DEVELOPMENT AND ANALYSIS OF A COMMUNITY‐BASED RESOURCE RECOVERY PROGRAM

Abstract

Five studies were conducted over a 10‐month period to determine the effectiveness of specific procedures in encouraging recycling among residential neighborhoods. Results indicated that: (a) initial levels of participation in neighborhoods were frequently related to housing values; (b) weekly recycling pick‐ups that coincided with garbage collection days resulted in higher levels of participation than pick‐ups that occurred at other times; (c) notifying homes about the recycling program through distributed door‐to‐door brochures was more effective than soliciting participation through newspaper ads; (d) distributing containers to help residents separate recyclable from nonrecyclable material proved to be an effective procedure, especially when combined with frequent prompting (prompting alone did not have much effect); and (e) procedures that facilitated the greatest levels of participation were not always cost‐effective. The subsequent combination of these procedures into a package program resulted in high levels of neighborhood participation that were cost‐effective and maintained over a 6‐month period.