HomeMy WebLinkAboutIR 9443To the Mayor and Members of the City Council October 4, 2011
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Subject: RECYCLING AWARD
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The Code Compliance Department has been selected as the winner of the Incredibly Effective Education
Techniques category in the 2011 North Texas Corporate Recycling Association's gR3een Awards!
(NTCRA). The NTCRA has been a part of the Dallas-Fort Worth recycling landscape for more than 20
years. The organization exists to promote recycling and the use of recycled goods to area businesses
through leadership, advocacy, and education.
Through the Solid Waste Division, the Department implemented a two-pronged strategic
marketing and education campaign to encourage residential recycling and the reduction of incorrect
materials placed in the blue residential recycling bins. Instrumental in this effort and the architect of the
plan was Diane Covey, the Department's Public Information Officer.
In the second quarter of 2010, the contamination rate was a whopping 31.5 percent. As a
result of the education campaign, including the involvement of key partners, contamination
dropped by 14 percent - the lowest contamination rate ever recorded.
The campaign consisted of mixed media components to emanate positive response from the
diverse city residential audience. Components included:
Quarterly recycling report cards were mailed to residents engaging them with a message
that reported the results of the City's quarterly recycling audits.
The six-member Blue Crew provided a human face to the campaign.
Effective us of billboards, newspaper advertising, website advertising, water bill
inserts, youth pledge sheet, participation in community events, the City's website,
City News and City Times.
Partnerships also played a key role in the campaign and included:
Our neighborhoods: During 2010, the City of Fort Worth Neighborhood Education and Outreach
Division, which is a team of five city employees, reached out to an amazing 10,000+ Fort Worth
residents with information about recycling.
Our youth: Members of the Neighborhood Education and Outreach team made 215 presentations
in third and fourth grade classrooms throughout Fort Worth.
Our contractors: Simply stated, Waste Management and Knight Waste Services are with us 365
days a year working towards the same goals to increase recycling and reduce the contamination.
As a final note, the education outreach is an ongoing campaign that is integral to the success of
maintaining and lowering our existing level of contamination while helping us reach our goal of a 40
percent diversion of waste from the landfill to recycling. Our current contamination rate is even lower than
reported in the award application and stands at 13.8 percent in the third quarter of 2011.
Should you have questions, please contact Brandon Bennett, Director of Code Compliance, at (817) 392-
6322.
ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER
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