How Waste Management Offers Recycling Education in Communities Across the Country
Waste Management employs a variety of approaches including, in some cases, door-to-door outreach, in its attempts to improve recycling rates in cities nationwide.
Do you wish the residents in your community were more aware of how to properly recycle? Waste Management has taken on that challenge of educating customers and is employing a variety of means including, in some cases, door-to-door outreach.
“Waste Management has several outreach programs that we are running throughout the country that are designed to test the effectiveness of different educational strategies on reducing recycling contamination,” says Janette Micelli, manager, external communications with Waste Management. “We understand there is a not a ‘one size fits all’ approach as every community and program is different.”
Door-to-Door in the Northwest
In the Puget Sound region in the state of Washington, Waste Management deploys a team of 12 enthusiastic college interns who do door-to-door outreach, explaining the benefits of recycling and offering helpful tips to residents.
This is the fourth summer that Waste Management has hosted the internship program, which typically spans from 10 to 12 weeks. The interns work in 26 cities in the Puget Sound area in Washington. Their goal is to connect with a decision maker and discuss how to improve and enhance recycling outcomes. Interns conduct site visits, check out dumpsters to assess recycling habits and contamination and discuss best practices.
“[The interns have a] conversation … about increasing service or things that the property manager is concerned about,” says Michelle Metzler, manager, public education and outreach, Pacific Northwest Area for Waste Management. “Sometimes, it’s just about leaving a flyer at the front desk. They’re really trying to have the best conversation that they can to educate folks.”
At multifamily properties, which typically have lower recycling rates than single-family residents, interns offer to go door-to-door (with permission from property managers) and talk to families individually. They walk residents through the high level picture of what goes in the recycling bin and drop off flyers and recycling guides that have been translated into several languages including, Amharic, Chinese, Hindi, Korean, Russian, Somali, Spanish and Vietnamese.
Is the outreach program working? While Metzler says they can’t track a direct rise in recycling activity to the door-to-door outreach, they do know their education efforts make a difference.