Public Space Recycling Pilot Project
Palm Beach County and ABA
Project Goals
 Measure and improve public space recycling
performance
 Create an effective, attractive, and sustainable
recycling system for beverage containers generated in
each host jurisdiction
 Create opportunities for the public to manage their
beverage containers to reduce the amount of litter
 Identify and demonstrate the use of functional and
aesthetically pleasing recycling receptacles
 Increase public awareness of the opportunities and
convenience of recycling in the host jurisdiction(s)
Participants: 5 Palm Beach Municipalities and
County SWA
Jurisdiction/ Service Provider
Bin Types
Lake Park/Lake Park
Witt Stadium
North Palm Beach/ North Palm Beach
Witt Metal Slat
Delray Beach/ Waste Management
Witt Metal Slat
Rubbermaid
Wellington/ Waste Management
Witt Metal Slat
West Palm Beach/ West Palm Beach
(trash); Waste Mgt. (recycling)
Witt Metal Slat
Recycling Bin Locations
Pre Start Waste Audit
Project Hard Launch: America Recycles Day
– Thursday, Nov. 15th
 Delray Beach: Kick-off event on the Beach
 Wellington: Booth and containers at Food Truck Rodeo
 West Palm Beach: Kick-off event in Northwood Village – Art
and Wine Promenade (Last Friday in November)
Ongoing Promotion
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SWA booth at fairgrounds during the fair
SWA website
SWA public service announcements
Available for your use: draft articles for
newsletters, and text for use on your websites, and
social media pages
 Poster – available in electronic format for printing
Post Start Audit
Change in Percentage of Beverage
Containers in Waste
Beverage Containers in Recycling Bins
Change in Beverage Containers in
Waste– by City
PET Bev
Bottles
Alum Bev
Cans
Glass Bev
Bottles
Paper Bev
Cartons
Delray Beach
-48%
-66%
-43%
-62%
Lake Park
-74%
290%
-29%
-77%
North Palm Beach
-33%
-65%
-80%
58%
Wellington
-69%
-66%
-72%
46%
West Palm Beach
-18%
-57%
-34%
-80%
All Cities
-53%
-48%
-53%
-47%
Composition of Material in Recycling Bins
Composition and Change in Composition of
Litter – Pre-Pilot vs. Pilot
Pre-Pilot
(# items)
Beverage Containers
PET Bottles
Aluminum Cans
HDPE Bottles
Glass Bottles
Paper Cartons
Other Plastic Bottles
Pouches
Steel Cans
Other Materials
Film Plastic
Paper Plates & Napkins
Rigid Plastic Containers
Other Plastic Packaging
Other Materials
Total
Percentage
of Total
Items
38
25
5
4
4
4
3
2
6.2%
4.1%
0.8%
0.7%
0.7%
0.7%
0.5%
0.3%
119
57
56
53
242
612
19.4%
9.3%
9.2%
8.7%
39.5%
100.0%
Pilot
(# items)
8
1
2
2
10
2
72
40
9
35
57
238
Percentage
of Total
Items
Percent
Change
3.4%
0.4%
0.8%
0.8%
0.0%
4.2%
0.8%
0.0%
-46%
-90%
3%
29%
-100%
543%
71%
-100%
30.3%
16.8%
3.8%
14.7%
23.9%
100.0%
56%
80%
-59%
70%
-39%
Beverage Containers in Litter
Pre-Pilot Litter Composition
Litter Composition during Pilot
Seeking Your Input
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Containers – size, functionality, durability?
Container locations?
Contamination? Litter? Scavenging?
Container servicing – frequency, cost?
Community feedback?
What would you do differently?
Key Learnings (as observed, and
reported by operations staff)
 Many people recycle when given opportunity – particularly in parks
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and beaches.
Streetside receptacles don’t gather beverage containers to the
extent as do those in parks and marinas.
There are a lot of glass bottles in the recycling stream.
Aluminum cans may also be higher than reflected due to removal by
scavengers particularly in West Palm Beach sites.
Both waste and recycling containers need to be twinned and
tethered.
Labels don’t stick well to Rubbermaid bins and lids break, but
otherwise all containers did their job and were well received.
Both waste and recycling containers need to be serviced regularly
or they both collect trash and cause increased litter.
Key Learnings (as observed, and
reported by operations staff)
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Labels did their job of differentiating the recycling receptacles from waste receptacles. Colors
were attractive. Text could be simplified.
Recycling receptacles were well received and used regularly except for the street side
containers in both Delray Beach and some of those in Northwood Village.
North Palm Beach and Lake Park saw less bottles and cans and litter in general after the
program start. Trash volume was now also notably lower.
All communities noted that feedback from the public has been favorable. Northwood Village
however did get some requests for the containers to be serviced more frequently, which
prompted a change in servicing.
Ideas for future – do more promotion of the program earlier; get local business support for
the containers located near their storefronts; tether containers to the ground.
Some of the reps discussed that they had learned what works now and will relocate a few bins
to other areas where they feel they will get more material and in West Palm Beach’s case, less
scavenging.
All of the communities want to expand their programs. Other communities have expressed an
interest in starting their own programs.