Top 5 ways to change waste recycling behaviour
January 2022
The post-festive period in early January is among the busiest times of the year for refuse collection services. This new year they will collect about 25% more than usual, and the result is some 25 million tons of rubbish. While we feed our friends and family, we’ll also throw out 25% of the food we buy. But it doesn’t have to be this way! Some 80% of waste can actually be reused, repurposed, or recycled but confusion often restricts this when residents don’t separate waste from the source.
The solution is targeted digital recycling communications from trusted council sources to educate residents and build better recycling habits at the kerb-side, leading to long term behaviour change and less waste ending up in landfill.
Here are 5 ways digital recycling communication tools can help councils to combat excessive waste and change recycling behaviour, not just over the Christmas period, but long term.
1.Inform and educate from your website or app
Digital apps help to keep the recycling information people need updated and centralized on your website and/or app. With packaging consistently changing this allows updates to be instantly communicated across multiple digital devices increasing access to better recycling. Your residents will learn to trust in the up-to-date information and use it as a first point of reference long term.
Tip: If you regularly post information about your waste collection service on your website, be sure to include the web address on all promotional materials to drive traffic back to your site.
2. Know your audience through analytics
From the number of visitors who frequent your website to the most-searched for materials, tap into analytics to help inform your focus and messaging efforts. You can utilize tools such as our Waste Sorting Game to test people’s recycling knowledge and learn what people are commonly getting wrong. Armed with that information, you may roll out targeted communications instead of guesswork to improve your outcomes.
3. Spread the word
Keep your recycling programs front of mind by regularly reminding people about their collection days. One easy way to quickly keep people in the loop is to set up automated reminders or campaigns through our Collection Calendar tool. This function allows you to place a message at the front and centre of your website to relay important information to people or direct them to other pages and digital tools.
4. Keep in touch
Easily communicate additional or special collection days, in light of winter weather delays, driver shortages or any other collection interruptions. This can be done instantly through digital recycling tools directly linking to mobile apps rather than only relying on emails. If you have an organics collection program, remind your residents of its convenience so they may properly dispose of their food waste. You can do all of this through the Collection Calendar tool. There, you may insert important pick-up dates, information for drop-off locations, collections, special collections such as Christmas tree pick-ups, and more.
5. Be specific to reduce wishcycling, calls and costs
Sometimes it’s difficult to know exactly what can and cannot be recycled, which often leads to waste confusion and wishcycling. You can cut back on contamination by communicating directly with residents specific messages about common holiday-related offenders such as lights, tinsel, and other holiday tanglers that can wrap around recycling machinery, and potentially harm employees. One of the ways you can help people become better recyclers is through our digital Waste Wizard tool. Year-round, this tool can guide people to dispose of their items in the correct bin. This feature can ultimately reduce costly calls to your customer service team saving time and money. People may simply search for the item in question, and quickly learn whether or not the item can be recycled.
Let’s work together to clean up recycling contamination!
To find out more join our FREE Recycling Behaviour Change Webinar on Wednesday 12th January between 4-5pm. You can register HERE.
About Webaspx
Webaspx, a Routeware Global Company, is the leading Route Optimisation software supplier focused on the waste and fleet management markets. With offices in the US and the UK, the company provides market-leading cloud and mobile solutions to an established customer base of public and private sector companies.