Ann Arbor's RecycleBank incentive recycling program starts Sept. 1
Starting Sept. 1, recycling in Ann Arbor will offer more than just a good feeling of helping to save the earth.
Using Ann Arbor’s new recycling carts, residents will earn points that can be applied toward products from an online store, gift cards or coupons from local or national businesses.
And if that feels too commercial, the points can also be turned into cash donations for green projects at local schools or relief agencies for Haiti.
The incentive program, called RecycleBank, is being offered to 30,000 single-family residences and duplexes. Business owners and apartment complex residents will have to wait a year to participate in the program, according to Ann Arbor City Council documents
"We're working with the city to develop a plan to include businesses and apartment complexes," said Melody Serafino, a spokeswoman for the New-York based company running the program.
Here's how it works:
Residents who received a mailer with an activation code can sign up for the program online at RecycleBank.com. After activating the account, households will earn points for recycling - tracked because the city’s new recycling carts contain microchips. The truck records the cart lift and weight and transfers data to RecycleBank.com. The company awards 2.5 points per pound recycled. Residents get 25 points for signing up.
Points aren't awarded to individual households - the company divvies points up equally among enrolled residents on a given pick-up route.
Ann Arbor couple Hannah and Ryan Brown said they like the idea.
“I can’t quite figure out how it works yet,” said Hannah, who received a mailer with an activation code.
“As a household, we recycle as much as we can,” Ryan said, adding they’d continue to recycle the same way with or without the points.
He noted not everyone has the same level of commitment to recycling.
“It’s fantastic to have an extrinsic motivator to get everyone else involved,” he said.
The incentives are part of a plan to boost recycling in Ann Arbor. That plan included millions of dollars of upgrades to the Ann Arbor Materials Recovery Facility, new carts and new trucks that support single-stream recycling.
Bales of paper sit inside the Ann Arbor Materials Recovery Facility during its open house on Aug. 21.
Angela J. Cesere | AnnArbor.com
Single-stream recycling means recyclables co-mingle in the cart at the home or business, and are then separated at the local materials recovery facility. The system is meant to make recycling less of a hassle, thereby encouraging it. The former program, in place since 1990, involved sorting items into two bins. Single-stream recycling started in July.
Free RecycleBank launch event Sept. 1 at Cobblestone Farm
To kick-off the program, Ann Arbor and RecycleBank are hosting an event 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 1 at Cobblestone Farm, 2781 Packard. Highlights include:
- Free activities will be available for children, including making a recycled-content bank.
- Participating rewards partners that will be bringing free samples and goodies as part of the community launch event include: Peoples Food Coop, Silvio’s Organic Pizza, 10,000 Villages, Cottage Inn, Stonyfield Yogurt, Arbor Farms, and Whole Foods.
- The City of Ann Arbor, RecycleBank, Recycle Ann Arbor, and the Scrap Box will also participate with information booths and activities.
Duane Maladecki, a sales manager for RecycleBank, said participants can redeem the points and earn gift cards, products or coupons online.
Or participants can opt to donate points to any school within the Ann Arbor city limits. Local teachers can apply for grants for green projects - like an organic garden or a rainwater collection system - and then use the points to redeem cash to fund those classroom initiatives. A total of 500 points equals a $10 donation.
The grants of $100 to $5,000 are being offered as part of RecycleBank’s Green Schools Program. The company has pledged $100,000 for the upcoming school year and $1 million over five years to Ann Arbor schools, Maladecki said.
Points can also be donated to one of three relief organizations for Haiti.
Maladecki said recycling participation has expanded dramatically in two other participating Michigan cities, Rochester Hills and Westland.
Westland had a drop-off program that brought in 90 tons of recycling per month. With the combination of single-stream recycling, curbside pick-up and an incentive program, the city now recycles about 500 tons per month, Maladecki said.
According to Maladecki, the cost of the RecycleBank program to taxpayers can be recovered. For one, an incentive program combined with single-stream recycling should result in people recycling more.
FCR Recycling, which is paid by the city to run the Ann Arbor Materials Recovery Facility, sells baled recyclables to re-manufacturing plants, and the city gets a cut of that cash. More recycling also means less trash and lower landfill fees, Maladecki said.
That’s the rationale the Ann Arbor City Council used when it signed a 10-year contract with Recycle Rewards in March, paying $227,400 in the first year with the option to evaluate the effectiveness of the program in three years.
Anyone who has questions can call the company at 888-727-2978. For help setting up a RecycleBank account, call 866-563-0114.
Juliana Keeping is a health and environment reporter for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at julianakeeping@annarbor.com or 734-623-2528. Follow Juliana Keeping on Twitter
Comments
Phil
Thu, Oct 7, 2010 : 11:43 p.m.
@Vivienne Armentrout -- I feel similar to the way you do. I buy in bulk to save money, take reusable shopping bags to the supermarket and avoid buying overpackaged goods, mostly because I hate dealing with all the trash and clutter that packaging materials cause. As a result, my recycling cart rarely goes to the curb, and my trash cart sometimes skips two or three weeks before it goes to the curb again. According to the boneheaded criteria used in these RFID tracking programs, I'll be labeled as a bad egg, even though I generate far less trash than the average person. It's time for the socialist busybodies to BUTT OUT of our lives, especially since most of their own personal affairs are a total mess.
EcoRonE
Tue, Aug 31, 2010 : 7:04 p.m.
Arborani: We enrolled without giving a cell phone number. Luis: I printed the list of rewards and I don't see an entry for the drop off station. This would be especially useful for recycling electronics, books, shredded paper, motor oil and such.
Angie
Tue, Aug 31, 2010 : 1:11 p.m.
@arborani: Hi there. Thanks for your comment, however, it is actually quite different from the RecycleBank terms, so I wanted to help clear up some of the confusion. Ann Arbor residents can use any phone number(cell or landline) to register their account. And RecycleBank does not share member information unless the member explicitly opts-in to partner communications. Further, RecycleBank does not currently offer any program with partners that use text messaging. Feel free to read more on RecycleBank's privacy policy at http://www.recyclebank.com/agreements.
Snarf Oscar Boondoggle
Tue, Aug 31, 2010 : 1:35 a.m.
@@Edward Vielmetti: http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2010/08/city_of_cleveland_to_use_high-.html The Division of Waste Collection is on track to meet its goal of issuing 4,000 citations this year, Owens said. /\/\/\/\ G O A L!!?? [ed: clevbeland scores?]
Snarf Oscar Boondoggle
Tue, Aug 31, 2010 : 1:30 a.m.
... he said all new recycling carts have the RFID's embedded in them so it is really not possible to have a cart without. It is also not supposed to be possible to dismantle or remove the RFID tag from the new recycling carts." as i noted earlier.... gimme a coupla 12 yr olds and about 18 seconds and we;ll see just how accurate taht statement is. if they can jailbreak their i-phone, they can jailbreak my treashcan, likkedly-split. j l. b r k. u r. t r s h. c n!!!
EcoRonE
Mon, Aug 30, 2010 : 6:33 p.m.
Scott, great idea to provide free trip to drop off station. Prior to single stream, our household recycled as much as allowed - we even brought home recyclable stuff (paper and water bottles) from work. I didn't think single stream would make much difference but I'm discovering I spent a lot of time sorting that I don't have to do now. From a purely ease of use standpoint, I like it. The prizes won't motivate us to recycle more curbside stuff but with Scott's idea, we would recycle more and landfill less. On a related note, we LOVE the fact that we can compost all our garden scraps in the compost bin including watermelon rinds (which are much thicker on commercially raised melons). As for leaf pick up in the fall - it's an anachronism. It can't be ended soon enough especially on streets that have no sidewalks!
Angie
Mon, Aug 30, 2010 : 9:42 a.m.
@Craig Lounsbury: Sorry for misspelling your name. You do have your own account, but your weight is not collected on an individual basis because the cost for a scale feature on the trucks is very high. We do use this method in other municipalities, however, we have found that the total tonnage is maximized by using community weight based routing. As for the free-loading neighbor: There are methods for knowing when this is happening. The vast majority of people do not/would not do this. It is dishonest and heavily discouraged. The truck driver/operator would notice this, as well as a pattern of this sort of behavior. Unregistered participants' poundage is averaged into the weight of the route that gets dispersed between activated participants. @a2don: This is not a contest. Residents are simply being rewarded for their recycling behavior, there are not winners/losers. @Vivienne Armentrout: I understand this notion. Sadly, the majority of American's are not at faithful to the task of reducing waste. We are not aiming to provide a disincentive for reducing waste, rather we are providing an incentive for those who do not recycle now, or recycle very little, to begin recycling and to reduce the amount of waste going into our landfills. It cannot hurt to activate your account and use your points to support the local businesses and economy, or the local schools.
arborani
Mon, Aug 30, 2010 : 9:02 a.m.
Please Note: I received my "code" by mail, and checked out the RecycleBank site. Be aware that in order to register, you MUST submit a cell phone number, not a land line. Before you bite, be sure to link into the "Terms and Conditions" statement, where the reason for this becomes apparent. Your registration constitutes agreement to these terms, which allow not only RecycleBank, but any and all of its present--and future--affiliates to send presumably unlimited commercial text messages to your cell--data mining, pure and simple. (You are allowed to text a "STOP" message, which then deletes you from the Rewards program.) If you find this a reasonable tradeoff for the Rewards program, mazeltov. I chose not to register.
E. Manuel Goldstein
Fri, Aug 27, 2010 : 10:48 p.m.
Kudos to City of Ann Arbor, and Recycle Ann Arbor thinkers for coming up with single stream recycling. Good to know this program is already accepting other communities' recyclables, potentially generating even more revenue (which offsets tipping fees and other landfill costs). Also, isn't it true one CAN use incentive points to offset the cost of entering the drop-off center? Please refer to this Toledo news story to see what Ann Arbor is doing with expanding the program to other communities, and from which Toledo is now getting the idea to create a similar recycling processing facility of their own. http://abclocal.go.com/wtvg/story?section=news/iteam&id=7635298
Vivienne Armentrout
Fri, Aug 27, 2010 : 10:16 p.m.
"The purpose of the RFID is to be able to track the participation of a particular household/cart. The RFID number is married to the address, the cart, the code, and your route number. We can use any of those numbers to identify the other's... (sic) We know when your specific cart/address has participated in any given week and the route that you are on. RecycleBank used scanners during deployment to scan each cart's RFID tag and marry it to the particular address. " I am a willing participant in most forms of government data collection, but there is something chilling about this. As has been stated by others, this system is a disincentive to reducing waste. We have been encouraged for years to buy in bulk, avoid excessive packaging, use returnable/reusable containers, etc. Will this system identify those of us who have done this as poor recyclers? I'll keep buying Calder milk (returnable bottles), buying grains and other goods from the local producers at the Farmers' Market, and putting any reusable items out on Freecycle; don't buy sodas, don't use many canned goods. Wonder how I'll show up in their database. (We are not participating in the reward system.)
a2dan
Fri, Aug 27, 2010 : 8:19 p.m.
Unbelievable, we are spending $227,400 tax dollars the 1st year. Wake up Ann Arbor. Are there more ways to waste money and cut essential city services like leaf pick-up? I thought we were already very good at recycling in Ann Arbor and the numbers are way up without this contest. Besides reduce and reuse are even better than recycling, cut the waste stream. The best business to be in is to sell unneeded services like this contest to the City of Ann Arbor
Craig Lounsbury
Fri, Aug 27, 2010 : 4:35 p.m.
another question: If people on my route don't bother to register for prizes but still recycle what happens to their poundage? Does it go in to the pool for those of us who did register?
BigMike
Fri, Aug 27, 2010 : 4:35 p.m.
Here's the lurking "1984" problem, Mr. Lounsbury - you can rat out your grouchy non-recycling neighbor to the A2 government, who will come and take away his medical marijuana prescription until he starts recycling his Whole Foods shopping bags.
Craig Lounsbury
Fri, Aug 27, 2010 : 4:27 p.m.
"@Craig Lounsburg: RecycleBank is in the loyalty and rewards business, so giving out points/prizes is what we do. We have a very detailed and systemized way of tracking points and participation so that we do not "lose track." It is Lounsbury with a "B" but thats OK, your not in the spelling business. With your system why can't I have my own account? Why do I have to share my points with old "One Can bhall" who plans to "...toss everything out in the garbage, with the exception of one can in the recycling. And I'll get the same number of points as my neighbor. Hah!" Wheres my motivation?
jns131
Fri, Aug 27, 2010 : 4:27 p.m.
What about the ones who live in Ypsilanti? Can we get in on it too? I think we recycle more then our neighbor ever does. Great story. I am a recycle-aholic.
Angie
Fri, Aug 27, 2010 : 3:27 p.m.
"How does one know how big ones route is? It seems like a convenient way to "lose track" of how much I'm recycling. A way to NOT have to issue prizes." @Craig Lounsburg: RecycleBank is in the loyalty and rewards business, so giving out points/prizes is what we do. We have a very detailed and systemized way of tracking points and participation so that we do not "lose track." @Andy Jacbos: The technicalities that you mentioned are the very reason we have not rolled out this new system yet; we are currently working to iron out the kinks. @Scott Hadley: The purpose of the RFID is to be able to track the participation of a particular household/cart. The RFID number is married to the address, the cart, the code, and your route number. We can use any of those numbers to identify the other's... We know when your specific cart/address has participated in any given week and the route that you are on. RecycleBank used scanners during deployment to scan each cart's RFID tag and marry it to the particular address. @Brian Bundesen: RecycleBank is working diligently to rapidly expand in the Michigan market! We would LOVE to come to Pittsfield Twp, Ypsilanti, etc! The best way to help get this ball rolling is to contact your city council and have them contact Duane Maladecki to set up a meeting/presentation. (dmaladecki@recyclebank.com) @Breadman: The number that Julianna provided is current, also recyclebank.com. Feel free to email me directly with any further questions/concerns/clarifications Subj: RB in AA to atobias@recyclebank.com Angie
Juliana Keeping
Fri, Aug 27, 2010 : 2:07 p.m.
From the story: Anyone who has questions can call the company at 888-727-2978. For help setting up a RecycleBank account, call 866-563-0114.
annarbor.mom
Fri, Aug 27, 2010 : 1:48 p.m.
We never got the mailer...is there a way to sign up without the code? We have received our cart, however.
Emma B
Fri, Aug 27, 2010 : 12:49 p.m.
As much as I like the idea of an incentive for myself-- I think the landlords need it more than I do. My landlord refused to participate in recycling even after the new bins went out. But then again we shared a dumpster with a house from another management company so they couldn't be bothered to deal with our trash either.
WLD1
Fri, Aug 27, 2010 : 11:57 a.m.
The other day at work, This guy took his recycle cart out while they were picking up his neighbors. The Recycle ann arbor driver looks at him and drives by and doesn't pick up the recycle. So the Guy got pissed off, opened up his garbage, picked up the recycle cart and poured his recycle cart into his garbage. The fact that his recycling cart was 3/4 full and fit in his garbage he must have spent a lot of time recycling. That kind of attitude from the recycle drivers would wake me want to stop wasting my time recycling.
LAEL
Fri, Aug 27, 2010 : 10:47 a.m.
@snoper Good point! If you live in the city, you can get paid to recycle, but if you don't, you have to pay to be green? I respect that the recycle center needs to charge a fee so that it can continue to operate, but it does seem odd that some can get paid while others have to pay to recycle.
Woman in Ypsilanti
Fri, Aug 27, 2010 : 9:42 a.m.
@bhall I was thinking the same thing.;)
bhall
Fri, Aug 27, 2010 : 8:54 a.m.
What's hard to understand? The RFID tag tracks participation only. Not individual volumes. I plan to toss everything out in the garbage, with the exception of one can in the recycling. And I'll get the same number of points as my neighbor. Hah!
uawisok
Fri, Aug 27, 2010 : 8:47 a.m.
I guess the "Reduce" portion of reduce,reuse,recycle can be done away with no that there is incentive to use more in order to recycle more....another capitalist fix to sustainability!! LOL!!!
5c0++ H4d13y
Fri, Aug 27, 2010 : 8:33 a.m.
That's my point @SonnyDog09. I don't think they do have it setup to track individual bins to a residence. They either don't know which RFID goes with which house or they don't use the information or don't pass it to Recycle Bank. Maybe the city can clarify how this system works or does not work? It's sold as being a high tech tracking system and then you find out that it nothing like that at all. What gives?
SonnyDog09
Fri, Aug 27, 2010 : 8:18 a.m.
"And if neighbors put their carts near each other and they get mixed up, it's less of an issue." How can the carts get "mixed up" if each of them has an RFID chip in it which uniquely identifies the cart and ties that cart to a residence? Also the truck is video taping the dump process, so I assume it would record the serial number that is on the outside of the cart as well. They have set up the system to track recyclables to an individual residence. Don't think for a moment that they won't misuse that capability down the road. Of course, it will all be done for our own good and the good of the planet :-)
Peregrine
Fri, Aug 27, 2010 : 8:11 a.m.
By having the rewards route-based rather than household-based, I suspect certain types of cheating are minimized. People have less of an incentive to move stuff from neighbors' to their own. They also have less of an incentive to put heavy-ish non-recyclables in their own cart. And if neighbors put their carts near each other and they get mixed up, it's less of an issue.
breadman
Fri, Aug 27, 2010 : 8:08 a.m.
How and where do you sign up to earn points?
5c0++ H4d13y
Fri, Aug 27, 2010 : 8 a.m.
Maybe we could use our points for free entry to the Recycle Center? Or how about free entry for having a recycle bank account?
Juliana Keeping
Fri, Aug 27, 2010 : 7:57 a.m.
Brian, Just Ann Arbor for now.
snoper
Fri, Aug 27, 2010 : 7:53 a.m.
When I try to be a good recycler and load up my car with styrofoam and other recycleables and drive them to the re-cycle center, I am charged $3.00 to do it. This is the opposite of a prize and the opposite of an incentive. How much recyclable stuff gets into the landfill because people don't want to have to load up the car, drive across town AND THEN pay $3.00 for the effort?
Brian Bundesen
Fri, Aug 27, 2010 : 7:06 a.m.
Is this a city only project? If so, are there any discussions/ plans to bring it to areas outside the city proper, like Pittsfield Twp, etc.?
5c0++ H4d13y
Fri, Aug 27, 2010 : 6:56 a.m.
What's the purpose of the RFID tag in the cart if the recycling is credited on a route basis and not individual? I wondered how my code in the mail would match up to the RFID in the cart to credit my recycling. I assumed the only way would be for the city to know which cart they gave me and which code I was mailed. I think now with the information in this article the city and recycle bank either don't know which RFID I have or don't use the information. Seems like a gap in the implementation.
Soothslayer
Fri, Aug 27, 2010 : 6:51 a.m.
>Business owners and apartment complex residents will have to wait a year If you cant track an individuals participation I don't see how this program would help unless the points go to the business or apartment complex itself which it can use to reward the occupants.
BigMike
Fri, Aug 27, 2010 : 6:48 a.m.
Kudos to Ann Arbor for building incentives into the recycling program. Let's make sure the motivation remains a carrot and not a stick - was it Cleveland that has started fining residents for not recycling?
Craig Lounsbury
Fri, Aug 27, 2010 : 6:20 a.m.
"Maladecki said recycling participation has expanded dramatically in two other participating Michigan cities, Rochester Hills and Westland." lets drop Westland from the equation as it appears fro my reading they went from a drop off station to curbside. Of course participation was going to skyrocket. "Points aren't awarded to individual households - the company divvies points up equally among enrolled residents on a given pick-up route." How does one know how big ones route is? It seems like a convenient way to "lose track" of how much I'm recycling. A way to NOT have to issue prizes.