Getting people to recycle is a challenge. Getting them to recycle as much as they can and to do it correctly can feel impossible. After all, different materials and housing environments present enormous barriers when encouraging recycling. 

That notion is particularly clear when trying to recover food scraps from multi-family buildings. Is success in that realm even possible? The answer is yes – but an understanding of the human factor in changing deep-seated attitudes and behaviors is a requisite for success.

A food scrap collection pilot program in the Stuyvesant Town (StuyTown) residential complex on the east side of Manhattan shows how residents of multi-family apartment buildings can be encouraged to separate out their food scraps for composting efficiently and effectively.

This article originally appeared in the November 2018 print edition of Resource Recycling. Article by: Gareth Morton and Sarah Edwards

CONTINUE READING