Sustainable packaging: Cincinnati to reward residents for recycling with RecycleBank citywide

As the leaves turn brown this fall, Cincinnati residents will have incentives to turn green when the City furthers its commitment to environmental quality and unveils an enhanced recycling program, slated to begin this October. The City officially announced today that it is partnering with waste hauler Rumpke Recycling, recycling cart manufacturer Cascade Engineering, and rewards program RecycleBank to incent the recycling process.

Following a City Council vote in May, Cincinnati is moving forward with a new program that gives residents larger carts and rewards for recycling. Cincinnati is the largest Midwest city to deploy RecycleBank citywide; other Midwest areas with RecycleBank include suburbs of Detroit, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Omaha, Sioux Falls, and a pilot program in three wards of Chicago.

"The City is excited to provide this innovative new service to citizens," Mayor Mark L. Mallory said. "People are looking for creative new ways to become more 'green' in their everyday lives. The larger recycling carts are going to allow people to recycle much more than they do now, and the great part is that they will be rewarded for how much they recycle."

RecycleBank is a rewards program that motivates people to take greener actions, like household recycling, by rewarding them with points that are redeemable for rewards from local and national retailers, restaurants, pharmacies, grocers, and more. Similar to frequent flier programs, the more a community recycles, the more RecycleBank Points participating households earn. Single- or multi-family residences with Cincinnati curbside trash service are eligible to participate in the program free of charge.

With each roll out, communities will switch from weekly to bi-weekly recycling pick up. By switching to bi-weekly pick up, Cincinnati will save an estimated $700,000 in collection costs. In addition, with the expected increase in recycling, the City looks to save an estimated $364,000 annually in landfill disposal fees. This is all on top of residents receiving points redeemable for valuable rewards for recycling.

"This strategic partnership will allow us to offer enhanced recycling services more efficiently," City Manager Milton Dohoney said. "It really is a win-win situation for everyone. It allows us to be good stewards of public monies and RecycleBank will help bring valuable benefits to Cincinnati residents who recycle and drive business to our neighborhood business districts."

The four-phase rollout of recycling carts begins this fall and citywide implementation is expected to take up to five months. Cascade will deliver the recycling carts complete with the new recycling schedule and information for residents on signing up with RecycleBank.

The rewards-for-recycling program has hundreds of partners for residents to redeem points for rewards, including Nature Made, Coca-Cola, CVS/pharmacy, Huggies, McDonald's, Bed Bath & Beyond, and Dick's Sporting Goods, among others. Local partners include Half Price Books, Pipkin's Market, Park + Vine, Champps Entertainment and more. In the coming months, RecycleBank will work to get additional local businesses involved in the rewards program.

RecycleBank currently services more than one million people across 26 states and in the United Kingdom. Since 2005, more than 300 participating communities have recycled over 284,291 tons of material, helping to save close to 35 million gallons oil, 4.2 million trees, and a reduction of 866,811 metric tons in carbon emissions.

SOURCE: RecycleBank