Promotional dollars for municipal recycling programs are common victims of budget cuts, panelists at a 2010 Paper Recycling Conference session titled “An Ongoing Education” agreed.
But money spent on reminders and explanations to current and potential curbside participants pays off in increased collection volumes, the same panelists agreed. That proven payoff could be why the private sector is stepping in to fill some of that promotional gap.
Steve Thompson of the Curbside Value Partnership (CVP) subsidiary of Keep America Beautiful Inc. (KAB) noted that the privately-funded CVP has worked in cooperation with 23 community curbside programs since 2003 to increase their participation rates and collection volumes
On average, said Thompson, the promotional efforts spurred by CVP have yielded a 22 percent increase in collected volumes in those communities.
Thompson said CVP-funded campaigns, such as www.yougottabekidding.org in the Tampa Bay area in Florida, are designed not to “preach to the choir” but to reach constituencies with lower participation rates.
The payoff from such campaigns is more marketable fiber, aluminum and plastic that is in demand by manufacturers in American and overseas. “It’s about getting tons—bigger piles of [secondary commodities] that companies want,” Thompson stated.
Thompson also noted that while programs should probably spend $1 per household on publicity (or more if a program has undertaken collection method changes), what CVP finds is that they are more commonly spending about 18 or 19 cents per household.
Atul Nanda from RecycleBank’s Toronto area office provided an overview of how RecycleBank’s rewards programs has spurred greater collection in some 300 cities in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.
“North Americans love rewards programs,” declared Nanda. A montage of video clips played by Nanda included a quote from the mayor of Wilmington, Del., who remarked that the coupons and gift cards available through the RecycleBank program spurred residents of that city to go from a landfill diversion rate of almost 0 percent to 37 percent.
While Nanda says the rewards provide the incentive, he also said “none of the programs are going to work unless you have ongoing education” informing residents of the potential rewards and of how to take properly take part.
Presenter Rick Meyers, the city of Milwaukee’s Recycling Specialist, outlined how that city has worked with its recycling haulers and processors to keep educational programs intact.
The city has also worked with neighborhood groups and with Keep Milwaukee Beautiful (the regional KAB affiliate) to take advantage of a tie-in that residents see between recycling and keeping neighborhoods free of litter. “Stressing cleanliness as a tie-in was borne out by research and has been well received by people,” said Meyers.
The 2010 Paper Recycling Conference was held June 13-15 at the Chicago Marriott Magnificent Mile in that city’s downtown.