A community waste program鈥檚聽success depends on clear聽communication and accessible education. Having one trusted source of information聽is聽essential.聽
By Alana La Grave
Approximately eight miles north of the center of Los Angeles, with just under 200,000 residents, lies the City of Glendale, CA, where they have been navigating the changes in organic waste management brought on by the passing of California Senate Bill 1383. The legislation, enacted in January 2022, requires all commercial and residential customers to participate in organics collection. These changes drove Glendale to rethink how they were communicating with and educating residents while maintaining consistency across all channels.
Standardizing Messaging聽
With four separate commercial haulers聽operating聽in the city, each with its own practices and perspectives,聽Glendale聽needed a way to deliver one clear, unified set of instructions to residents.聽Consistent messaging is crucial鈥攏ot only to ensure compliance, but also to minimize confusion and reduce unnecessary calls for clarification. When a resident calls into the call center, without one source of information, answers can differ depending on the hauler, municipality, or even staff member, leading to more resident confusion and fewer properly disposed of materials.
Shortly after the bill was enacted, Glendale completed a competitive bid process to find technology to support their waste and organics recycling outreach. They partnered with Recycle Coach, a waste education platform, that allows users to search for materials with results tailored to their location, access their waste pickup schedule, be notified of schedule changes and community events, and learn more about their community鈥檚 waste program through quiz questions.
Having Recycle Coach as a single, dependable source of information has helped Glendale streamline what residents see and understand, regardless of who collects their waste.
The Complexity of Multi-Family Buildings聽
More than half of Glendale鈥檚 population lives in multifamily buildings, where space constraints, shared facilities, and building聽logistics聽often complicate聽composting聽and聽recycling behaviors.聽A common pain point for municipalities and haulers alike, education in these environments requires聽a special聽attention to聽detail. Residents may be less likely to adopt new rules, especially if they have lived in the same building and have adhered to previous rules for a longer period of time. These types of living situations should聽prompt waste educators聽to聽ask certain questions:
鈥� Where聽are the聽bins聽located?
鈥� What information聽have聽residents聽received?
鈥� How far聽do they need to travel聽to dispose of聽waste, and聽is it accessible?
鈥� Do the聽building layouts unintentionally discourage聽proper waste disposal?聽(i.e. If there are waste chutes on each floor, are they only for trash, thereby discouraging proper habits if the tenant needs to travel to dispose of recycling and composting materials?)
Reaching this population is crucial for effective, widespread community education efforts. When everyone is educated, the whole community benefits.
While targeted education is key, SB 1383 itself has also shown to have had the added benefit of increasing resident engagement. Because the new bill is more targeted and has stricter requirements, Glendale has observed that it has strengthened their ability to engage property managers鈥攁nd by extension, tenants鈥攈elping them make progress on waste diversion goals.
Images courtesy of Recycle Coach.
New Expectations Surrounding Documentation and Verification聽聽
To ensure compliance with the new bill, municipalities must now聽demonstrate聽not only that聽composting聽programs聽and education聽exist, but also that they are being used and achieving results. When there is no one way to store and keep track of stats, this can be a complicated, stressful endeavor. But for Glendale, having聽one platform聽that holds all the usage and program data, whether about organics,聽recycling, or聽other waste streams, has helped simplify聽the state鈥檚 auditing process.聽鈥淭he nice thing about Recycle Coach is that it allows us to have direct metrics in terms of participants and number of users; [it] also takes the pressure off of the call center,鈥� says Etienne Ozorak, City of Glendale鈥檚 Integrated 91直播 Supervisor.
The convenience of centralized information goes further than the auditing process: it transforms how residents learn about proper waste disposal. Having a reliable platform reduces inbound calls and e-mails, such as information on what to do with certain items, questions concerning pickup schedules and community waste events, and even bulky item pickups. When residents can quickly find locally accurate guidance on common questions, staff workloads decrease, allowing them to focus on other program needs. And when residents learn more about their local waste rules, they tend to think more critically about the materials they purchase and dispose of, especially food-related items. The city鈥檚 top searched waste materials are food items, showing that the city is eagerly complying with the new rules and are intent on disposing of their waste properly.
Increasing Community Engagement聽聽
While municipal websites often serve as the default聽space聽for waste information, static pages alone can bury essential content or limit interaction.聽They can be hard to find, have a limited list of items, and require time and effort to find and search. All of this deters many busy residents who need鈥攁nd are accustomed to鈥攓uick access to information. Glendale knows their residents need easy access to information, and they聽wanted a way to provide straightforward, accessible answers without losing the human element that encourages residents to stay involved.
Since implementing聽Recycle聽Coach,聽they have聽seen that when information is聽clear聽and easy to access鈥攔esidents not only use the app,聽but they also聽become involved. Glendale regularly聽receives follow-up questions and suggestions from community members seeking clarity or聽suggesting聽additional聽information,聽showing that they care about the city鈥檚 waste initiatives and want to be involved. Residents are actively trying to understand the system and help it function better, further helping their community鈥檚 waste initiatives. This gives Glendale the added opportunity to learn where residents are struggling most and respond accordingly, whether that be through in-app description editing or community outreach programs and events.
Using a 91直播 Education Platform聽聽
Glendale鈥檚 experience reflects the reality for municipalities considering new composting rules or waste mandates: a community waste program鈥檚 success depends on clear communication and accessible education. 鈥淭he strength of the tool is that it commits you to one answer… Ensuring consistency of response is really critical,鈥� comments Ozorak. When residents know where to go for reliable guidance, adoption and understanding grow while staff overwhelm decreases. 91直播 education is constantly being re-shaped by聽evolving legislation and diverse聽community needs, and having one trusted source of information聽is聽essential.聽聽| WA
Alana La Grave is the Marketing Specialist at Recycle Coach, a digital waste education platform and all-in-one communication tool. Designed to engage and educate users, Recycle Coach makes recycling and waste disposal easy with schedules, a comprehensive search tool, collection reminders, and more.
Watch the webinar聽on聽Glendale鈥檚 journey with SB 1383 and how implementing Recycle Coach has engaged residents by helping聽them understand and follow the new composting rules.
For more information, e-mail [email protected] or visit recyclecoach.com/solutions.