In light of Flag Day approaching, Advanced Disposal, the city’s solid waste contractor, is offering Troy businesses and residents an opportunity to properly retire their battered and tattered American Flags.

Flag Day is observed on June 14 and commemorates the adoption of the United States Flag on that date in 1777.

Beginning in June and lasting through Sept. 11, Advanced Disposal will properly retire a persons American Flag in accordance with the United States Flag Code, which states a flag should be retired in a dignified manner by being cut up in methodical strips and destroyed by burning.

Advanced has said they will also find companies specializing in nylon flag recycling to retire worn nylon flags in a dignified manner and giving them a chance to once again become a symbol of the United States.

Advanced Disposal CEO Richard Burke said he knew that following Memorial Day many American Flags would be flown with some having seen better days.

“Some of those stars and stripes may have seen brighter days, and as an American company, we believe in the time-honored tradition of properly retiring American flags,” Burke said. “It is an honor for us to offer this service to our customers and neighbors.”

Advanced Disposal’s Marketing Manager Katrine Strickland said the recycling program for the American Flags had been a great way for Advanced to reach out into their communities and show that the company cares about more than just solid waste.

“We are an American company, and it’s an honor to be able to provide this service free to the community,” Strickland said. “We certainly are in the business of end of life materials, the American flag just needs to be treated with more care than the regular items we collect. We thought it would be a good time to do it in the summer months when more flags are typically flown and there are more flag related holidays during this time.

Strickland said the program had started last year focusing mainly on Advanced Disposal’s landfills, but the opportunity to expand the program was one the company could not pass up.

“Last year, we actually did do it just at our landfills,” Strickland said. “This year we really thought it’s something that was fairly easy to do, so let’s just do it at all our facilities. We launched it and just tried to expand it to all of our facilities.”

The program will end on Patriot’s Day, Sept. 11, and Strickland said the company is currently unsure of if they would continue the program past that date.

“It’s a possibility, but right now were’ just looking at Sept. 11,” Strickland said. “We picked it because it’s Patriot Day, and it’s the type of thing that if you run it all the time people might say, ‘Well, it’s an ongoing program, so I’ll wait.’ But, if you put parameters for people, especially around the flag holidays, they’ll be more likely to do it. But for right now, this year, we will end the program on Sept. 11.”