50 Cities Leadership Summit
The Recycling Partnership will hold the second Leadership Summit: 50 Cities Driving the Circular Economy in Detroit, MI at a date to be announced.
In 2019, The Recycling Partnership hosted its inaugural Leadership Summit in Chicago, IL. The event brought together solid waste leaders and decision-makers from 50 of the largest cities geographically dispersed throughout the continental United States for the two-day summit, which sought to drive recycling systems change across the country.
The all-expenses-paid, invitation-only meeting featured results-driven ‘how-to’ workshops on implementing infrastructure, fighting contamination, and using effective, aligned recycling messaging to better engage residents to capture quality materials curbside. Participants left equipped with a comprehensive set of ready-to-use tools and resources to drive recycling systems change in their communities.
The Summit was funded in part by the PepsiCo Foundation, Target and the Walmart Foundation, whose contributions will also fund post-workshop grants for select communities to implement recycling infrastructure and education and outreach tactics to improve the quality of their recyclables as well as their programs.
Participants came ready to listen, to share, and learn from one another. Due to the strong level of engagement and enthusiasm shown during the Summit, we are already looking for ways to continue the conversation moving forward with current and future community partners.
We know that times are tough for community recycling programs. Programs like ours that offer operational and communications assistance, free resources, and grants, help make the path easier for you and your community.
The Recycling Partnership’s more than 40 funding partner organizations also met in parallel during the Summit, allowing for engagement between the communities and funding partners over the course of the event. Funding partners were able to hear first-hand the challenges faced by communities and understand the direct impact their contributions can make to the success and vitality of local recycling systems nationwide.
Good News
The majority of resources shared at our leadership summit are available to the public! Here’s a quick list:
- Curbside Anti-Contamination Kit
- Drop-off Anti-Contamination Kit
- Customizable Campaign Builder
- Curbside Cart Grant RFP (apply for money to help increase access for your program today!)
Looking to learn about the good work other recycling programs are doing across the country? Need some more resources, or even just an outlet to talk to other recycling professionals?
Join The City and County Recycling Coordinators Group – a closed Facebook group for waste diversion and recycling professionals monitored by The Recycling Partnership. This group serves as a peer network for city and county government employees to:
- share resources and creative solutions to recycling’s biggest problems
- ask (and answer!) questions from your peers across the country
- support each other in your community work — we’re all in this bin together!
Want to be in-the-know and stay up-to-date on The Recycling Partnership news and resources? Click here and sign up for our monthly newsletter.
Additionally, join us on the last Wednesday of every month for Webinar Wednesdays, where we’ll tackle contamination through either an operations or communications-focused lens and hear from communities in the trenches working on the same recycling issues that you are every day.
Still have questions? Or want to get started working together? E-mail info@recyclingpartnership.org for more information.
Together, we can move the needle to transform recycling for good.