Education Campaign Results in Increase in Recycling

As a supplement to Minnesota’s Recycle MORE campaign, the Curbside Value Partnership (CVP), Stamford, Conn., has joined forces with the Recycling Association of Minnesota (RAM) and the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) to select three communities in which an education program with the goal of increasing participation in curbside recycling was launched.

The participating communities saw an average 13 percent improvement in recycling volume compared to prior years.

Beginning in November 2008 on America Recycles Day, the CVP worked closely with St. Louis County, McLeod County and the Western Lake Superior Sanitary District, which represents Duluth, to improve collection in collaboration with Recycle MORE, Minnesota’s statewide initiative designed to increase residential recycling awareness and participation.

“We are very pleased that through our partnership with CVP, Minnesotans are recycling more!” says Wayne Gjerde, recycling market development coordinator for the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. “We set a lofty goal of increasing recycling statewide by 50 percent by 2011. We are very proud of the efforts thus far among residents in the participating communities. These efforts help us to get closer to reaching our overarching goal.” 

Together with RAM and MPCA, CVP implemented and measured a grassroots and social marketing campaign designed around existing Recycle MORE creative material to reach residents through strategic marketing and media relations.

McLeod County, St. Louis County and Western Lake Superior Sanitary District launched a series of advertisements, including billboards, grocery store displays, movie theater ads and local public access channel ads. The advertisements were designed to motivate residents to recycle more—whether at the curb or at the many regional drop-off sites. CVP supplemented the existing ad campaign with in-store promotional displays at area retailers through a partnership with Bernick’s Pepsi Bottlers.

“The Recycle MORE campaign is very creative, which made it easy to work with RAM, MPCA and the three participating communities to build a measureable education effort around it,” says CVP Program Director Steve Thompson.

The Curbside Value Partnership is a program of Keep America Beautiful Inc. designed to grow participation in curbside recycling programs nationwide. More information is available at www.RecycleCurbside.org.