Dive Brief:
- Greensboro, NC launched a recycling campaign aimed at increasing the recycling rate by reducing any confusion surrounding recycling.
- The new tagline,“Recycle First. It Matters” was designed as an educational outreach to remind the community that many materials can be recycled, and to encourage residents to think about what items are being discarded prior to tossing them into the trash.
- The campaign highlights the importance of recycling while outlining which materials—paper, plastic, metal, and glass—can be recycled. It also goes into specifics. For instance, the campaign explains that pizza boxes are fair game for the recycling bin and that plastic bottles can be recycled with or without the cap.
Dive Insight:
The purpose of the campaign is to simplify recycling so residents that want to recycle are armed with the information to do so, and to do it effectively. Studies show that people are more apt to recycle when the process is viewed as simple, and convenience is often cited as a key factor that persuades households to recycle.
Greensboro has been promoting recycling with greater urgency as the city stands to gain monetary incentives for each ton of recycling it collects. In 2013, Greensboro generated more than $350,000 in revenue from recycling and saved saved $1.2 million in landfill costs by diverting the recyclables.