Waste Management
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Boulder, CO assists local businesses with switch to reusable containers through incentive program
City officials and Partners for a Clean Environment (PACE) are overseeing incentives for the replacement of single-use items. Successful applicants receive refunds of up to $2,000 or 70% of costs for eligible upgrades. The program reduces the costs of adding dishwashers, returnable takeout containers, and upgraded dishware. Boulder is collaborating with DeliverZero and r.Cup on supplying reusable items to participating eateries and entertainment venues.
Boulder, CO
United States
Pittsburgh, PA turns food waste into quality soil with SoilMill PGH community composting pilot
SoilMill PGH began with one year of research by the city about food disposal practices. The city's Sustainability & Resilience team will select 300 applicants evenly divided among five regions for five months of home composting. Participants receive bins and filters for their participation in training and regular surveys. Pilots at park shelters, a senior center, and a community center experiment with different techniques including mechanical and hot-box composting.
Pittsburgh, PA
United States
Ridgeland, MS incentivizes household recycling through Recycle Rewards program with Waste Management
Ridgeland switched from the RecycleBank platform to a new rewards partnership with its service provider. Residents register for free on the program's website and press the I Recycled Today button after leaving bins out for weekly collections. Every press of the button leads to reward points redeemable for discounts at retailers, restaurants, and entertainment venues. There are also random gift card drawings each month for Recycle Rewards participants.
Ridgeland, MS
United States
Jacksonville, FL assists food service industry with landfill diversion during composting pilot
Participating restaurants pay a $50 fee per bin for the weekly collection of compostable materials. Project partner Sunshine Organics & Compost LLC will turn collected materials into topsoil during the six-month pilot. The program supports food waste reduction through training sessions and tips for business owners. City officials hope the pilot reduces business costs and cuts down on approximately 40% of landfill contributions from food waste.
Jacksonville, FL
United States
Townsville, QLD works toward 2030 zero-landfill goal with its Love Food Hate Waste campaign
Townsville introduced the three-week challenge in response to a bin audit identifying 52% of bin waste as compostable. Participants completed a pre-challenge survey and signed up for weekly tips on how to waste less food at home. There is a weekly prize drawing with winners selected from those who post their food waste tips on the council's Facebook posts about the challenge. Residents are entered into a grand prize drawing for completing the post-challenge survey.
Townsville, QLD
Australia
Horsham District Council, GB partners with Podback on coffee pod collection and recycling program
Horsham residents request free rolls of disposal bags for plastic and aluminum pods. Participants arrange free curbside collections through Podback's scheduling system. The service handles 16 pod types from brands like Nespresso and Starbucks. Collected pods are delivered to regional processors for conversion into plastics for future products. The Podback collaboration reduces landfill waste and contributes to a circular economy in the United Kingdom.
Horsham District Council, GB
United Kingdom
Randwick, NSW develops circular economy for local plastic waste through partnership with Plasmar
Randwick sought a soft plastic recycling alternative when the national REDcycle program ceased operations. Local residents can drop off plastic bags, films, and wraps at the Randwick Recycling Centre. Gathered materials are sent to Plasmar's facility for conversion into plastic pellets for new products including bollards and fence posts. City officials are piloting purchases of Plasmar products built from local recyclables, thus demonstrating the positive impacts of community participation.
Randwick, NSW
Australia
Aarhus, DK pursues a citywide reusable takeaway container system for landfill waste reductions
Aarhus seeks project partners that can develop a unified takeaway container system for local business use. A group of 25 cafes and restaurants lobbied the city for a replacement for single-use cups. The three-year pilot will start with reusable coffee cups that can be returned to participating eateries for continued use. This system will expand into other takeout container types, thus reducing the large share of public bin waste composed of coffee cups.
Aarhus, DK
Denmark
Tacoma, WA turns residential food waste into chicken feed through collaboration with Mill
City residents can register for monthly subscriptions with Mill's collection service. Subscribers receive specialized kitchen bins that shrink and dry food waste. The resulting grounds are sent to Mill using return boxes with free USPS shipping. Mill converts food grounds into chicken feed and shows each subscriber's impact on a dedicated mobile app. Savings from the reduced use of Tacoma's pay-as-you-throw payment model will offset some of each participant's subscription costs.
Tacoma, WA
United States
London Borough of Bexley, GB partners with TRAID on textile collection and recycling service
Borough residents can arrange for free collections from the textile resale charity. TRAID accepts one large bag or three small bags of clothes, shoes, and accessories per scheduled trip. This service also accepts one small bag of household electronics including clocks, toasters, and phones at each stop. Collected materials are sorted and sold through a network of charity shops with proceeds supporting improved working conditions for textile workers.
London Borough of Bexley, GB
United Kingdom
Enschede, OV and Collecting Heroes support on-demand recyclable collection for businesses
The collaboration precedes the full-scale removal of underground waste containers in Enschede's city center. Collecting Heroes uses e-cargo bikes for scheduled collections of paper and cardboard from their customers. Existing waste collectors may work with Collecting Heroes on coordinated collections or businesses can directly work with the company. The pivot to on-demand service reduces heavy-duty vehicle traffic, beautifies storefronts, and adapts collections to business needs.
Enschede, OV
Netherlands
Nijmegen, GE cuts down on unwanted ads in the mail with its yes-yes sticker program
Municipal officials identified unaddressed advertising mail as a major source of paper waste. The proposal creates an opt-in system for residents who want to continue receiving this type of mail. A ja-ja - or yes-yes - sticker on a mailbox leads to the delivery of unaddressed ads. Nijmegen also offers a no-no sticker for households that don't want addressed advertisements. Each household without a yes-yes sticker eliminates an estimated 26 kilograms of paper waste each year.
Nijmegen, GE
Netherlands