Retired Planner Karen Sullivan

Wins Recycling Leadership Award

ONEONTA – Karen Sullivan, retired county planning director, yesterday received the Lifetime Recycling Leadership Award from the state Association for Reduction, Reuse & Recycling.

Sullivan has long worked to make the county more environmentally friendly, said Pat Knuth, executive director of The Arc Otsego, which nominated her.  Among other accomplishments, Sullivan initiated the county’s mattress-recycling program  and helped launched the annual Hazardous Waste Collection, now more than 20 years old.

“Karen has worked with us tirelessly in starting our ReUse Center in 2017,” said Pat Knuth, Arc executive director. “To date, we have recycled and kept from the waste stream over 1.5 million pounds of usable material.”

Due to COVID-19, the award’s ceremony on Nov. 19 was virtual.