Green Heart Initiative: Fayetteville Commercial Recycling Pilot

Read press release here.

Read Green Heart Initiative Guidelines here.
Read Green Heart Initiative Coverage here.

BACKGROUND
Today Fayetteville does not have a city commercial recycling program for retailers, multifamily housing, offices, restaurants and bars that parallels its highly effective and highly regarded residential initiative, Pay As You Throw. The City commissioned a study of the feasibility and “best practices” for commercial recycling.

Many downtown businesses now independently take their business recycling to their homes or make weekly trips to the recycling facility. The high level of interest and commitment among bar and restaurant owners to reduce their trash stream through recycling offered the opportunity for a coordinated pilot. In addition, their interest is to reduce their carbon footprint through environmental stewardship—a key element of sustainability.

COMMERCIAL RECYCLING PILOT
Local small business and hospitality owners repeatedly asked for an opportunity to test a commercial recycling initiative during conversations I had with them.

As a market researcher and strategic planning consultant, I saw the opportunity for a “real-life” test. The time was right for engaged small business owners to participate in a pilot initiative to test and record the opportunities and challenges facing a commercial recycling program. Together we could test commercial recycling under local conditions and with local personalities. The pilot gives the opportunity for involvement, debate, and consensus.

The pilot is not intended to distract from the City study or to compete with it. Rather, it is to provide both anecdotal and third party assessment of what is experienced in a local six-month pilot. The pilot is called the Fayetteville Green Heart Initiative.

Participating study partners will sign an agreement to participate in the full study, agree to maintain records, meet monthly, and share their experiences. In return, they will receive promotional materials to indicate their involvement in the Green Heart Initiative.

Study partners sign an agreement to track their recycling progress and activity, note and share challenges and opportunities, identify worker and patron attitude changes, and make a monthly assessment of their experience with the pilot program schedule and impact.

An independent third-party assessor will monitor the program and evaluate the impact and technology.

ELEMENTS OF THE PILOT STUDY
In March I met with Tom Smith, owner of Roll Off Service, Inc., to explore his experience, expertise, and interest in commercial recycling. A tour of his facilities and subsequent conversations led to a six-month commercial recycling pilot project that invites business owners on Dickson Street and the Fayetteville Square to participate.

The test is planned to use four recycling sites.

The pilot will be video recorded and participating business owners interviewed each month to capture the evolving sense of the initiative.

Participating businesses have the opportunity to recycle cardboard, chipboard, aluminum cans, steel cans, newspaper, magazines, junk mail, white paper, plastic bottles, telephone books, books, and office paper in a single stream, in a single central recycling container. Glass and bottles are recycled separately, in another container, for safety reasons. Broken glass in the recycling stream can be a danger to Roll Off line personnel.

Roll Off will collect the recycling at no charge to the participants. Roll Off will use the pilot to test the sustainability of commercial recycling using its Fayetteville transfer station and existing technology.

Throughout the pilot Roll Off and the pilot participants may experiment with altered collection schedules, recycling techniques and brokerages to determine the market demand for the range of recycled materials.

NEXT STEPS
Discussions are under way to add recycling of kitchen refuse and Styrofoam to the pilot after the initial three-month trial period.

WHY A RECYCLING PROJECT AS PART OF A POLITICAL CAMPAIGN?
Simple: Any candidate can talk about commitment to sustainability. I chose to demonstrate the leadership, practical thinking, and collaborative skills that I bring to the office of Mayor of Fayetteville. I chose to “walk the talk.”

It is also very easy to make promises that might or might not come to fruition following the campaign. I believe that Fayetteville should get a chance to see what they are getting as their next Mayor.

Public announcement of the Green Heart commercial recycling pilot, Thursday, April 17, 2008, by Walt Eilers. View photos here.

Walt Eilers for Mayor Committee, Daniel McCormick, Treasurer