|
Going green has gotten a lot more enticing to consumers in
communities served by Philadelphia-based RecycleBank. Households
can earn RecycleBank Dollars, redeemable for discount coupons
at select retailers, just for putting their recyclables out
to be collected. But the incentives don't stop there. It's
also great promotion and community recognition for participating
businesses. Sound too good to be true? Well, you may be surprised
to learn that it's even more cost-effective than most traditional
recycling programs.
How does it work? RecycleBank containers are embedded with
identifying barcodes, and households can throw all of their
recyclable waste into one bin (single stream recycling system,
also known as making it easy for customers to be green). Collection
trucks scan and weigh the containers to track how much each
household is recycling. The more customers recycle, the more
they earn in RecycleBank dollars—up to 35 USD per month.
Customers can track their points online and redeem points
for coupons that can be used toward purchases at major chains
such as Whole Foods, RiteAid and Starbucks, as well as local
companies that choose to be part of the program. More than
250 businesses currently participate.
While many recycling programs have proven to be more expensive
to run than they monetarily are worth, RecycleBank wins by
driving higher utilization of trucks and manpower. The cost
of running the program is far exceeded by the money saved
in landfill fees: RecycleBank charges municipalities USD 24-30
a household, and guarantees clients they will save at least
that amount in disposal fees as waste is diverted from landfills
and incinerators. Meanwhile, residents are racing to fill
their bins with recyclable paper, cardboard, plastic, glass,
tin and aluminium: in test neighbourhoods, the amount recycled
per household went from an average of 5 lbs to 35 lbs per
week. Demonstrating that it pays to reward good behaviour.
RecycleBank's reach is currently limited to West Philadelphia
and Wilmington, Delaware, but it's generating some great buzz
and could easily be expanded to other areas. For another example
of incentive-driven recycling, check out our earlier coverage
of reverse vending machines.
Website: www.recyclebank.com
Contact: gonen@recyclebank.com
This article originally appeared in
www.springwise.com. We are not distributing this for commercial
gain as the copyright does not lie with us.
|
