Turnaround specialist: in an era of program cutbacks, the city of Philadelphia has turned its recycling program into an imitable champion

Recycling Today, March, 2004 by Dan Sandoval

The sports teams of Philadelphia have been devoid of championship trophies during the past several years. However, the city's recycling program has been nothing to scoff about. For cities that have seen their budgets cur in light of revenue shortfalls, perhaps the City of Brotherly Love can be a model for how a city can run an effective program under increased financial pressure.

The turnaround has come while Philadelphia has faced the same state and municipal budget tightness common throughout the U.S.

The city jumped on the recycling bandwagon when the issue was "hot." However, after investing a significant amount of money and time to get its residential curbside collection program operating, like many other cities, the results were lukewarm.

A LARGE SCALE. Philadelphia is home to around 1.4 million residents dwelling in roughly 530,000 households. The recycling program is mandatory for residents of homes or apartments with six or fewer units. The city's Streets and Sanitation Department conducts collections.

Like many other cities, especially those facing budget cuts, the city could face calls to sharply cut back or even eliminate its program, particularly if it's deemed ineffective. However, because of creative thinking, the city has been able to turn around its program and post steadily improved collection numbers.

In 2000 Philadelphia hired David Robinson, with a background in consulting and experience working with Chicago in developing that city's recycling program, as the recycling coordinator to "bring life to the Philadelphia recycling program."

"It was pretty clear to me what needed to be done. After the initial push, interest waned," says Robinson. "The program needed to be re-established."

MOTIVATING FACTORS. Philadelphia needed to put together a "results oriented team," Robinson says. "We did a series of focus group throughout the city."

Focus groups with residents revealed that the biggest motivator to increase recycling was the threat and possible imposition of fines for failing to recycle.

With this information in hand the group began to assemble a plan to turn around the program.

A group of SWEEP officers (Streets & Walkways Education & Enforcement Program) was put together to check for sanitation code problems, educate the community on proper recycling procedures, give written warnings and, if need be, issue tickets.

While the city beefed up its enforcement levels, it 'also realized that citizens needed to be educated about the recycling program. While past programs relied on mailers and other "soft sell" approaches, the city used a more sophisticated advertising program.

With assistance from the state of Pennsylvania, the city invested its recycling-related money into what it deemed a more effective campaign.

After the advertising program began, the city saw a steady increase in the collection levels. In fact, before the program began, the city had a collection rate of around 5.2 percent. After the campaign began, the city saw steady increases. In fact, Robinson says, "We have seen 15 straight months of increases."

Further, according to the most recently available statistics, the residential diversion rate in Philadelphia is at 6.3 percent, the highest it has been in four years. Philadelphia also reports that its commercial diversion rate of 38.7 percent is the highest in the state and a 3 percent improvement from last year.

Since the reformatted recycling campaign began in March 2002, the city saw a 4 percent increase over collection numbers for the same time frame in 2001. Subsequent numbers show that the increase wasn't a one-shot deal. For example, collection tonnage increased 30 percent in July 2002 compared to July 2001 and 19 percent in August 2002 compared to August 2001.

THE BOTTOM LINE. As veteran recyclers know, collecting recyclables is not the same as truly recycling. To make recycling successful, the material must complete the full circle, meaning an end market must be found for the material that can be served in a cost-effective manner.

The city's ability to establish partnerships with the private sector, such as its relationship with Smurfit-Stone Container Corp., which operates a paper mill in the city, has been key.

"The mill needed to have ONP and mixed paper. To guarantee the supply, the company is taking all [our] material and has sought a minimal profit."

Philadelphia has been able to show the benefits on the bottom line. "Prior to implementing our revamped program, the city reaped around $50,000 annually from the sale of its recyclables," says Robinson. "However, after introducing a host of steps to improve the recycling levels, the city saw its annual revenue climb to $850,000.

The city also worked closely with Blue Mountain Recycling, a private company, to handle the processing of the recyclables. This freed the city to focus on boosting collection.

Robinson and his staff" recognize that mote work needs to be done to grow the recycling levels.

A key focal point is boosting recycling levels in lower income neighborhoods. The city is contemplating introducing mobile buy-back centers. This, Robinson feels, could offer a greater incentive for recycling for some residents.