1. 2013 Municipal Waste Management Association
Fall Summit
Best Practices in Voluntary Product
Stewardship: Carton Recycling & Beyond
Phil Bresee, Recycling Director, City of
Philadelphia
October 14, 2013

2. About Philadelphia…
• Founded 1682 by William Penn
• Fifth-largest City in U.S. with
1.55 million residents
• Metro area = ~6 million
• Healthcare, financial services,
tourism, refining, IT based
economy (transitioning from
manufacturing).
• Renowned higher education
system
• “Global” city, rich in history,
arts, culture, professional
sports, etc.

3. Solid Waste Management in Philadelphia
• 2.7 million tons + of solid
waste generated in 2012.
– Residential = 25%
– Commercial/Institutional
= 75%
• C&D debris included
(~500K tons)
• ~50% of all (residential +
commercial) solid waste
recycled in 2012.
Landfilled
724,010
27%
Recycled
1,364,255
50%
WTE
640,743
23%

4. Solid Waste Management Trends in Philadelphia
Philadelphia MSW 2007-2012
3,500,000
3,000,000
Tons Per Year
2,500,000
2,000,000
1,500,000
1,000,000
500,000
-
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
Recycled & Composted
1,221,029
1,025,394
1,175,842
1,493,955
1,396,987
1,364,255
Disposed
1,964,247
1,771,033
1,495,412
1,437,419
1,443,037
1,351,800

5. Key Recycling Requirements & Policy Goals
• PA Act 101 (1988):
– Mandatory recycling for
municipalities with more than
5,000 persons.
– Includes commercial recycling
requirements.
– Established 35% recycling
goal.
• City ordinance requirements
(10-700) includes commercial
recycling (1994).
• Greenworks goals including
25% residential diversion rate
and 70% landfill diversion
rate.

6. Residential MSW in Philadelphia
Photo courtesy of Peter Tobia
• Department of Streets collects
weekly from 523,000 HH
– $95 million budget
– 1,200 employees
– 200+ trucks (100% run on biodiesel); 5 transfer sites
– Street cleaning & litter can
collections
– Special event collections
– Anti-litter programs
• Recyclables = 123,000+ tons
curbside for 2013
• Garbage = 497,000 tons for FY
2013

7. Commercial MSW in Philadelphia
•
•
•
•
•
Commercial and institutional MSW stream of
~2 million tons
Recycling mandated through PA Act 101 (City
ordinance established 1994).
Businesses must file recycling plan (on-line),
contract for services, provide appropriate
bins, etc. $300 per day fine for noncompliance.
50%+ commercial recycling rate although
many gaps exist among small & medium
sized businesses.
Private sector innovation:
– C&D recycling
– Organics recycling
– Food waste

8. Recycling Rewards Program
• Philadelphia original
Recyclebank pilot (2006).
• Program became City-wide
2010.
• ~190,000 households have
signed up for the program.
• Outreach, events, and overall
program visibility are key
elements:
– 2012 summer sweepstakes
– Recycling bin distribution
events
– America Recycles Day
– Green Schools Project
– U.S. Conference of Mayors
Award

9. Other Initiatives & Programs
• Public space recycling
opportunities (920 Big-Belly
sites).
• Recycling drop-off centers at
sanitation yards accept other
materials:
– Electronics
– Household Hazardous Waste
• Public event recycling:
– 85% recycling/composting
rate at 2012 Philadelphia
Marathon

10. Recycling in Philadelphia: Vintage 1990’s to mid
2000’s
Popular
8
6
4
2
Cockroaches
Nickelback
Philly Recycling
Congress
France
Root canals
Traffic jams
Fast Cars
Facebook
Vacations
Beer
Philadelphia Eagles
-6
Philadelphia Eagles
-4
Puppies
-2
Money
0
Smart Phones
– Too much trouble
– Unclear what was recyclable
– Fines most effective motivator
10
Mom
• Program much-maligned…
• Funding support & staffing
issues.
• Recycling coordinator
turnover.
• Every-other week pickup,
limited materials.
• Less than 40,000 tons per year
from curbside program.
• Negative perceptions:
-8
Unpopular
-10

11. Recycling Revitalization Milestones in
Philadelphia
Tons per-year of Residential Recyclables
140,000
Cartons added…
City-wide
singlestream
120,000
100,000
#3-7 plastics
Citywide
single-stream
80,000
Mayor Nutter
elected
Recyclebank goes citywide
Plastics & OCC
60,000
Weekly pickup
40,000
Recyclebank
pilot…
20,000
Single-stream phase-in
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013

12. Moving the Recycling Needle…
Amount of remaining program
recyclables shrinking…
Currently
Recyclable
64,610
13%
Disposal &
Problem
Materials
262,665
53%
Potentially
Recyclable
(addtl.
plastics,
metals,
cartons)
26,590
5%
Organics
143,136
29%
• 2013 curbside
recyclables capture rate
of ~65% (and growing)
• Additional 30,000+
tons needed to reach
Greenworks goal.
• Organics collection
pose challenges.
• New program materials
have to be targeted

13. Kick-Starting Carton Recycling
• Program began late
2011
• Kick-off with press
conference with
Mayor Nutter, Carton
Council, Recyclebank,
etc.
• Extensive coverage in
local media.

14. Kick-Starting Carton Recycling
• Carton Council
partnered with City on
outreach campaign
buys.
– Flyers through direct
mail (utility bills)
– Transit advertising (bus
stops, subway, trains)

15. Future Recycling Initiatives & Challenges
100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
0%
2012
2015
2025
2030
Residential Recycling %
Commercial & Institutional Recycling %
Diversion from Landfill %
• Waste stream is changing with
less paper, more plastic, less
glass, etc.
• City needs to consider
additional materials to push
residential diversion rates
higher.
• Similar public-private
partnerships likely to emerge.
• Leverage resources and use
opportunity to promote entire
recycling program.