Training gives recycling crews a lift

12 May 2008

It may seem obvious, but one of the keys to a successful recycling scheme is a good collection crew.

A motivated and well-informed team can encourage people to recycle more, let them know about service changes and tackle common problems there and then, such as people recycling the wrong materials.

On the other hand, poor service is demotivating for residents. When we talk to the public, bad service is one of the most common reasons cited for people stopping recycling. Collection crews have the potential to be a local authority's greatest recycling advocates, yet few local authorities are taking advantage of their potential.

To remedy this, Waste Watch has been working with local authorities nationwide to provide sessions that inform and motivate crews, so they understand how their job fits into the wider recycling process and why recycling so important. It is also a chance for the operatives to let the council or waste management company know how well the service is working and feed back any improvements that can be made.

The results are not only evidenced by more motivated crews, but can be seen on the ground as well. Recent training we ran in Wigan contributed to an overall increase in participation in their recycling scheme and produced some great feedback:

Karen Sutcliffe, Recycling Officer at Wigan said, "You've outlined some interesting points and certainly many things we can work on in the future. We have added some extra activities into our campaign to cover some of the issues brought up in the sessions. So thank you on behalf of the crew for highlighting these with us."

For more information about our crew training contact Tim Burns on 020 7549 0302.