Olympia is launching a contamination reduction project in May to help residents in more than 6,000 households improve their recycling efforts
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The City of Olympia has joined the Washington State Department of Ecology, The Recycling Partnership, and Saskatchewan-based Canadian cleantech startup Prairie Robotics to launch a recycling contamination reduction program. The project, starting in May, will use global positioning systems, computers and cameras on city recycling trucks to check the contents of curbside recycling carts and provide residents feedback as needed, household by household.
Selected households will receive an initial postcard in the mail about the upcoming project with reminders of accepted materials and top contaminants before launch.
"I believe our customers are committed to recycling but may need some clarification on what can and can't be recycled," said Kim Johnson, residential educator for the City of Olympia. "Customers may have questions regarding why something isn't accepted, and I'm happy to help."
The campaign spearheaded by the city's Department of Public Works is funded by the Washington State Department of Ecology with technical support from national nonprofit The Recycling Partnership. The aim is to promote more and better recycling while decreasing the amount of contaminated materials that are inadvertently deposited in recycling carts. Learn more about what is and is not acceptable to recycle in Olympia at www.olympiawa.gov/wastewise.
"We are excited to support innovative approaches for improving Washington's recycling system," said Dan Weston, Statewide Recycling Coordinator with the Department of Ecology. "We hope this technology proves effective and provides local recycling programs across the state with a valuable tool for reducing contamination."
The project is a modified version of The Recycling Partnership's "Feet on the Street" cart tagging recycling program-a community-wide initiative to improve the quality of recycling in curbside recycling carts by providing residents with personalized and real-time curbside recycling education and feedback. Traditionally, this is done by someone tagging carts on the street if contaminants - items that aren't accepted for curbside recycling, such as plastic bags - are in the recycling cart.
In this project, instead of a person reviewing contents and placing a tag on curbside recycling carts, Prairie Robotics will retrofit the city's recycling collection trucks with camera technology. Using machine-learning techniques, the technology scans the material as it is mechanically dumped from each recycling cart into the truck and recognizes unacceptable items such as plastic bags, polystyrene foam, yard waste, and trash. Such items are flagged in real-time, allowing for a personalized postcard or digital notification to be sent to a resident with information about how they can recycle better.
Olympia is joined by parts of Clallam County including Sequim and the City of Renton who were also chosen to implement contamination reduction projects this year. The City of Olympia is one of two Washington communities embracing Prairie Robotics technology for the use of contamination reduction as part of this effort. The funding is part of the Department of Ecology's strategy to improve the quality of recyclable materials through its Recycle Right campaign. The campaign was created in 2019 in response to the loss of end markets for some of Washington's recyclable materials due to excessive contamination. Previous iterations of the campaign featured advertisements that encouraged residents not to bag their recyclables and to keep their recyclables empty, clean, and dry.
About The City of Olympia
The City of Olympia's vision is a healthy, vibrant and beautiful Capital City. The City's Waste ReSources Utility's mission is to lead and inspire our community toward a waste-free future, creating opportunities for residents to eliminate waste. The Utility manages solid waste as a resource that provides environmental, economic, and social benefits in a responsible and cost-effective manner that minimizes environmental impacts.
About Washington State Department of Ecology
The Department of Ecology employs about 1,700 people located in six major offices and several smaller offices throughout the State. The mission of the agency is to protect, preserve, and enhance Washington's environment, and promote the wise management of air, land, and water for the benefit of current and future generations. The agency is organized into ten environmental programs plus one administrative program with six divisions. The Solid Waste Management program coordinates solid waste and recycling programs in Washington. The program's mission is to reduce waste through prevention and reuse; keep toxics out of the environment; and safely manage what remains.
About The Recycling Partnership
The Recycling Partnership is a purpose-driven organization committed to building a better recycling system, one that delivers the economic and environmental benefits our communities and the hundreds of thousands of people who work throughout the recycling industry deserve. The Recycling Partnership's team of experts, practitioners, and thought leaders with real-world experience works with its partners to insist on meaningful change across the recycling system and assist communities, companies, and policymakers in enacting such change. The Recycling Partnership uses its one-of-a-kind National Recycling Database that encompasses more than 9,000 U.S. recycling programs and develops practical and innovative solutions to address critical gaps in the recycling system. Learn more at recyclingpartnership.org.
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Contact
Kim Johnson, Residential Waste Education
Olympia Public Works
360.570.5837
kjohnson@ci.olympia.wa.us
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