VC Star
July 27, 2024
Would you be more likely to avoid contaminating your curbside recycling cart with unrecyclable items if you knew contamination could result in your cart being left at the curb, uncollected? Would you regard a lid-flip inspection of your cart to be such an intrusion into your private life that you would start refusing to recycle at all?
These questions are answered in a 46-page academic paper published in December 2023. In a summary of the study, published in April on the Ohio State University Fisher College of Business website, Professor Erin McKie summarizes the key points, based on recycling feedback and performance data from 25,359 audits across 11,899 households and 15 recycling routes: “Households that received… punitive feedback reduced their contamination severity by 59% and were 75% less likely to commit a violation in the future. Additionally, we found that household recycling participation behavior did not decrease after households received a punitive feedback mechanism.”
McKie also narrates a YouTube video sharing interviews of consumers. She shows them a red plastic Solo cup, a roll of paper towels and cushioned plastic packing material and asks, “Is this recyclable?” The consumers express uncertainty but all say “yes” to each item. As she informs them, the true answer is “no,” although the tube in the paper towels is recyclable and plastic film can be recycled at drop-off sites available in some supermarkets.
The study included some important caveats. Punitive approaches worked best in affluent areas and mostly affected what the researchers termed “aspirational recycling.” Also called “wishcycling,” aspirational recycling refers to items consumers doubt are recyclable but include anyway in curbside recycling carts because they hope the items might be recyclable.
Getting recycling right is an important way to hold down the cost of residential refuse and recycling charges. Some recycling contaminants, such as film plastic, can wrap around and jam sorting equipment. McKie’s article in the Ohio State publication says removing contaminants from curbside recyclables at sorting centers costs “millions of dollars per year in operational costs.” She claims a moderately sized center, such as the two we have in Ventura County, “can lose $10,000 for every 10 minutes it is shut down due to contaminants.”
Besides causing increased labor sorting fees, contamination can spoil commodities. For example, liquid can ruin paper. Even a little nonrecyclable glass — such as mirrors, Pyrex and window glass — can spoil a much larger amount of otherwise easily recyclable bottle glass due to different melting points in the remanufacturing process.
Most local curbside contamination monitoring takes an information-only approach, affixing an “oops tag” to carts found to have contained contaminants.
However, the city of Port Hueneme sets a standard for the type of customer feedback these researchers say is most effective. Like the trucks operating in many jurisdictions, Port Hueneme’s trucks include a camera aimed at each load as it enters the recycling truck hopper. When contamination is spotted, the driver sends a photo of the load and a photo of the address to a dispatch office.
For loads already dumped, the fine is $34.98. If the driver spots the contamination before dumping the load, collection is simply refused and the customer is emailed a notice. The customer then may remove the contaminants and reschedule collection for a fee of $17.14, according to Public Works Program Manager Rick Cervantes. Contaminants caught before dumping are usually sticking out of recycling carts through propped-open lids, including items such as carpet and yard waste. Between one and four penalties are assessed on a typical day.
You can check your refuse collector’s website to determine which items belong in your curbside recycling cart. Not all types of plastics accepted in the programs are sorted out for recycling all the time, but the lists show the items your contracted collector is prepared to sort for recycling.
