Knoxville, Tenn. - Knox County announced the winner of its Get Caught Recycling promotion at today's America Recycles Day event at West Town Mall. The grand prize winner, Mr. Richard King, won a new Kindle Fire HD and $50 Amazon gift card.

In an effort to recruit new recyclers and reward those who already recycle, Knox County Solid Waste and Keep Knoxville Beautiful teamed up to sponsor the get caught recycling promotion for this year's America Recycles Day celebration.

More than 560 center users registered for a get caught recycling bumper sticker. Those that displayed it on their vehicle and got caught properly recycling at one of the eight Knox County convenience centers won an instant prize pack, which included a Kroger gift card, reusable shopping bag and can crusher. The grand prize winner was randomly drawn out of the instant winner group.

"Not a lot of people think of recyclables as a valuable commodity," said Solid Waste Director Tom Salter. "We want to educate our center users that items like mixed paper, aluminum cans and cardboard have real value."

Taxpayers fork over between $1.6 and $2 million annually to haul trash to a landfill and bury it. Knox County generates revenue by selling recycled materials collected at the eight convenience centers, which is money that is not collected through taxes. Just last year, revenue from the sale of recyclable materials earned the county more than $750,000.

The promotion was made possible through a Solo Cup grant awarded to Keep Knoxville Beautiful. Along with beautification projects and litter education, Keep Knoxville Beautiful also provides recycling education as part of its mission to make Knoxville a cleaner, greener, more beautiful community.