To tag or not to tag: A new report from SWANA analyzes the delicate approach municipalities take when enacting fines for curbside recycling. | ADragan/Shutterstock

A new report from the Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA) examines the role penalties and education play in reducing curbside contamination, enhancing bale quality and increasing the effectiveness of curbside programs. 

“Contamination can present a major safety concern when materials such as lithium-ion batteries, full aerosol cans and sharp items are placed in the recycling, making it imperative that we prompt recyclers to use their recycling bins only for accepted recyclable materials,” said SWANA CEO Amy Lestition Burke.

Cart tagging, education and similar interventions help discourage residents from contaminating recycling bins, but the associated overhead and administrative costs can impede program progress.

Specialized feedback generates insight

While education campaigns play a part in reducing curbside contamination, behavior change begins with more specialized touchpoints or communication with residents and business owners. The report showed that tagging contaminated carts while also reusing services can lower contamination by as much as 59%.

“The idea of tagging a cart with the specific recyclables that they want or specific contaminants, seems to really be a good approach. Just going out and tagging carts for the sake of tagging them doesn’t seem to have that much of an impact,” said Jeremy O’Brien, SWANA director of applied research.

O’Brien said municipalities need to be specific about the types of contaminants in bins and educate residents once the problem materials are narrowed down, as “they may not know what they’re doing wrong.” 

The report further demonstrated that residents interested in recycling tended to learn more and increased their performance with the use of cart tagging. 

Intentional noncompliance

Despite consistent education and outreach efforts, the report found that 25-50% of the participants of the communities studied accounted for 50% of the contamination on a consistent basis. 

“There were learners that also increased their performance, but then there was a third group called the underperformers and they found for this group, they actually increased their contamination rates after the education programs were implemented,” O’Brien said. 

These “underperformers” intentionally use the cart destined for landfill with no aspirations of improving behaviors. As for this segment, “they don’t deserve to be served with weekly curbside recycling collection,” said O’Brien.

“We basically said there seems to be a group in many communities that really don’t want to participate correctly in curbside recycling and they’re using the recycling cart as a second garbage bin, if you will.”

Pay-as-you-throw policies also have a significant impact on contamination rates, he added. “What we found in some cases is that’ll actually increase the incentive to contaminate your recycling bin. Because if you contract for a smaller disposal bin, and you have extra waste you need to dispose of, it’s just as easy to put that in your recycling bin.”

Cost savings 

While municipalities can expect extra costs when bolstering a municipal workforce to inspect and tag bins, investment in enforcement roles can be financially justified through contamination reduction savings.

O’Brien pointed to Fort Worth, Texas, where reduction in contamination was equated to about the same cost as hiring inspectors at about $500,000 yearly. The city found its contamination rate was reduced through inspection methods, justifying the cost.

“The reduction in contamination from 28% to 21% amounted to about 5,000 tons a year, and based on the cost of hauling those contaminants to a landfill and disposing of them in a landfill, in addition to processing them through the recycling facility, they saved about $474,000,” about the same price as to hire six so-called Blue Crew inspectors, O’Brien said.

These decisions often face political opposition, making data crucial to demonstrating their value to taxpayers.

“Elected officials don’t like getting calls from constituents that they got cited or got their part taken away,” said Kristyn Oldendorf, SWANA senior director of public policy and communications. “So if you have the [data] to show how effective it can actually be and the cost savings associated with it, that can help support making some of these difficult decisions.

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