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Recycling in Flats Every Day, in Bristol

 

At a glance

– Client: Bristol City Council

– Type of project: Long-term engagement project

– Duration: Five year (on-going)

– Techniques: Consultation, community liaison, stakeholder engagement

The aim of this project is to promote the use of the city’s mini-recycling centres (MRCs) and increase recycling participation amongst residents living in flat and apartment properties across Bristol.  

Facilitating infrastructure and action by residents

Since 2003, Resource Futures have worked with Bristol City Council to facilitate the use of MRCs by local residents. Their work includes assessing current sites for suitability, liaising with landlords to identify new sites, making contact with caretakers and managing agents to iron out technical difficulties and trouble-shooting with collection contractors.

They also undertake communications work and arrange promotional activities to encourage usage. This includes doing talks to resident groups at committee meetings or coffee mornings, distributing leaflets with bags (specially designed to store recyclables and make it easy to carry them to the MRCs), and door-to-door canvassing to engage residents to use the MRCs. Specific tactics have been used to target particular audience groups, for example in blocks with large Somali immigrant populations a local outreach worker and Somali volunteers were engaged to speak with their neighbours about recycling and encourage uptake. 

The project has developed a database for tracking performance, noting changes in contacts at different properties, site maps, communications with residents, enquiries/complaints from residents etc which could be adapted as a management tool for other clients.

Recycling results

Over three years, RIFE has succeeded in increasing the amount of materials collected from its sites from a baseline figure of 247 tonnes to 378 tonnes in year 2 and 440 tonnes in year 3, a 77% increase since the start of the project. The average output per household for all sites rose from 44 kg/hh/year to 75 kg/hh/year over the same time period. Positive behavioural change has been observed, even from those residents who were recorded as definite non-recyclers at the start of the project.

Project Synopses

Top Recycler! Waste Education Project

Working in Cambridgeshire primary schools to support the waste partnership's aim to increase dry recycling.

Antrim HWRC and Bring Site review

Resource Futures carried out a comprehensive review of the staffed Household Waste Recycling Centres (HRCs) and unstaffed Community Recycling Points (CRPs) managed by Antrim Borough Council.

Recycling in Flats Every Day, in Bristol

Encouraging recycling among residents living in flats

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