AKRON, Ohio – The City of Akron and Keep Akron Beautiful, an environmental sustainability organization, have relaunched the “Recycle Right” campaign to encourage residents to recycle, but to do so correctly.

Recycle Right began in 2019 as a way to reduce recycling contamination, meaning materials that are put in recycling bins that should actually go in the trash. Contamination increases recycling costs and decreases the number of recyclable items that can be recovered, according to the city.

The campaign includes workers conducting “curbside cart observations” by looking into residents’ recycling bins and, if they contain contaminants, leaving an informational tag about recycling guidelines. This year’s curbside observations looked a bit different, since workers took coronavirus-related precautions, including wearing masks and other protective gear, and practicing social distancing.

Akron and Keep Akron Beautiful have launched the "Recycle Right" campaign for the second year in a row.

Since the Recycle Right campaign started, Akron has reported a decrease in its contamination rate, from 39% to 27.2%, and the city hopes the reboot will result in even less contamination. 

“Overall, we have seen a noticeable improvement from when we ran the campaign last year,” said Jacqui Ricchiuti, CEO of Keep Akron Beautiful.

Ricchiuti said the most common contaminant is non-recyclable plastic, including plastic bags from grocery stores or other retailers, and plastic wrapping, including Saran wrap and the wrapping on cases of water bottles.

“The only plastics that should be placed in recycling carts are clean and empty bottles and jugs,” Ricchiuti said. “One of my favorite quotes about recycling is, ‘When in doubt, throw it out!’ When you put an item in your recycling bin which isn’t actually recyclable, you can contaminate other items. This contamination results in most, if not all, of the recyclable items in your cart being thrown out. It’s better to throw out one item instead of an entire cart.”

Other common contaminants include pizza boxes, to-go containers and other items that once contained cooked food, unwashed laundry detergent containers and dirty or wet cardboard. 

“We know that Akron residents value the recycling program and want to see it succeed,” said Mayor Dan Horrigan. “This initiative has allowed us to continue to educate our recycling customers about the correct way to recycle, so that they can help us keep this program sustainable.”

As part of Akron’s effort to educate residents about recycling, the city launched the “Akron Recycles” app in October 2019. The app shows residents when pick-up is scheduled, or delayed, and sends alerts related to the city’s curbside service. Users can search the app’s “Waste Wizard” tool to see whether a material should go in the trash or recycling.

For example, look up “garden hoses” and the app says to put them in the trash bin. A search for “egg carton” yields multiple responses for whether it’s paper, Styrofoam or plastic. Typing in “yard trimmings” shows that biodegradable materials should be placed in lawn and leaf bags, and the app reminds users to schedule bulk waste pick-up by calling the city’s 311 line.

The Recycling Partnership, a national nonprofit that supports local governments’ recycling programs, funded the first two years of the app through a grant that is about $10,000 a year, according to an Akron spokeswoman.