4 Keys to successful waste container messaging
What are the waste containers on your property saying about your property?
Lets face it, recycling can be confusing. Is a number 6 plastic ok to put in the recycle container? Is this packaging compostable? What goes in this container? These are all questions our tenants face on that weekly trip to the waste disposal area of our properties.
The scene that tenant experiences can be an engaging opportunity to reduce the environmental footprint of the property, or can be a signal that the management doesn’t care. While it may be obvious (hopefully) that the cleanliness of the waste disposal area sends a clear message about the management of the property, the signage can also signal an engaged property management team that is engaged with residents and providing ongoing tenant education.
In the Pacific Northwest, a partnership between Waste Management Inc., King County, and Snohomish County found that the “Four C” Formula was a key to providing an effective waste management program (links embedded).
The Four C’s represent:
1. Convenience: Make recycling and garbage containers equally convenient for tenants to access.
2. Clarity: Label containers with image-based signs to help tenants identify which containers are for garbage and which containers are for recycling, as well as which items are accepted as recyclables.
3. Capacity: Provide sufficiently sized containers and adjust your waste-hauling service levels to ensure recycling containers don’t fill up or overflow before pickup day. Overflowing bins lead to frustrated residents and valuable recyclables heading to the landfill.
4. Color: Color-code your recycling and garbage containers to increase clarity for tenants.
While co-locating garbage and recycling containers is a best practice whenever possible, clear labels that adhere to the Clarity and Color components of the Four C’s can be critical in program success. It’s pretty simple, if residents can’t quickly figure out what goes where - your going to have contamination of your properties waste streams.
Standardization of signage is a strategy that can help with both Clarity and Color. The organization Recycle Across America advocates a standardized label to help avoid bin confusion. This campaign was born in 2009, by Michelle “Mitch” Hedlund at the 2009 SWANA Recycling Conference and since was vetted by Ashoka (Global Innovators for the Public) who deemed the concept a “world-changing solution.”
From resources to actual labels, you can join the movement to standardize recycling labels at the Recycle Across America Website, www.recycleacrossamerica.org.
So what was the impact of better signage and using the Four C’s formula? In Snohomish County an 86% increase in average per unit recycling while King County recorded a 42% increase per unit. In dollars, at one King County Multi-Family property alone the average monthly bill was reduced $1,800 per month, over $21,000 per year.
In addition to signage, continuous tenant education is the other critical component for successful multifamily recycling. Often your hauler will have resources to assist with this, Waste Management for example offers a tool kit to help property managers set up a property for recycling success.
These simple steps will help you get your community on the path towards reduced impact related to your waste stream, I hope you find them useful.
You can help reduce the impact of the built environment by sharing this blog with your peers. Together we can impact the 39% of greenhouse gasses attributed to the built environment. It starts with awareness and we succeed with teamwork.
Stay well!
Chris Laughman is the author of the ThirtyNine Blog, a blog dedicated to reducing the impact of the built environment. When not blogging, Chris is helping multifamily properties reduce their energy and water impact as a senior account manager at Bright Power. A full service energy strategy company, Bright Power is a leading provider of energy efficiency, renewable energy and energy management solutions for the real estate industry. We use our Find-Fix-Follow approach to Find the best opportunities across a real estate portfolio, deploy the Fixes on specific assets, and Follow to ensure long term value, always optimizing for your financial and sustainability goals. Contact me at claughman@brightpower.com for more information