"Innovations" Case Studies: Serving Diverse Populations with Recycling

Tailoring Recycling Programs to Reach Diverse Populations

• Keeping the Program Simple
• Target Specific Materials
• Expansion of Services
• Providing Special Pickup Services
• Special Rates on Pay-As-You-Throw
• Promote Recycling in Schools
• Waste Audits/Survey/Database

Another way recycling and solid waste coordinators can increase their recycling rates is to adjust their recycling program to accommodate for populations that may be currently missed or not taking advantage of the current program. The following are some techniques communities can offer to extend their recycling programs to their diverse constituents.

Keep the Program Simple

The more complex a recycling program, the greater the possibility of confusion and system failure. Thus, the greater the need for outreach materials to adequately describe the system. This is especially true for cities with large populations of non-English speaking residents or residents who speak minimal English. The recycling program of the City of Los Angeles is very simple. Residents can place all their recyclables in a single 90-gallon container.

Target Specific Materials

Diversity means that not all residents within a community may generate the same types of materials. Recycling and solid waste coordinators can research diverse neighborhoods and determine and target the types of materials generated to increase recycling rates. The City of Sunnyvale targets used motor oil and oil filters at multifamily properties.

A city study showed that residents of multifamily complexes with higher concentrations of minority tenants-and tenants paying lower rents-were more likely to change their motor oil on the premises. The city began offering on-site used oil collection for multifamily complexes upon request in 1996. Prior to on-site collection, the community set up 13 oil collection centers near apartment buildings to accommodate residents without curbside pickup for oil. The city contacted apartment managers directly in order to better facilitate startup of the program.

Currently 79 percent of targeted complexes are receiving the service. Reports at multifamily complexes seem to indicate that on-site collection of used oil has been successful, with more oil and oil filters being collected since before the program began.

Expansion of Services

Communities can reach much of their diverse populations by expanding their recycling program and outreach to accommodate public housing units, multifamily complexes, hotels and motels, and public facilities. Some communities, such as Sunnyvale and San Jose, have expanded their recycling service to include multifamily dwellings. Other communities have expanded the number of drop-off facilities near low-income neighborhoods.

El Monte has expanded its outreach program to reach 450 of its 475 apartment/condominium complexes and all of its 35 mobile home parks. Recycling officials in San Francisco have increased opportunities for tourists and residents to recycle with two special receptacles. “Crab catchers”-metal racks for collecting recyclables-and “ecopops”-pyramid-shaped bins with holes for collecting soda pop cans and bottles-are attached to most of the public waste bins in the city.

Providing Special Pickup Services

Physically challenged residents can more easily participate in their community’s recycling program if program officials allow drivers to perform special pickup services. Palo Alto recently began a program for residents who are physically unable to cart their recyclables to the curb. After applying for medical certification, these residents may opt to have their recycling container picked up from their backyards.

In Bellevue, Wash., drivers often pick up recyclables from the porches and doorsteps of disabled and senior citizens even though the community’s recycling program doesn’t offer this service. San Francisco’s hauler provides special pickup services for variable fees. The service is based on the distance its workers have to travel from the curb, whether or not they have to climb stairs, and other detailed criteria.

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Special Rates on Pay-As-You-Throw and Other Programs

Although many California communities have employed PAYT programs, officials may not be aware of the impact that these programs may have upon their low-income neighborhoods. Cities can offer economic incentives to encourage low-income residents to participate in PAYT programs:

• Free bags or stickers.
• A reduction in the base service charge.
• Assistance through existing utility programs.
• A percentage discount.
• A reduced per-household collection charge.
• A credit on their recycling/solid waste bill.

Before offering support, communities should develop a system for qualifying residents for PAYT assistance. Communities can use established standards such as federal poverty level guidelines, or other federal, State, or local guidelines that establish low-income status.

In Pasadena, officials sent a note to all households inviting senior citizens and disabled residents to call for a 10 percent discount on their PAYT rate. Currently 5 percent of the population receives these special rates. San Jose offers this same program but at a 30 percent discount. The city uses household size and income as the qualification criteria. In Seattle, households below the federal poverty level qualify for a low-income PAYT rate.

Low-income single-family households, seniors, or persons with physical disabilities may see paying for yard waste recycling as too difficult or too costly. Therefore communities can offer these residents a “break” by offering free or discounted yard waste removal. Falls Church, Va., offers low-income persons who qualify free stickers for its “bag and tag” program for yard waste removal.

Promote Recycling in Schools

Many cities have planned or are planning to establish recycling education in schools. In-school recycling education is extremely important in areas of diversity. In many minority homes, school children are the only English speakers of the household. By giving the recycling message in school, kids can take the message home and pass it on to family members.

Waste Audits/Survey/Database to Track and Target Special Populations

In order to increase recycling rates, learn about the diversity and special recycling needs of your community. Multilingual and other diverse outreach material can be more effective and less costly if outreach coordinators know what neighborhoods require particular materials. This is especially true for communities that produce outreach materials in separate languages.

Brochures that include more than one language are more versatile. Just as coordinators track different recycling sectors, such as commercial and residential, they should track the recycling rates of different neighborhoods in order to tailor and target their outreach program.

By far the most effective technique involves on-site waste auditing and database tracking. However, some communities may find this technique too costly and/or too time-consuming. Outreach coordinators can instead use local demographic information and participation data submitted by the community’s hauler in order to track the recycling activities of its diverse populations.

The City of El Monte hired a consultant to perform 4,500 on-site waste audits of mostly non-residential generators during the past four and a half years. The audits included 475 apartment complexes and 34 mobile home parks containing 1,500 mobile home units. The city’s consultant used the information from these waste audits to establish an extensive database, which details the type of disposal/recycling service offered, amount of material generated, and the frequency of pickup. The consultant then used information from the database to focus bilingual outreach and technical assistance towards businesses, homeowners, and apartment managers.

Recycling officials in Sunnyvale are currently studying the community’s demographics to determine the necessity of adding additional languages to their outreach materials. San Jose’s waste hauler, GreenTeam, currently selects target areas based on its common knowledge of the city and its neighborhoods. GreenTeam’s outreach coordinator acknowledges that having access to a database of San Jose’s neighborhoods would help assist the hauler in selecting target neighborhoods.

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Last updated: October 26, 2007