America Recycles Week
In November 2020, the EPA announced a goal to increase the U.S. recycling rate to 50% by 2030
This week is America Recycles Week, and November 15th was America Recycles Day. This week millions of Americans participate in programs and activities that raise awareness about recycling and the importance of purchasing recycled products. One only has to take a look at our oceans to see the importance of this. From one-use plastic bottles to plastic grocery bags, by 2050, there is expected to be more plastic pollution in our oceans than fish by weight.
One of the most challenging places to recycle is multifamily communities. According to the EPA, recycling rates at multifamily communities average only 14%, and the contamination rates at these communities far exceeds that of single-family housing.
So why is that? What is different about single-family housing from multifamily housing recycling. What barriers are present in the former?
For starters, the infrastructure is quite different, and in many cases, it is lacking altogether in multifamily real estate. While in a single-family home, a simple tote may be sufficient for collecting landfill waste and recycling, apartment dwellers typically do not have this option. Instead, the apartment dweller must collect their debris and travel to the location of the waste containers. Upon arrival, they must interpret which container which item goes in, which may be unclear.
While tenants may take the time to sort their materials before walking or driving to the waste collection containers, they are often met with a confusing choice. Wanting to do the right thing but unsure of what the pathway is to do so.
Can you tell me which of the two dumpsters below is for recycling and landfill waste?
Perhaps a little better, but still, if you are in a hurry, is it clear what goes where?
How about now?
These are actual on-site deployments of recycling and landfill containers and an excellent illustration of the importance of the Four C’s:
Convenience: Make recycling and garbage containers equally convenient for tenants to access.
Clarity: Label containers with image-based signs to help tenants identify which containers are for garbage and which containers are for recycling and which items are accepted as recyclables.
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.
Color: Color-code your recycling and garbage containers, to increase clarity for tenants.
Each of the examples above did a good job co-locating containers, an equally important step that feeds into convenience. Whatever you make easy is what your residents will do. If you only have recycling collection at one location but landfill waste collection at multiple locations, guess what those that reside near the landfill waste locations are going to do? Put everything in that container. Likewise, those near the recycling-only collection containers are likely to put all of their waste streams into that container, contaminating the recycling.
In regards to capacity, as a rule of thumb, most properties’ recycling services should constitute approximately 50% of the total service volume at minimum, with per unit capacity in the range of 20 to 30 gallons (roughly 0.10 to 0.15 cubic yards). In many areas, increasing recycling capacity and/or the frequency of pickups enables properties to downsize their landfill waste containers, saving money in the process.
In addition to infrastructure, the success of an on-site recycling program requires two additional elements: engaged site management and tenant education.
Successful recycling programs begin with signage and properly placed and identifiable containers, but it ends with education for both staff and tenants. Education has to be a continual process, grinding the message into tenant communications, advising them at every opportunity, and making sure the on-site team understands how it works on-site as well as the importance of reinforcement with tenants.
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 ThirtyNine Blog author, a blog dedicated to reducing the impact of the built environment. When not blogging, Chris is helping the real estate industry minimize energy and water impact as the Vice President of Sustainability for Conservice, the Utility Experts. Whether Multifamily, Single Family, Student Housing, Commercial, or Military, we simplify utility billing and expense management by doing it for you. Our insight into your utility consumption provides an opportunity to identify risks. Leveraging innovation and experience, we ignite solutions with tangible impacts and track performance to ensure the trendline stays laser-focused on the goal. At Conservice, we have developed a true bill-to-boardroom solution to help truly make a difference. We have before us a tremendous opportunity. Standing shoulder to shoulder, we will get this done. Contact me at claughman@conservice.com for more information.
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