SWANA releases report on tackling recycling contamination, collection costs

The Solid Waste Association of North America's (SWANA’s) Applied Research Foundation (ARF) has released a new report, “Curbside Recycling Collection Options,” which presents three curbside recycling options for recycling and sustainability program managers to consider in their efforts to reduce inbound contamination of recyclables and/or recyclables collection costs.

“Many people don’t realize that collection represents the largest cost element of a residential recycling program,” SWANA Director of Applied Research Jeremy O’Brien says. “This report documents the significant cost-savings, as well as reductions in contamination, that can be achieved by implementing one of these recycling collection alternatives.”

The report presents performance and cost data—as well as case studies—for each of these options. Each option provides a way for communities to achieve cost-savings that would more than cover the reduction in revenues caused by the China National Sword policy implemented in 2018, SWANA says.

“SWANA would like to thank the six cities (Charlotte, North Carolina; Clearwater, Florida; Durham, North Carolina; Pensacola, Florida; Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona) that identified this research topic and provided funding to support this research through their ARF subscriptions,” O’Brien says.

The full report is currently only available to SWANA ARF subscribers. SWANA members receive free access to ARF industry reports one year after publication.

To download the executive summary, click here.