From green roofs to efficient lighting and plumbing, there are a multitude of products, technologies, and systems that can reduce a multifamily property’s footprint and make it more sustainable. Yet, one improvement that’s often overlooked, green building or not, is maintaining a healthy recycling program.
When tenants make that weekly trip to take out their trash and recycling, what type of garbage setup do they find at your properties? Do they know what goes where? Is there enough space for all of their items?
Apartment property recycling is notorious among municipalities across the country as a “tough code to crack.” According to the EPA, recycling rates at multifamily communities average only about 14%, and what is recycled typically includes higher levels of nonrecyclables than are found at single-family residences. This creates more work for recycling personnel and can lead to higher costs for recycling.
But why is this “code” so tough to crack, so to speak? The biggest barriers include a lack of proper recycling infrastructure, tenant turnover, and the need for clear and continual communication with residents who have varying levels of knowledge and experience with recycling. These factors can lead to overflowing waste bins, recycling containers full of (nonrecylable) trash, and frustrated residents who often want to do the right thing but don’t have the information or tools to do so.
While frequently overlooked, an effective recycling program is a key part of managing any multifamily property, and, when done right, can result in significant waste-hauling cost savings as well as lasting changes in resident behavior.
Keys to a Successful Recycling Program
Recent efforts in the Northwest developed in partnership between Waste Management Inc. and local governments are beginning to improve multifamily recycling efforts.
What we’ve found in our research, as well as from our successes and failures over the years, is that effective multifamily recycling programs require three fundamentals: engaged property management, infrastructure improvements, and tenant education.
This approach is one part formula and one part finesse.
Post clear, image-based lists at your properties' recycling sites to help tenants distinguish which items are accepted as recyclables and which are not.
Formula: The Four Cs
The formula component is what we call the four Cs—convenience, clarity, capacity, and color. Boiled down, these four components constitute placing the right containers in the right places with signage in the right languages. This formula is the result of years of research and pilot projects conducted by Waste Management in partnership with the city and county governments of King and Snohomish counties in Washington state.
1. Convenience: Make recycling and garbage containers equally convenient for tenants to access.
2. Clarity: Label containers with image-based signs to help tenants identify which containers are for garbage and which containers are for recycling, as well as which items are accepted as recyclables.
3. Capacity: Provide sufficiently sized containers and adjust your waste-hauling service levels to ensure recycling containers don’t fill up or overflow before pickup day. Overflowing bins lead to frustrated residents and valuable recyclables heading to the landfill.
4. Color: Color-code your recycling and garbage containers to increase clarity for tenants.
Experience shows that colocating garbage and recycling containers whenever possible is an important step at multifamily properties. This makes recycling convenient for residents, because it allows them to dispose of all household waste in just one trip.
Clear labels are also key to making sure tenants can quickly and easily identify the correct bin once they reach the waste disposal site. Large labels and other prompts make it easy for tenants to know what goes where. Image-based signs and color-coding add further clarity and are especially helpful at properties where multiple languages are spoken.
Finally, property managers need to plan for and provide adequate space for recyclables. As a rule of thumb, most properties’ recycling services should constitute approximately 50% of the total service volume, with per unit capacity in the range of 20 to 30 gallons (roughly 0.10 to 0.15 cubic yards). In many areas, increasing recycling capacity and/or the frequency of pickups enables properties to downsize their garbage containers, saving money in the process.
Patrick Malloy, resource conservation specialist at the King County Housing Authority, noticed a significant savings at one local multifamily property. “By right-sizing recycling and garbage service at Fairwood Apartments [in Renton, Wash.], we reduced the monthly bill from $4,800 to $3,000,” he says, “a savings of over $21,000 per year!”
Finesse: Staff and Tenant Education
While successful multifamily recycling begins with bins and signs, it ends with education for both building personnel and residents to ensure that recycling systems are used correctly and consistently.
Waste Management has developed a tool kit to help property managers implement the four Cs. We also offer trained recycling experts to provide technical on-site assistance. To further engage tenants, the firm conducts resident workshops and door-to-door outreach customized to each property.
Such one-on-one work is invaluable in educating tenants and helping them adopt proper recycling habits and stick with them. By providing aids such as sturdy tote bags for carrying recyclables to the waste disposal area, these programs make recycling more convenient and help residents develop good disposal routines.
Putting It All Together
Over the past five years, Waste Management has continued to learn and improve upon its approach by refining its educational techniques, testing outreach time periods, and employing Web-based mapping software to maximize the efficiency of its door-to-door team. In 2017, we assisted 129 properties in two counties and reached over 2,300 residential units, adding 237 cubic yards of recycling per week.
These results all started with the basics of the four Cs and engaging staff and tenants in the recycling process—steps that are relatively simple and straightforward for any multifamily property to implement.
