From Green Right Now Reports
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa today confirmed earlier reports that the city will partner with RecycleBank to launch an incentive program that will reward households for Blue Bin recycling. Initially, a pilot program will serve 15,000 single family homes along selected routes in the West Valley and North Central sections of the city.
The program is designed to encourage additional Blue Bin recycling.
In announcing the pilot program, the mayor said it is designed to encourage additional Blue Bin recycling, increase recycling rates and put meaningful savings in the pockets of participating residents.
“The City of Los Angeles has worked tirelessly to ensure that recycling is accessible to every single resident. Los Angeles’ ambitious environmental agenda is one of the reasons why we already recycle more than any other big city in America and why we will be the cleanest, greenest big city in America,” Mayor Villaraigosa said in a statement. “To reach our goal of zero waste, we are building innovative partnerships that will employ outside resources. We are proud to be the biggest city to work with RecycleBank, since the program will motivate residents to recycle more and will pump money directly back into the local economy.”
RecycleBank measures the amount of material recycled in a community and converts that amount into points that can be redeemed for rewards at hundreds of local and national RecycleBank Reward Partners. Rewards come in the form of groceries, gift cards, school supplies, restaurants, among other choices. RecycleBank works to involve local merchants so residents can enjoy savings while helping the local economy.
There also is an option to donate reward points to local schools through the RecycleBank Green Schools Program. National RecycleBank partners include retailers and brands such as Kraft Foods, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Bed Bath & Beyond, Ruby Tuesday and CVS/pharmacy.
The goal of the pilot program is to elevate environmental stewardship, personal responsibility and volunteer action in recycling on a community wide basis. Residents in the pilot areas must sign up for their personal RecycleBank account, either online or by phone, to begin earning reward points.
Officials said the 12-month pilot program will be studied by the City’s Department of Public Works’ Bureau of Sanitation, which implements the city’s solid waste recycling and collection programs. The City will evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of the program in raising its leading 65-percent diversion rate of residential and commercial waste out of the nation’s 10 largest cities.
The City said no money from the its general fund will be used for the test. Citywide, the residential Blue Bin recycling program collects an average of 4,600 tons of recyclables every week or more than 240,000 tons annually.
Reward points will be earned on a community weight based approach with points and rewards shared equally with participating households on each collection route. Once a RecycleBank member, program participants can redeem their points online, where they can also learn about their personal environmental footprint through recycling. Participants can also access their account information by calling the toll free RecycleBank Customer Care Center, 1 (888) 727-2978.
Currently, RecycleBank services more than one million people across 25 states and also provides service in the United Kingdom. These households have cumulatively saved more than 4.3 million trees and more than 292 million gallons of oil through their recycling efforts, according to RecycleBank.