Participation in Recycling Program Increases with Use of Carts

Resident participation in the cart recycling program has increased an average of 12% each month since the inception of the Recycle Cart Program in July 2008. During the month of June 2008 the percentage of households that set out recyclable materials was 35%, but in June 2009, the percentage increased to 47%.  The number of households that participated in the recycling program in June 2008 was 9,097 compared to 11,925 households for June 2009.  Waste Management also recorded the tonnage of material recycled for June 2008 was 84.21 tons versus 135.43 tons in June 2009.  In addition to residents recycling more, staff reports that each month two to three residents that originally chose not to receive the blue recycle cart, have requested a cart for their recycling needs.

In July 2008 the City renewed the trash pick up and recycling contract with Waste Management and implemented the Cart Recycling program. Previously residents used blue plastic bags for recyclable items. The move to utilize carts was made with the help of a citizen committee and the desire to encourage more residents to recycle.

The city continues to educate residents on the new cart recycling program and the importance of recycling through city publications and a short promotional video titled Randy the Recycler which airs on HVTV and is available on the city web site. The video was submitted to the national City and County Communicators and Marketing Association (3CMA) Savvy award competition. It was recently announced Randy the Recycler is a finalist in the category for TV and Video - Education/Training, Population Group 14,000 - 61,000. “We wanted a fun way to inform residents of the new cart recycling program, encourage residents to continue recycling and to use the carts instead of the blue bags. We came up with the idea of “animating” the recycling cart to interact with the resident. Randy the Recycler was created to do just that,” stated Public Affairs Manager Laurie Mullens.