:: Bin Buzz Fall 2005 ::

WELCOME TO THE INAUGURAL ISSUE OF BIN BUZZ FROM THE ALUMINUM CAN COUNCILS CURBSIDE VALUE PARTNERSHIP. IN EACH ISSUE WE PROMISE TO BRING YOU NEWS FROM AROUND THE INDUSTRY, FINDINGS FROM PILOT PROGRAMS, RESEARCH WE ARE CONDUCTING, AND EVEN MORE IMPORTANTLY, SHARE WITH YOU THE BEST PRACTICES IN CURBSIDE RECYCLING.

THIS NEWSLETTER REACHES EVERYONE WITH AN INTEREST IN IMPROVING CURBSIDE RECYCLING, FROM CITY OFFICIALS AND MRF OPERATORS TO THIRD PARTY ADVOCATES AND MEMBERS OF THE MEDIA. VISIT OUR WEBSITE FOR MORE INFORMATION AND TO GET INVOLVED WITH US: WWW.RECYCLECURBSIDE.ORG

A VIEW FROM THE BIN:

A SNAPSHOT OF CURBSIDE RECYCLING PROGRAMS ACROSS THE COUNTY.

KANSAS CITY, MO recently celebrated the 19 month anniversary of their dual stream curbside recycling program. The program boasts a very unique partnership with area Ace Hardware and Price Chopper stores that provides bin distribution infrastructure and unique marketing opportunities. To date, the city of 145,000 has collected over 14,567 tons of recyclables.

DENVER, CO recently launched ReTh!nk Recycling to highlight their switch to a single-stream program. The city will phase in large cart delivery to all residents to minimize costs but residents can currently recycle single-stream using existing bins. City officials expect a minimum of 70 percent increase in volume from the new program.

DALLAS, TX is currently in month 10 of a year-long pilot program among 1,400 households to test the effectiveness of single stream recycling. With the help of MRF operator CWD, the city has seen a 47 percent increase in participation and a 102 percent increase in volume. City officials will consider whether the whole community will make the switch. Currently they have a blue bag collection system. Other large cities conducting or planning similar tests include Orlando, FL and Chicago, IL.

WELCOME! According to our sources, the cities of West Valley City, Utah; Rio, California and Raymond, New Hampshire, are in the process of launching curbside recycling programs.

PARTNERSHIP LEARNINGS:

Resident education is key and budgets must be appropriate. An annual calendar is not enough!
Focusing on valuable commodities will help reach or exceed budget targets.
Reporting of data and analyzing this data is key to making informed decisions.
Relying on diversion goals alone will not improve curbside programs
Contract structures dictate action and often disincentive municipalities and/or MRFs to value and participation increases
Examining efficiencies in collection can yield significant improvements and increase participation

THE CURBSIDE VALUE PARTNERSHIP:

WHO WE ARE AND WHY YOU SHOULD CARE.

There is no question that the aluminum can is the old faithful of the recycling industry and continues to be in demand. While it may represent a small percentage of the overall commodity mix flowing from a curbside program, it represents a significant portion of the revenue. Yet the recycling rate of the can is down with only one of every two cans being recycled.

Recognizing this as a missed opportunity, and realizing that overall participation rates are declining in curbside programs, the Aluminum Association and the Can Manufacturers Institute joined forces as the Aluminum Can Council to create a new, research-based partnership with communities, haulers, MRFs and other stakeholders to identify solutions to improving curbside recycling programs. And you are invited. The partThe partnership, known as the Curbside Value Partnership (CVP) was formed to collect evidence to demonstrate that communities can create sustainable programs and increase participation to help yield more valuable materials in a cost effective way. This inaugural newsletter is one way we plan to spread the word about best practices in curbside recycling and to recruit new communities to join the partnership.

WHY NOW?

Curbside recycling is in trouble. Participation among those served is declining, the recycling of the most valuable materials is down and large communities such as Cincinnati and Indianapolis are considering dismantling programs all together.

WHAT IS THE ANSWER?

Through national consumer and municipal research, pilot programs, analysis of successful programs nationwide, the ACC found that MRFs and municipalities can increase curbside participation and economic value in their curbside streams if they commit to work in collaboration to:

Place an emphasis on sustained public communications to increase awareness and participation of their curbside programs.
Encourage and facilitate the diligent recycling of high value materials, such as aluminum cans.
Report collection data both on a tonnage and value basis to better determine where missed opportunities exist.

The ACC designed a participation and value-focused public education program in three pilot markets to test the hypothesis that enhanced communications and materials-specific messaging will drive participation and high value material collection rates. And it has proven to be correct.

NOT SURPRISINGLY, THE GREATER THE LEVEL OF COMMITMENT AND INCREASED PUBLIC COMMUNICATIONS TO RESIDENTS, THE GREATER THE IMPACT ON LOCAL RECYCLING RATES AND REVENUE GENERATED

RESULTS WE DELIVER.

In Brevard County, Florida a three-month low-cost marketing and media push to residents in the form of fliers, magnets and public relations, resulted in a 6.8 percent increase in all recyclables and an increase in value of $35,000, which to a small community like Brevard County, was a significant ROI.

ORLANDO MAYOR BUDDY DYER KICKS OFF A “TAKE IT TO THE CURB!” EDUCATION PROGRAM BY HELPING HIS DRIVERS WITH COLLECTIONS. HE ALSO HUNG DOOR HANGERS AND SPOKE WITH RESIDENTS ABOUT CURBSIDE RECYCLING.

Over 132 percent of the money they invested in communications was returned in the form of increased recyclables, 14 percent of which was from aluminum alone. Additionally, a six-month marketing and media campaign in Orlando, Floridayielded a 1,000 percent increase in bin requests, all with little financial investment by the city.

WHERE WE ARE PARTNERING.

To date, the Curbside Value Partnership includes relationships with Brevard County, Florida; Indian River, Florida; Denver, Colorado; Kansas City, Missouri; Orlando, Florida and Dallas, Texas. While each partnership is unique and tailored to address local needs, public communications focuses on promoting bin usage, environmental and economic benefits of recycling, while also emphasizing aluminum and increasing the overall quality and quantity of recycling information disseminated to residents.

THE CURBSIDE VALUE PARTNERSHIP IS CONTINUING TO GROW ITS RELATIONSHIPS WITH MUNICIPALITIES AND MRFS AND IS ALWAYS LOOKING FOR INTERESTED COMMUNITIES TO JOIN THE PARTNERSHIP.

school children image FUTURE RECYCLERS IN INDIAN RIVER COUNTY, FLORIDA SHOW OFF THEIR “BIN THERE. DONE THAT!” REMINDER MAGNETS. NEARLY EVERY STUDENT IN THE COUNTY WAS REACHED WITH CURBSIDE MESSAGES COST EFFECTIVELY THROUGH A PARTNERSHIP WITH KEEP INDIAN RIVER BEAUTIFUL.

The CVP is continuing to grow its relationships with municipalities and MRFs and is always looking for interested communities to join the partnership. A wide array of opportunities and resources are available at no cost. Further information is included on our website. Anyone interested in further details can email info@recyclecurbside.org or call Steve Thompson, Director of Recycling Initiatives, at (804)798-575

TIPS FOR COMMUNICATING WITH HARD-TO-REACH AUDIENCES:

It can be quite challenging to reach certain audiences, like new homeowners, seasonal or inner-city residents, with information about community recycling programs. The tips below provide innovative ways to reach tough audiences as we’ve learned through research and from other communities.

Translate recycling materials into languages that correlate to each community’s demographics (not always just Spanish!) and make sure they are conversational.
Include local ethnic media outlets in all outreach about community programs.
Partner with electricity companies and ask to be notified when a new customer turns on power, signifying a new resident.
Work with local real estate agents to provide information to home searchers, new homeowners and renters.
Display information in public areas of local ski resorts, sports facilities, beach clubs and senior centers.
Communicate to churches, community centers and neighborhood groups about the program.
Reach out and provide information to community-based religious organizations or the respective community leaders.
Allow “sponsorships” of your program to various corporations that reach these audiences and in exchange for their branding on your bins, in your literature, etc., you reach a new audience!
Go door-to-door to put a personal face on your program and combat any concerns. Senior citizens often rely on phone calls and visitors to get their information.
Develop an email list to reach residents with reminders about curbside. Promise not to bombard them with email but give them a friendly nudge the day before collection to get them into the habit. If possible, allow residents to sign up for an automatic email reminder to be distributed the day prior to collection day.

PEER-TO-PEER: SPOTLIGHT ON DENVER RECYCLES.

CHARLOTTE PITT, DENVER RECYCLES

We recently sat down with Charlotte Pitt, Recycling Program Manager for Denver Recycles/ Solid Waste Management to discuss their recent switch to single-stream recycling and the barriers they faced along the way. While single-stream collection is being debated in the industry, Denver’s experiences can apply to all programs.

Why did Denver recently launch single-stream recycling?

The four biggest drivers were operational efficientcies, the ability to collect expanded materials, increased customer satisfaction and to save money.

What type of changes do you expect to see in terms of volume and participation?

We expect to see our tonnage go up by about 70 percent by the end of implementation of the new carts (being rolled out over 3-5 years to minimize costs.) This will be a combination of increased materials volume and increased participation in the program. To note, we’ve only been collecting the new materials for two weeks but just last week we saw a 60 ton increase over this time last year. I think that’s a pretty good start!

"GETTING THE WORD OUT IS CRITICAL TO THE SUCCESS OF ANY RECYCLING PROGRAM.”

Did you encounter any obstacles along the way? If so, please describe.

We have designed what we think will be a very well run, efficient recycling collection program and we’ve designed it during a time when the city is operating with continued budget cuts. The downside is that with these budget cuts we have seen a significant reduction to our marketing dollars. One solution that we found was to build education support into our contracts with our processor and cart vendor. Another solution is to seek partners that have an interest in seeing our new program succeed.

How did you market this new offering to the residents of Denver?

A couple of the key components to our marketing plan include developing the theme of “ReTh!nk Recycling. Easier than Ever” which ties everything together. We also heavily rely on public relations such as press conferences and a TV PSA; paying for direct mail and select ads in neighborhood newspapers; designing truck signs to serve as “rolling billboards;” having a presence at all the major street fairs, farmers markets and neighborhood meetings, and promoting recycling in grocery stores through a partnership with Coca-Cola.We also utilize our website extensively and have seen our hits more than double since the program kicked off!

Why do communications and marketing play such an important role in your recycling program?

Getting the word out is critical to the success of any recycling program. It doesn’t matter how awesome your program design or operations are, if you don’t have people participating or participating correctly, it will never work the way you want it to.

What advice would you give other cities considering making changes to their curbside program?

Talk to other cities. In the past two years it’s really become apparent to me what a wonderful industry we all work in and how willing and generous people are to share information and knowledge. Although you likely won’t find the perfect program to fit your town or city, you’ll find lots of great pieces, that when you put them all together will help you create a good program for your community. Our new curbside program contains lots of pieces from all over the country.

What communities do you look to as models of effective curbside recycling programs and why?

We had the opportunity to evaluate the successes and the things that failed in other programs and we got to use that knowledge to create the best program for our residents. In researching the new, automated single stream program there were some resources that we found invaluable: the City of Tucson, Southeastern Public Service Authority, City of Nashville, Eureka Recycling’s Curbside Collection Study, Rehrig Pacific Company, Abitibi Consolidated and others that I know I am forgetting to mention

MAKE RECYCLING FUN

Sharing fun recycling facts with residents helps motivate them to recycle more. Here are some of our favorites:

Throwing away a single aluminum can versus recycling it is like throwing away six ounces of gasoline.
The EPA estimates that 75% of what Americans throw in the trash could actually be recycled. Currently, only 25% is.
Incinerating 10,000 tons of waste creates one job; landfilling 10,000 tons of waste creates six jobs; recycling 10,000 tons of waste creates 36 jobs.
The aluminum can is 100% recyclable and can be used to make new beverage cans indefinitely, demonstrating recycling at its finest! “Every can, every time!”
Recycling 35 percent of our trash reduces global warming emissions equivalent to taking 36 million cars off the road.

TARGETING THE INNER CITY

Recently the Aluminun Can Council partnered with Kansas City to conduct focus groups of inner-city (or “urban core”) residents. We sought to identify communication preferences and curbside recycling habits among this target demographic. Following are some of the key lessons learned:

urban kids image

Residents have strong ties to their neighborhood associations and often rely on “neighborhood captains” for information.
Most respond favorably to direct mail and door-to door campaigns.
Many count on religious organizations and their leaders to provide trustworthy information.
There is a high transient population who need to be informed of the curbside program when they move in.
Aluminum cans are often recycled separately from the rest of their recyclables and used as a way of donating to special fundraisers.
Most know that aluminum and newspapers are recyclable, but more information is needed about commodities like steel cans, aluminum foil and paper towel rolls to eliminate confusion.