"Innovations" Case Studies: Serving Diverse Populations with Recycling

Case Study: El Monte, California

Overview

Although El Monte’s recycling program is still in its infancy, the community has an extensive diversity outreach program. This includes multilingual on-site technical assistance to businesses, multifamily units, and nonprofit organizations. The multifamily multilingual outreach program has reached all of the community’s 34 mobile home parks and 450 of its 475 apartment/condominium units.

According to Polis Associates, Inc. (contracted by the city to manage its recycling program), the recycling rate at multifamily units rose from 1 percent in 1995 to 31 percent in 1998. Businesses and industries raised their recycling rate from 11 percent in 1995 to 57 percent in 1998.

El Monte is a very diverse city (see table below). More than 67 percent of El Monte’s population is of Hispanic origin. Getting the recycling message out is a big challenge for officials. More than 42,000 of the city’s 115,000 residents do not speak English very well. Almost 58,000 speak Spanish, and more than 10,000 residents speak Asian languages. Language was a major challenge to overcome at multifamily units, because Spanish and Asian languages were the dominant languages spoken by managers of these facilities.

Table: Demographics of El Monte, California (Source: 1990 U.S. Census and City of El Monte fact sheet, City of El Monte Planning Division, 1998)

The frequent turnover of manager's at multifamily facilities complicated this challenge. Although many of El Monte’s apartment units received recycling service, contamination and misuse of recycling facilities was a major reason for low recycling rates in the multifamily sector. Language was not such a barrier to getting the recycling message to businesses, because most business owners tend to be bilingual.

The transient nature of the city’s residents and small business owners is another challenge. The community has a high turnover of rental units, and 60 percent of the housing units within the community are rentals. Many times, owners of businesses do not reside within the community and the managers in charge of the businesses move often from job to job. Twenty percent of the recycling newsletters mailed regularly to businesses, industry, and multifamily units are returned, despite constant updating of mailing lists.

Another challenge that recycling officials and auditors must overcome is the distrust of residents and business owners who speak little or no English. Many residents within the community may not be legal U.S. residents. They may shy away from contact with officials, fearing that the recycling staff member may be from the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service. Business owners may perceive that recycling officials are checking for code violations and therefore may be resistant to interviews.

Program Characteristics

The city prints some outreach materials in Spanish but focuses primarily on using bilingual waste auditors to contact businesses and multifamily complexes. According to the city’s recycling manager, El Monte’s recycling success is due to bilingual waste auditors. Bilingual waste auditors have visited every business in the city and more than 400 apartments, condominiums, and mobile homes. Many of the auditors are local residents who have been trained at a local community college. They are sensitive to the needs of area residents, as well as to cultural differences and economic situations.

The picture below shows a bilingual recycling brochure used in El Monte.

According to Dave Polis of Polis Associates, Inc., 75 to 80 percent of managers at multifamily complexes have at least some difficulty understanding English. The recycling manager believes that area businesses, apartments, condominiums, mobile homes, and nonprofit organizations are more responsive to questions and recycling assistance given by bilingual auditors.

After staff members perform audits, they record whether future follow-up should be in a language other than English. The city then sends follow-up announcements and recommendations in the appropriate language.

The community’s multifamily outreach includes identifying property managers and owners and arranging individual meetings with them. Once officials have tracked down who is in charge of paying the waste bill, a bilingual waste auditor sets up an on-site meeting and reviews the waste generated. Officials then suggest recycling options, such as appropriate locations for recycling bins and specific outreach materials (bilingual tenant brochures and flexible bilingual signage) that can maximize recycling. Officials also offer communication assistance between apartment owner or manager and their hauler.

Polis Associates, Inc., offers additional services to increase recycling rates in diverse populations. It distributes a brochure and poster with text in both English and Spanish, side by side, to encourage residents of multifamily buildings to recycle. Its auditors help managers distribute brochures and locate posters. The recycling manager has also produced three bilingual (Spanish and English) videos on recycling-related issues (business recycling, paper recycling, and household hazardous waste) and has released several bilingual local public service announcements on recycling.

Costs, Economics, and Benefits

El Monte pays for its recycling program through an IWMA fund. Waste Management, Inc., provides residential recycling and waste services for housing units of four persons or less and charges residential units directly. The city receives limited funding from grants for the collection of used motor oil and contracts with a separate company for providing curbside collection of household hazardous waste and used motor oil. A variety of contractors provide the city’s commercial recycling and waste services.

Owners of businesses, multifamily/condominium units, and nonprofit organizations pay contractors directly for these services. El Monte contracts with Polis Associates, Inc., for managing its recycling program, performing waste audits, and for providing a recycling technical assistance service. The city pays a yearly fee of $170,000 for this service, which includes community outreach.

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Last updated: October 26, 2007