid waste authorities honors Recycling Champions.

Sample Link

The goals of the Coalition’s Youth Contest are to encourage students to use their creativity and learn about recycling.

The West Virginia Recycles campaign features the theme, “It All Comes Back to You.”

The slogan presents multiple messages; a recycled product or material can return to consumers as another product; recycling comes back to consumers as an improved environment; and it is everyone’s responsibility to recycle.

Sample Link

Lesson Plans

Our Educational Outreach Programs offer chances for teachers to win classroom funding prize money. Teacher lesson plans align with the West Virginia College- and Career- Readiness Standards (WVCCRS) for science. Lessons may be modified per grade level and may be used for cross-curricular instruction.

Recycling Lessons for classroom instruction.

2025 Recycling Lessons
2025 Recycling Investigations
2025 Coloring Contest for students Pre-K through 3rd grade & 2025 Freedom Contest for students 4-12th grade.

23rd Annual ReFashion Show

Huntington Mall - Macy’s Court, 500 Mall Road, Barboursville, WV 25504
Saturday, November 22, 2025
Registration Starts at 10:00 AM - Show Starts at 1:00 PM
The Re-Fashion Show is organized by the Recycling Coalition of WV, Inc. Major funding for the ReFashion Show comes from Goodwill Industries.