Thank you 2019 CRA Sponsors! AGENDA What Really Works? Education, - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Thank you 2019 CRA Sponsors!

AGENDA

What Really Works? Education, Enforcement & the ROI

Mary McClellan

Special Thanks to The Recycling Partnership for generating this information and allowing us to share their data!

Communicating to Decision Makers

You say: “China Sword’s impact on demand for recyclables, domestic markets adjusting to global changes, and contamination issues are leading to higher processing costs.” They hear:

Communicating to Decision Makers

You say: “China Sword’s impact on demand for recyclables, domestic markets adjusting to global changes, and contamination issues are leading to higher processing costs.” They hear:

Communicating to Decision Makers

Communicating to Decision Makers

• What are your assets in helping decision

makers keep going?

• Citizens of your community
• Large Economic Benefits
• Environmental Benefits
• Full Cost Accounting and Cost Distribution
• DATA on effective improvements

Communicating to Decision Makers

• Citizens
• Citizens want to recycle and are willing to pay more
• They deserve a say one way or the other
• Examples: Cleveland County, NC
• Kernersville, NC
• Greensboro, NC

Communicating to Decision Makers

• Economic Benefits:

Source: ISRI.com

Communicating to Decision Makers

• Economic Benefits
• Recycling used to be real expensive!
• Recycling has experienced many highs and lows
• It is one of the only utilities that has a chance of bring money into your

community again because it is marketable

• We have enjoyed the market highs for many years…
• But we need to keep this job creating industry whole right now as we

adjust to the changing markets.

• Communities have made a significant investment in recycling; to divest

would be a potentially huge loss when markets recover. Source: ISRI.com

Communicating to Decision Makers

• Environmental Benefits
• Recycling as a practice began out of environmental

concerns, not economic ones. That hasn’t changed.

• We still need to save landfill space
• We still need to conserve natural resources
• Recycling remains the environmentally friendly and

sustainable thing to do.

Communicating to Decision Makers

• Full Cost Accounting:
• Changes can be made that improve your bottom line
• Recycling doesn’t exist in a vacuum
• Recycling is a significant portion of the total solid waste

generated; landfilling it would have significant impacts on

• perations
• Recyclables costs the same to landfill as garbage and

require more trips per ton

• Cost increases distributed across each household are easier

to wrap our heads around

• These impacts must be fully accounted for

DATA is KING!

Communicating to Decision Makers

• Annual Informational Card/Mailer (.60 cents/home)
• Oops Tags/Direct Feedback (depends)
• Top Issue Mailer (.34/home)
• Top Issue Signage (minimal per home)

But how well do these really work?

Communicating to Program Users

According to The Recycling Partnership’s random sampling of 600 Households…

25% rely on information they have been mailed about recycling

8% - Newspaper 6% - Government Website 6% - Other Website 6% - Cart Info

Communicating to Program Users

According to a Recycling Partnership’s study of Denver, Colorado after a pilot educational campaign using all methods…

43% of residents recalled the

• ops tag left on their container

18% - Recalled their mailer 13% - Recalled seeing a Truck Advertisement 2% - Facebook Post

Communicating to Program Users

Rejection Makes a Bigger Difference!!! Case Study: City A received tagging only =

22% decrease in households needing tags

City B received tagging + rejection =

45% decrease in households needing tags

Source: The Recycling Partnership

Communicating to Program Users

Rejection Makes a Bigger Difference!!! What does this signify?

Fewer repeat offenders

More and more technologies are available to assist your own efforts at tagging and identifying repeat offenders using GPS- based apps:

• Mobile 311
• Rubicon Global
• Cities using technology: City of Greensboro NC, Atlanta,

and more!

Communicating to Program Users

If you do all four, what happens?

• In Atlanta, 57% reduction in contamination levels and a

62% reduction in bagged recyclables, total value to the City

• f $378,000.00
• Needham, Massachusetts showed went from 28%

contamination to 14% contamination at their recycling drop offs

• Phoenix, El Paso, Orange County all saw major

improvements from this approach.

Communicating to Program Users

• The Tools are Out There
• Data Doesn’t Lie
• What are Next Steps:
• Meet with your MRF Shed (we can help get you started)
• Talk to your MRF more often
• Write a positive article, share a positive message on social

media, talk about how recycling isn’t dead at your next dinner party

• Be confident in defending recycling; it is still magical!

Communicating to Program Users

• More info:
• Cra-recycle.org
• www.recyclingpartnership.org
• Email: staff@cra-recycle.org
• Call us at 877-972-0007