The Benefits of Community Recycling Programs

Establishing a community recycling program might look different from community to community, but one common thread is the benefits of recycling each community reaps.

Recycling is a service residents have come to expect all over the country. Communities want to recycle. Without a program in place, their baseline expectations are not being met. Convenient and effective community recycling programs can act as a bonus for new residents to move to the area and
for current residents to stay in the area.

The benefits of community recycling programs include the following:
» Waste stream reduction and sending less waste to landfills
» Minimizing community impact on the environment and climate change
» Reducing greenhouse gas emissions by reducing energy consumption
» Improving water and air quality
» Increasing the number of recyclable materials in the circular economy
» Fueling the local and regional economy by creating jobs and increasing tax revenue
» Minimizing costs and saving money on waste management
» Moving toward sustainable growth in a community

We only have so much land for landfills. Implementing more successful recycling programs has many benefits for communities and creates a brighter, cleaner, healthier future for us all.

How to Start a Recycling Program in Your Community

When starting a new recycling program, communities must understand their specific needs. Talk to your residents about their interest in recycling.
Look into the local government budget and identify funding opportunities. Examine the solid waste management system as a whole and do a total cost assessment. Identify savings you’ll gain in your garbage and other waste services from implementing a recycling program. Consider whether the
municipality will manage collection and hauling or if you will contract it out. Determine the options and locations of local or regional materials recovery facilities (MRFs). Once you establish a baseline understanding of your program, you can get further into the details and recycling efforts of what type of program you’ll be implementing.

Curbside Recycling Programs

A curbside recycling program refers to placing items in recycling bins or carts that are picked up by a collection service and then sorted at an MRF. To start a new curbside recycling program, your community first needs to identify the funding required, engage community stakeholders, and get buy-in from elected officials. Once that’s established, you’ll need to purchase the appropriate containers for residents. At The Recycling Partnership, we recommend cart-based curbside recycling. Recycling carts have several benefits, including cost savings, ease of use for residents, worker safety, and increased recovery.

If you manage hauling in-house, you may need to consider purchasing recycling trucks depending on how automated you want your collection to be.
Automation with your truck allows you to dictate the type of solid waste haulers you’ll need and the frequency of collection and routing.

If you contract hauling services, the contract between your program and the MRF is one of the most impactful legal documents you’ll manage. The Recycling Partnership’s Guide to Community Materials Recovery Facility Contracts offers best management practices to help.

Don’t just let the recycling carts show up at driveways. For the program to be successful, you need a long runway of informing and educating your
residents about the ins and outs of curbside recycling. Stagger educational materials with the roll-out of the new program, but ensure an ongoing annual educational budget beyond the roll-out. Ensure you have the budget to improve the quality of your materials and capture data from residents
for years to come.

Multifamily Recycling Programs

Multifamily dwellings (MFD) are a classification of housing where multiple separate housing units for residents are contained within one building or
several buildings within one complex. Think apartment complexes and townhouses. A multifamily recycling program must incorporate tactics and tools
beyond what’s needed for a recycling program focused on single-family homes.

Multifamily recycling programs are usually not provided by the local municipality, but private services can be offered to these units led by the
management company. This has the same beginning steps of starting a drop-off or curbside program—finding funding, organizing stakeholders, and
getting buy-in.

For municipalities that want to ensure MFDs have access to recycling, a multifamily ordinance is also crucial to consider. First, see if your state already
has an ordinance. If they don’t, consider putting together a team to pass an ordinance, including ambassadors to inform the community of the new
ordinance and an education team to influence the adoption of it.

Examples of potential multifamily recycling ordinances include:
» A local ordinance requiring the management of MFD complexes to offer recycling services to their tenants
» A local ordinance that includes requirements in building codes that new development and renovations of MFD properties
include provisions for recycling

Multifamily recycling programs pose unique challenges due to a need for more necessary collection systems, differing levels of awareness from
property managers and residents, and logistics for the required infrastructure.

How to Educate Your Community About Your Recycling Program

Recycling education is No. 1 when it comes to creating a community program. With an educational budget, framework, and plan, your recycling
program will succeed.

There are a few things to keep in mind when it comes to education:

1. Be conscious of your methods for explaining different concepts. Identify what you want to educate your community on and
think about the best place to get your specific points across. Use the concept of the 1/5/50 rule: There are different marketing
materials for explaining one topic, five topics, and more than five topics.

For example: The information on a recycling bin would explain only what to recycle in that bin (one topic). An informational mailer
sent out to residents would explain a few different types of recyclable materials allowed at local drop-off locations (up to five
topics). Your city’s website would list everything a resident would need to know about recycling (more than five topics).

2. Don’t sweat the small stuff. Residents may worry they have to rinse every jar completely and can until it’s spotless. Or that
there’s a little bit of grease on the pizza box, so it isn’t recyclable anymore. Or they should bag recyclables to reduce litter. Keep the
education simple for residents and be direct. Hit the basics over and over again.
» “Don’t bag recyclables.”
» “Pizza boxes can be recycled; pizza can not. Empty your box and recycle.”
» “Empty, rinse, and dry.”

3. Keep it simple. The less you say, the more impact you’ll have.