UPDATE: The Lincoln, NE City Council voted 6-1 to approve a three-year, $617,522 education program contract on the city's looming changes to how cardboard can be disposed in the city, as reported in the Lincoln Journal Star. The approved contract is approximately $230,000 less than the previously-proposed contract. A grant from the state will cover over $225,000 of the cost, with the rest coming from city landfill occupation taxes.
Dive Brief:
- Lincoln, NE will ban corrugated cardboard from landfills beginning in April 2018, and the city's government is considering making changes to a proposed education program for residents, as reported in the Lincoln Journal Star.
- Carson+Co Global, a Lincoln-based firm, offered a one-year, $500,000 contract to handle educational marketing as Lincoln's landfill ban on cardboard takes effect. The program is intended to encourage businesses to set up recycling programs and residents to participate in curbside collection.
- Carson+Co Global offered the one-year contract after some pushback on an $850,000 three-year education program. The city council will vote on a contract Aug. 14.
Dive Insight:
The city approved the landfill cardboard ban earlier in the year, and officials have been hammering out the details since. Lincoln sends an estimated 19,000 tons of cardboard to landfills each year — so the change is sure to be felt by both residents and businesses.
Like any municipal change, its success may depend on how well the citizens of Lincoln are educated before the ban takes effect. Other cities, like Denver, Chicago and Boise, ID, have had mixed success with recycling education programs. City officials in Lincoln seem well aware of the mixed bag they're looking at — there's been debate over incentives versus education, and what kind of education would be most effective, according to the Journal Star.
Recyclers in the city will also have a big opportunity in Lincoln, as residents will have to choose between taking their cardboard to designated recycling centers or paying for a curbside collection service. The city lists several recycling collectors and public drop-off sites — but does not contract with any curbside collector for its residents.
