Recycling investments boost confidence in the system

Many anti-recycling narratives have been shared over the last year, so it’s no wonder consumer confidence in recycling is shaky. The Recycling Partnership (TRP) launched the Recycling Confidence Index through its Center for Sustainable Behavior & Impact. In its initial findings released last year, consumer confidence was 630 out of 1,000—not horrible, but certainly room for improvement.

According to the report, highest levels of confidence exist where individuals receive recycling communications and support, including bins as well as information and motivational messages. More than 40 percent of respondents perceive recycling as difficult and less than 20 percent of those surveyed feel well-informed about what happens to their recycling after it leaves home.

The city of Cleveland, for example, shut down its recycling program for two years after failing to reach a contract with a collection vendor, citing contamination and high costs as reasons for abandoning the program.

“The highest levels of confidence exist where individuals receive recycling communications and support, including bins as well as information and motivational messages.”

Cleveland revamped and restarted its recycling program in June 2022. According to officials, participation has doubled since collection resumed, and contamination is down from nearly 60 percent to 15 percent. City officials are planning an educational push this summer to promote a better understanding of recycling.

Therein lies the key—education.

“There are some misguided narratives out there because people lack the understanding of what really happens,” says Frank M. Antonacci, chief operating officer of Enfield, Connecticut-based Murphy Road Recycling. The company’s $40 million All American MRF (material recovery facility) is the subject of this month’s cover story.

The New England region boasts some of the best recycling rates in the U.S., with Massachusetts ranking third overall at 55 percent and Connecticut fifth at 52 percent, and Antonacci and his company have taken pride in being voices for single-stream recycling’s success. Murphy Road Recycling plans its own educational push to promote confidence in U.S. recycling systems—and it’s not alone.

Any number of recent MRF investments include education as a key component, such as WM’s $166 million investment in MRFs in Florida, Michigan and Washington state as well as Rumpke’s $50 million MRF in Columbus, Ohio.

Antonacci says, “We’re trying to take down that barrier of what really happens—bring people to the facility and show people that single-stream recycling is extremely successful and, if done right, can really unlock value to all of us.”