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Tips to
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Remember: |
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Surveys |
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Surveys can be used to gauge businesses’ interest in recycling and in participating in cooperatives. Surveys can also be used to gauge what materials are being generated in large amounts.
Administering surveys requires a word of caution, however. Surveys sent out with no follow-up will result in a very low response rate which may not be representative of the community population as a whole. Here are some tips to increase response rates:
Keep the survey short (one page maximum) If a survey is mailed, try to follow up unanswered surveys with phone calls or by going door-to-door. Find volunteers from high school and college environmental clubs to follow up with businesses door-to-door. Survey a percentage of the communities’ businesses over the telephone. Go to meetings which business people attend and distribute surveys before the meeting starts (be sure to ask permission of those running the meeting prior to this activity). |
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DropOff Programs
A dropoff program is designed so that businesses bring their material to a centrally located container. It works best for many businesses with small quantities of recyclables located in a densely populated area. Compared to pick-up programs, dropoff programs:
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- Are quick to set up, they only require an identified and approved centralized location and a dumpster to be delivered to it.
- Requires up-front costs of purchasing or renting a dumpster.
- Requires motivated business people to walk with their recyclables to the dropoff location.
- Are likely to lose participants without frequent oversight and reminders.
- It is harder to identify who is putting contaminants into a dumpster.
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Some hints about dropoff programs
Obtain a dumpster which locks to ensure confidentiality of materials and so it is not used as a local trash repository.
Locate the dumpster near a central parking lot or area where it is easily accessible to participating businesses.
Pickup Programs
In a pickup program, a designated hauler conducts a “milkrun” collection of accumulated material at participating businesses. This model requires the availability of a service provider with transportation capabilities to conduct pick-ups at multiple sites and the ability to supply participating businesses with collection containers. In this model, each business separates the recyclables inside their office. The hauler picks up the materials from either the office itself, the front door of the building, or the loading dock. The location of the bins prior to pickup should be determined with your service provider and explained to the businesses during the recruitment process.
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