The Recycling Partnership has launched a digital resource offering a variety of free customizable outreach materials to help recycling coordinators boost materials recovery at apartment and condo complexes.
The Multifamily Recycling Guide and Community Toolkit provides recycling officials with templates for infocards, door hangers and flyers. Local officials and property managers can use these tools to better communicate acceptable materials and proper diversion practices to multi-family residents. Officials can add web URLs, logos and other elements specific to their communities.
The resource also includes case studies from two municipalities – Orlando, Fla. and Tacoma, Wash. – laying out details on how those cities took concrete steps to help improve multi-family recycling in different ways.
In Orlando, local leaders have been working to implement an ordinance passed in 2019 that requires multi-family and commercial properties to offer tenants access to recycling. Tacoma, meanwhile, is focusing on tailoring multi-family outreach to a community that is culturally diverse and is home to many residents whose primary language is not English.
According to The Recycling Partnership, more than 22 million American households live in multi-family dwellings. Of that population, more than 13 million households lack access to on-site recycling.
The organization presented a panel on multi-family recycling at the online Resource Recycling Conference last week.
“There’s lots of success stories in this country and also lots of challenges,” Craig Wittig, director of community programs at The Recycling Partnership, said during the discussion. “We’re looking to engage more people in the years ahead.”
Wittig added that the multi-family guide and toolkit will be offering additional resources moving forward, including case studies from more communities as well as from the private sector.
