Florida community launches Feet on the Street recycling program

The city of Apopka, Florida, has launched a pilot of The Recycling Partnership’s Feet on the Street cart tagging recycling education campaign. According to a news release from The Recycling Partnership on this campaign, the city wants to improve the quality of recycling in its single-stream curbside recycling program by providing residents with personalized and real-time recycling education and feedback.

The Recycling Partnership, a nonprofit based in Falls Church, Virginia, says the Feet on the Street program is intended to increase the capture of quality recyclables. The program already has improved the quality of curbside recyclables captured in Orange County, Florida, creating feedstock of raw materials used in the manufacturing of new packaging and products.

“Recycling is a valuable public service for Apopka residents,” says Bryan Nelson, mayor of the city of Apopka. “Recycling provides an opportunity for our residents to protect the environment while enhancing their local economy. The Feet on the Street program will help provide guidance for residents.”

“The Recycling Partnership is pleased to partner with the city of Apopka and pilot our Feet on the Street program as we continue to optimize recycling across the Sunshine State,” says Jill Martin, director of community programs at The Recycling Partnership. “By providing residents real-time personalized recycling feedback, we are helping the city of Apopka capture more quality recyclables that are then transformed into new materials or packaging, saving taxpayers money while creating a more resilient, circular economy and a less wasteful planet.”

Apopka’s Feet on the Street pilot is being supported with grant dollars and technical assistance from The Recycling Partnership, the nonprofit says. The Recycling Partnership adds that Apopka’s grant is part of a larger project in Florida made possible in part by the Coca-Cola Foundation and How2Recycle, a U.S. and Canada-based standardized labeling system that is designed to clearly communicate recycling instructions to the public.

The Recycling Partnership reports that 70 U.S. communities have adopted its Feet on the Street program, with some communities experiencing a 57 percent decrease of nonrecyclables in the recycling stream and a 27 percent increase in the overall capture of recyclables.

The city of Apopka offers more details on its program on its website.