Macy addressed attendees at the National Recycling Coalition Annual Congress in Austin Monday, September 9, as part of the track devoted to growing supply.
NORCAL established the three-cart system to reach the California mandated diversion rate of 50 percent. In this system, the green cart is for compostable food scraps and yard waste; the blue bin is for recyclables; and the black bin is for all other waste.
A 60/40 packer truck picks the up the blue and the black bins, while a single-chamber side loader is used to collect the compostables.
Macy said 90 percent of San Francisco residents are satisfied with the three-bin program. Currently the program has a 50 percent curbside diversion rate, which is a 90 percent increase from the former system Macy said.
Communicating with a diverse population, residential and commercial turnover, variable route density and processing and marketing are among the challenges to the three-bin program, Macy said.
Signage incorporated recognizable images so it would be clearly understood by the diverse population. Although the signage distributed is written in English, customers can request a copy in their native language, Macy said. A multilingual recycling hotline also is offered.
“Management support is critical with business,” Macy said. Multilingual training is offered to the manager and his or her staff to ensure that the program works effectively. Many of the restaurants taking part in the three-bin program help to close the loop by purchasing their produce from organic farms that use the compost produced by the program, Macy said.
Macy said that other cities interested in increasing their recycling rates try pilot programs. He also suggested that municipalities create financial incentives for businesses to participate in the program and that programs should be designed for simplicity, convenience and the flexibility to add materials at a later point.