CLARK COUNTY RECYCLING DONE RIGHT CAMPAIGN Changing and tracking - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

CLARK COUNTY RECYCLING DONE RIGHT CAMPAIGN

Changing and tracking recycling behavior at the curb

Kim D. Harless, Environmental Operations Specialist

WSRA WRED Event - March 29th, 2018

CLARK COUNTY, WA

Seven cities and a town Largest city: Vancouver 2017 Population: 474,643 2% increase in population last few years 9-12% increase in tons of garbage over last few years

100,000 200,000 300,000 400,000 500,000 1993 1995 1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015 2017

Inbound Tons Population

Single-Family Recycling Residue by Percent Weight of Total Inbound Recyclables

11.43% 14.72% 15.71% 17.81% 16.65% 19.14% 19.83% 22.70% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

Pros

• Positive reinforcement
• People may be more openly receptive
• Less likely to negatively react or retaliate

Cons

• May not be as motivated as negative reinforcement
• May not be as effective, but may have same costs

Soft tactics

5

Wanted to avoid…

Being the “Recycling Police” Negative attitudes towards recycling Elected officials - All publicity is not good publicity

Be prepared.

Notify the police Notify elected officials Be able to defend your project

Public Perception

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Point of behavior Personal individualized feedback Reaching new audiences Collect data from the curb

It is effective…

Why Tags?

7

2010 Pilot

• Plastic Bags: 70% improvement
• Glass Bottles: 94% improvement
• Overall: 22% improvement

2012 Pilot

• Saw similar results

2015 – first rollout year

• Presort, post sort, and post-post sort

TEST, TEST, TEST

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2015 Effectiveness Study Results

Control June 13th % reduction October 17th % reduction Plastic Bags/Wrap* 1.3% .78% 40% .8% 38.5% Total unacceptable 26.4% 20.5% 22.3% 19.6% 25.8% All values percent by weight *Significant declines in loose grocery bags; film and wrap remained constant Results for glass were uncertain due to seasonal changes and crushed glass

“It appears that the outreach campaign had a positive impact on the quality of recyclables set out in Clark County” – Green Solutions Check out the Recycling Partnership for resources and case studies

4 weeks to target 20,000-25,000 carts with 10 temporary workers in teams of two Have only reached about 60% of households

Implementation Overview

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Teams of two

2016

2017

2015

Data Collection Opportunities

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Think of the possibilities! And do it!

Data Collection

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Cart Tagging By occurrence – how popular is the mistake?

• The percent of the population making a mistake – where a behavior

change needs to be made

Characterizations Studies By ton – how massive is the problem?

• The impact of those incorrect behaviors on the facility

One bad apple or collective community of mistakes

• Two different problems, with different ways to approach

What’s in the cart?

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How popular is the incorrect behavior?

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30.55% 30.33% 20.87% 19.86% 12.96% 7.47% 7.00% 5.96% 5.08% 5.06% 4.73% 4.35% 4.28% 2.90% 2.61% 2.11% 1.90% 1.80% 0.86% 0.69% 0.60% 0.55% 0.47% 0.45% 0.44% 0.18% 0.05% 0.05% 0.03% 0.00% 5.00% 10.00% 15.00% 20.00% 25.00% 30.00% 35.00% Looking Good Hard Plastic Packaging Plastic Bags Plastic Wrap To-go Cups Paper Towels and Napkins Other Garbage Food-soiled Paper Foam Food-soiled Cardboard Tanglies Empty from Truck Tissue Garbage HHW Glass Food Waste Textiles Loose Shredded Paper Wood Wires Yard Debris Empty Set Out Hoses Electronics Diapers Light Bulbs Pet Waste Sharps

2017: Percent of carts tagged for...

1. Miscellaneous hard plastic packaging, such as clamshells, salad containers, and blister packaging 2. Plastic Bags 3. Plastic Wrap/Film 4. To-go cups (paper and plastic) 5. Paper towels and Napkins 6. Other garbage (not any other category; not a bag of garbage)

• Home goods like brushes, shower curtains, plastic plants and chairs, etc.
• Other plastic packaging like candy wrappers
• Lids to containers
• Cigarette butts and packaging

Top offenders by popularity

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End of the sorting process vs. Actual non-program materials due to customer error

Contracted with Green Solutions in 2016 and 2017 to find answers

RESIDUE VERSUS CONTAMINATION

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Single-Family Recycling Residue by Percent Weight of Total Inbound Recyclables

11.43% 14.72% 15.71% 17.81% 16.65% 19.14% 19.83% 22.70% 10.60% 14.70% 9.23% 8.00% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

Residue Rate Contamination Rate MRF Error

Material % Description Fines 26.0%Too small Plastic packaging 6.9%clamshells, lids, blister and other plastic packaging Other wastes 4.8%Other items like diapers and miscellaneous garbage Non-recyclable paper 4.1%Wax or plastic coated, wet strength and freezer boxes Wood and C/D 4.0% Plastic objects 3.9%like toys and other objects, not packaging Rigid plastics 3.8%Possible to be recycled within a rigid recycling program Textiles 2.8% Food Waste 2.6% Bagged garbage 2.4%A bag of garbage Glass 1.5%Any glass Plastic bags 1.4% Plastic film and wrap 1.3% Non-recyclable metals 0.7%Mixed metals, metal lids, and appliances Styrofoam 0.3% Shredded paper 0.2%Both bagged and loose

Impact, by weight, at the MRF?

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Rank Popularity (cart tags) Weight (sort study) Combined T

• p 5

MRF T

• p 7

Pre-Sword MRF T

• p 7

Post-Sword Hit List? 1 Plastic Packaging Plastic Packaging, including plastic cups Plastic Packaging (2) Hoses and stretchy or tangly items Hoses and stretchy or tangly items Plastic bags and film 2 Plastic Bags and Wrap/Film Other waste T

• -go cups

(4) Plastic Bags and Film Plastic Bags and Film Non-recyclable paper and food waste 3 T

• -go Cups

Non-recyclable Paper Other waste (7) Bottles of Hazardous Chemicals Biological waste T extiles 4 Paper T

• wels

and Napkins Wood and C/D Non- recyclable Paper (7) Food-soiled paper T extiles** GARBAGE, including biological 5 Other garbage Plastic Objects and Rigid Plastics Plastic bags & Wrap/Film (9) Propane tanks Bottles of Hazardous Chemicals Non-recyclable plastics…? 6 Food-soiled paper T extiles Sharps Food soiled paper and food waste** 7 Styrofoam (including food service) Plastic Bags and Wrap/Film Large car parts Propane tanks

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Clark County’s status

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Increased operational costs Increased bale quality Increased residue Increased domestic end-markets available Nothing has been taken off the recycling list!

Impacts of National Sword on Clark County

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September/October

• Brokers became conservative and market for MWP became uncertain,
• MWP began to stockpile
• Added at four FTEs to improve bale quality
• ~5% to 1.9% contamination
• Slowed line. Material still coming in and flowing out doors – bottleneck

November

• Slowed the sort line from 25 tons per hour to 14
• Diverting nearly all out-of-county tons to other MRFs
• Material no longer flowing outside the facility
• Added another four FTEs to paper sort lines
• Material going to SE Asia instead of China

December

• MWP became no longer marketable. Creating ONP product instead.
• Remaining MWP reprocessed into ONP, or disposed

2017

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January

• Domestic markets reemerged to accept ONP product
• 1.1% contamination

February

• 0.65% contamination – so close!
• 10-15% of the paper that was formerly recycled is now

landfilled

March

• Material is all able to be moved
• Some disposal of stored bales from when the market

disruption first occurred

• Possible buyer identified of the 10-15% MWP that used to be

recycled

2018

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• Upset to learn recyclables were

going to China

• China is not to blame
• Opened some eyes about the

mystical process

• Elves come and pick up
• Fairies use magic at the facilities to

make new items!

• Public may be more receptive

to “stronger arm” tactics

Public and Political Perception

26

Outreach

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Different states Different state agencies Different system models Same waste-shed (mostly)

In the Portland, OR Media-shed

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Upcoming…

• Inviting local news or

radio hosts to come to transfer station

• Help in separating us from

Portland and Oregon

• Inspire confidence in the

system Now…

• Blogs
• App
• Tabling
• Social media
• Challenge

What we are doing in response

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Green Neighbors Blog Series

Resilient Recycler

RecycleRight App

Tabling Events

Social Media

• Soft approaches are effective too
• Great for communities that would be resistant
• Who particularly value privacy and property
• Use tested models
• such as those by the Recycling Partnership
• Pilot in your community before rolling out
• National Sword may open opportunities to be more strong-

armed, but soft is a good start

In conclusion

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Questions?

3/29/18 Clark County Recycling Done Right Campaign 36

Kim D. Harless

Kim.Harless@clark.wa.gov 360.397.2121 ext. 5957