The United States General Accounting Office (GAO) last week issued an important report identifying specific efforts that could significantly improve municipal recycling programs. GAO undertook the report at the request of U.S. Senate leaders seeking recommendations for specific steps to increase the U.S. recycling rate, currently at 32 percent. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has a set a goal to reach a national recycling rate of 38 percent by 2008.
The reports findings are based on extensive interviews with recycling professionals around the U.S., including recycling coordinators in eleven large U.S. cities. Many of these leading recycling programs have been featured at NRC’s Annual Congress & Exposition and our state affiliates’ conferences, and most of the officials interviewed by the GAO are active and long-time NRC members.
The results of the study confirm the experiences of NRC members on the front-lines of the nation’s recycling movement. The most successful recycling programs:
– Use larger, more convenient recycling carts for residents and businesses;
– Target a wide-range of material types including food scraps;
– Employ highly automated collection and processing systems; and,
– Apply innovative pubic education and financial incentive programs to encourage recycling participation.
For example, the study found that a key to the high performance of the recycling program in Austin, Texas was the use of residential garbage collection fees based on the size of the garbage can used. Through recycling more, residents can produce less waste, use smaller garbage cans, and thus lower their garbage collection bills.
In cities such as Minneapolis and Philadelphia, financial incentives were also used to achieve high recycling participation. Minneapolis residents who actively participate in the city’s recycling program through processing, sorting, separating, and bagging their recyclables receive a $7 credit in their monthly garbage bill. In Philadelphia, households participating in the RecycleBank program receive up to $25 per month in coupons—based on the weight of their recyclable materials—that can be redeemed at major retailers.
In New York City, public education and outreach programs were identified as critical to increasing recycling. The City educates residents about the recycling program through its website, mailings, television commercials, and advertisements on public transportation. And in San Francisco and Seattle, collecting organic materials food discards, yard debris, soiled paper, and wood have driven up overall recycling rates. In San Francisco, composting programs increased the city’s recycling rate by 14 percent, and in Seattle, composting contributed to increasing its recycling rate by 13 percent in 2003.
Recycling stakeholders interviewed by the GAO identified a variety of federal policy options they believe could help municipalities increase their recycling rates. The first priority identified by these stakeholders was to establish a nationwide campaign to educate the public about recycling and to help to reinvigorate the recycling movement. In 2006, EPA selected NRC to undertake this effort.
To implement this national campaign, NRC has embarked on a historic partnership with EPA along with major food and beverage manufacturers to refine the way that Americans think about recycling. This first-of-its-kind national campaign will work with government and businesses to use accurate recycling terminology and standardized, consumer-tested icons in recycling education materials, product advertising and product labeling, and will launch a broad-based marketing and education campaign that reinvigorates consumer participation in recycling.
The second most cited option for federal action to improve recycling was for Congress to enact a national bottle bill. NRC has historically maintained a position of neutrality on a national bottle bill. The third most frequently identified policy option was for the federal government to require manufacturers to establish systems that consumers can use to recycle their products. NRC is an active participant and leader in ongoing discussions with federal agencies, Congressional leaders, and manufacturers on shared responsibility options.
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