Environmentally conscious Strip resort managers brag how corks from wine bottles are recycled into shoe soles and cooking oil is converted into biodiesel. Filters from cigarette butts at some casinos are reused to make plastic pallets. Such attention to recycling even the smallest items distinguishes the Strip from the rest of Las Vegas when it comes to conservation. Strip resorts are the county’s champion recyclers, far outpacing residents and other businesses. Why? A contrary strategy is playing out, one that explains the region’s half-hearted recycling effort: The company that collects our trash owns the biggest landfill in the nation and receives little financial incentive to keep garbage out of it. So while Strip resorts recycle more than half their solid waste, about 90 percent of the county’s residential garbage is buried, seemingly guilt-free, in the desert. A CLARK COUNTY RECYCLING SUCCESS STORY For all the things our Strip resorts nail — great food, great shows, great hotel rooms, great shopping — they’ve become experts in another field most of us want nothing to do with: garbage. Half of all the trash generated in local resorts gets recycled. The secret, casino executives say, is capturing as many recyclables as possible before they hit the Dumpster. • Cigarettes rise from the ashes. Caesars partnered with TerraCycle to recycle used cigarette butts. The filters are used into plastic pallets, while tobacco scraps are used for composting.