Guest Blogger: The Four C’s to Recycling Success

The below article is by Alison Richardson who works in the Office of Waste Reduction and Recycling at the University of Michigan. Last summer, the office worked to compile recycling best practices among top recycling buildings on campus. These best practices were condensed into a guide to help lower performing buildings boost their recycling rates. The full report is available here. The below article is a summary of the key take-aways and findings.

Across the University of Michigan campus, and campuses in general, recycling rates vary widely by building. The U-M Office of Waste Reduction and Recycling sought to document the waste practices of top performing buildings with the goal of assisting facilities with lower recycling rates. The project began with identifying recycling rates, averaged over a three year period, fiscal years 2008-2010, for U-M buildings. Buildings were placed in one of six usage categories; administrative, athletic/recreational, classroom, residence, research and unions, to ensure buildings with similar functions were compared. Current practices were compiled into a best practices report largely applicable to any campus building.

Facility managers in these buildings were interviewed about their perception of recycling in their facility, building culture, custodial involvement and training, special recycling/green groups and any environmental champions within the building. Surveys with similar questions were provided to both building occupants and custodians. These interviews were in conjunction with a facility tour to view bin quantities and placement.
From this research, four “C’s” to recycling success emerged: communication, convenience, culture and custodial habits.

Communication
Establish a communication strategy for distributing recycling information, including making recycling information accessible (via email or postings near bins) and ensuring that staff are aware of any changes. Successful buildings had also identified environmental champions within the building and utilized them to help disseminate recycling information. Communication should also flow both ways, so building occupants should have access a point person(s) to go to with recycling questions.

Convenience
In common areas, place trash bins and recycling bins together in convenient areas (e.g. near entrances/exits, bathrooms, newspaper stands) so that recycling and trash are placed in the proper containers. If containers are located conveniently and close to each other, both types of waste are more likely to end up in the proper container. It is also essential to locate bins at points where people most need recycling.

Culture
While a recycling-friendly culture may seem difficult to cultivate, it is important to the success of recycling within an individual facility. Faculty, staff, and students should feel comfortable discussing recycling with co-workers, exchanging information, and pointing out recycling “mistakes” when an item lands in the wrong bin. The goal is to make placing recyclables in the recycling bin the norm. It is also important to let the building occupants know when their actions are leading to recycling success and motivate them to continue creating a building culture that has a positive recycling impact.

Custodians
For custodians to be fully dedicated to recycling at the facilities they maintain, recycling must be emphasized during training sessions and staff updates as necessary. Custodians should also be encouraged to pass recycling information along to building occupants.

While these key best practices may appear simple, it seems it is the easy practices that are most often overlooked. However, it is encouraging that these best practices are, in theory, uncomplicated. Strategies incorporating recycling communication, convenience, culture and custodial actions can be tailored and utilized at every campus facility and improve recycling rates campus-wide.

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