Resources

Getting your recycling program to achieve peak performance is no small feat. If you’re already there, kudos (also, what’s your secret… seriously?).

The struggle is real. Whether you’re fighting an uphill battle against recycling apathy in your community, struggling to hit your diversion rate targets, or looking for creative ways to do more with less, there’s no shortage of hurdles stopping you from hitting your goals. Sadly, there’s a shortage of good solutions, and there’s certainly no one-size-fits-all fix.

In our last article on surviving the China Ban, we identified the biggest recycling issue facing communities across the country: contamination.

This week, let’s look at ways you can confront contamination head on, whether it’s implementing recycling communication tools that can help your community right now, promoting organizations that can complement your efforts in the community, or exposing your residents to third-party sources of recycling information to keep them informed.

So here it is, everything you need to know.

If you want more residents to recycle, you need to understand what’s stopping them. Recent numbers put Canadian and American recycling rates at 27% and 34.6% respectively. Not terrible. But not great, either. Especially when you consider Germany's impressive rate of 56.1%.  

Which is to say: more of us need to recycle, and more often.

To make that happen, let’s take a quick look at the three big reasons your residents aren’t recycling.

According to the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), U.S. solid waste infrastructure currently scores a C+. This places it squarely in the “Mediocre, Requires Attention” category.

Not exactly a glowing review, is it?

But it’s not a shock, either. At least, not if you’ve been following the news lately.

Under a year ago, China passed its now-infamous National Sword policy, banning the import of 32 categories of solid waste and setting a 0.5% contamination standard on all accepted recyclables.  

Since then, a lot has changed.  

When people think branding, multinational corporations like Apple, Google and Coca-Cola come to mind. But nowadays, everyone’s getting a piece of the pie. Even people have brands (the Kardashians, anyone?). Municipal governments, too. And, strange as it might sound, your solid waste program should also have a brand.