2000 Trash Cutter Award Program Case Studies

Los Angeles County: Best Urban Waste Reduction Program

• Program Description
• Program Summary
• Contact

Program Description

In 1990 the county of Los Angeles began implementation of curbside recycling programs on a community-by-community basis to help prolong landfill life and meet AB 939 requirements. This program was eventually expanded to cover single-family homes and duplexes, as well as multifamily complexes in the unincorporated communities of the county. While many residents participated in the program, the county recognized that greater participation could be achieved through an aggressive public education and outreach program. Therefore, in 1995 the county began the Residential Recycling Public Education and Technical Assistance Program.

Program Summary

Los Angeles County includes 78 unincorporated communities covering an area of more than 2,700 square miles, and a highly diverse population of more than ten million residents. The unincorporated areas are widely scattered throughout the county and many areas are effectively small "islands" surrounded by cities. This makes getting the word out about the recycling services available to residents a real challenge. The county decided a theme was needed to better communicate the program's focus on children and the importance of preserving and improving the environment for the future. With this in mind, they chose the theme "Recycle Today for a Better Tomorrow."

The program utilizes a variety of outreach methods, including: distributing information at community events and shopping centers, conducting community presentations, issuing media releases and recycling tips, outreach to haulers, distribution of public service announcements (PSA) through television, radio, and in movie theaters, and a paid media campaign consisting of bus stop shelter posters and billboard advertisements. Many of the outreach materials were also created in both English and Spanish. An interactive computer kiosk—offering games and information to users about recycling—was also developed and travels to all community events. Information on the program is also available on the county's environmental resources Web site at www.888cleanla.com.

To effectively convey the program's message to the residents in the county's widely scattered unincorporated communities, the program was developed with great care. Billboard and bus stop shelter poster locations were selected and these advertisements were rotated to different locations in order to maximize their outreach. In addition to issuing media releases to the major circulation newspapers, local community papers were also used. Community events and shopping centers were selected to attract the maximum number of the targeted residents. For example, the Cinco de Mayo festival in Pasadena attracted a mixed population in age and cultural background. About two-thirds of the attendees were Latino, an ethnic background which was targeted.

In 1995 the county required all haulers to provide recycling services to multi-family residential complexes which requested the service. While some complexes did contract for the services, others required assistance. As a result, the county implemented the technical assistance component of the program in 1998 to increase residential recycling participation from these multi-family complexes. Technical assistance is provided by a team of master recyclers who have experience in the areas of recycling and waste management. They visit the owner and mangers of the complexes and work with them to tailor recycling programs for their complexes. These master recyclers work full-time promoting recycling, coordinating with over 170 haulers, and most importantly providing suggested recycling programs. The master recyclers completed their visits to more than 2,100 complexes, representing approximately 26,300 residential units. A total of 160 multi-family recycling programs were implemented as a result of the technical assistance component, thereby providing recycling services to 1,674 individual dwelling units.

Residents were encouraged to take advantage of the Christmas tree recycling services through haulers' notification to their customers, distribution of newspaper press releases, and radio PSAs. To publicize the curbside collection of Christmas trees, the county distributed information on this service through the county's Web site and the environmental information hotline to residents in cities as well as the county unincorporated areas. Through this program, haulers were able to have their Christmas trees recycled and used as alternative daily cover at the landfills at no cost. This assisted in making Christmas tree recycling successful in the both the unincorporated and incorporated areas. This last Christmas season, the county sanitation districts received 750 tons—or approximately 75,000 trees—from the unincorporated communities.

Because scavenging or the theft of recyclables impact residents' participation and impact haulers' operations, the county continues to take measures to combat this activity. Two workshops were held to provide information and receive input from haulers, the sheriff's department, the district attorney's office, and court administrators. Speakers included haulers, sheriff's deputies, and a district attorney who have had experience in dealing with scavenging. Additional workshops are planned in the future to continue the efforts to prevent scavenging.

The  county's outreach and technical assistance program continues to effectively communicate to all target audiences the importance of recycling. This multi-faceted program will assist the county in its efforts to meet its waste reduction mandates.

For Further Information, Contact:

Los Angeles County
900 South Fremont Ave.
Alhambra, CA 91803-1331
(626) 458-5167
www.888CleanLA.com