Why Residents Do Not Recycle

Every community has them. Residents, who no matter how much work you put into your recycling program, still refuse to recycle. Or, almost worse, they place two newspapers in their bin and call it a day. Why do these residents not recycle everything they can? What barriers do they face and what would motivate them to become a model recycler?

The District has always been interested in this topic and recently conducted a focus group to find the answers. Here is a summary of what we learned.

Barriers to Recycling
Cost: If they have a choice, some residents will not pay an extra fee for recycling.

Lack of information: Some residents just do not know how to get a bin, where the drop-offs are located, or what is recyclable.

Not important to them: Some residents do not make the connection to the environmental benefits of recycling

Motivations and Solutions
Make it free: the residents in our focus group did not understand why they had to pay for recycling when it was doing something good for the environment and the economy. Even consolidating the waste and recycling fees into one, removes the cost factor from the decision.

Make it easy and clear: most residents want simple instructions on how to get a bin and what to recycle. The participants in our focus group often said they were too busy to decipher complicated instructions.

Make it meaningful: even if they would never call themselves "tree-huggers" most residents still desire to leave a healthy environment for future generations. When promoting recycling, clearly state the environmental benefits. Residents need to be reminded of the positive environmental impact of recycling.

For more information about the focus group study or to receive the full report, contact Michelle Balz at 946-7789.