Guide To Recylcling At Chicago Summer Festivals

Guide to Recycling at Chicago Summer Festivals

The Recycling Industry: A Map

At your festival, you have used materials to get rid of. You received it from manufacturers, and if you collect it properly, and have it processed properly, then manufacturers can use it to make new products for you.

In recycling terms, this means your festival is here:

Your hauler, or recycling service provider, has collected all mixed items that you would like to have recycled. Now he has to separate these items into clean loads of specific material, and provide feedstock for industry so that new items can be manufactured. Other-wise, the material is buried and industry uses virgin materials to manufacture new items. For example, trees are cut down to make paper when the use of recycled paper in the manufacturing process would prevent the loss of many valuable natural resources.

Keep Chicago Beautiful and the Illinois Department of Energy and Natural Resources are providing this document to show you how to recycle successfully.

RESEARCH

What materials will you generate?

There are usually three categories of refuse at a festival: Packaging, Food, and Other.

Packaging: What food, drink and other supplies come in. There is primary packaging (cans, bottles) that holds food, drinks or other materials (such as shirts, souvenirs or pottery at art fairs).

There is also secondary packaging (6-pack rings, 12-pack cartons, cardboard, shrink wrap) that holds the cans, bottles and even other boxes. There will be a lot of cardboard generated by your vendors, and you should look to capture as much of it as possible.
Food: Although it would be nice to compost this material, that's just not feasible now. At best, this material is trash. At worst, it will contaminate recyclables if not disposed of properly. (Do not dispose in recycling container).

Other: Diapers, empty lipstick tubes, broken umbrellas, torn clothing, broken souvenirs, etc.

What can be recycled?

Sometimes there are local markets for a material, and sometimes those markets disappear overnight. Prices fluctuate too, sometimes monthly, sometimes daily.

Markets also vary by hauler. Different haulers handle different materials. Some haulers prefer to handle only materials on a long-term contract basis, and others handle materials on a spot market basis. These differences will affect price as well as the availability of markets. Talk to several recyclers and haulers to see who best fits your needs, and to find out about current market conditions.

Widely recycled materials (as of July, 1994)

Cans: Aluminum; Steel food cans; Steel beverage cans

Aluminum foil

Bottles: Glass; Plastic #1 (PET), such as soft drink bottles; Plastic #2 (HDPE), such as milk jugs

Cardboard

Newspapers, magazines and Other Papers

Milk Cartons and drink Boxes: Plastic (#6) polystyrene; Foam plates; Foam cups; Hard plastic cups; Plastic utensils

Plastic (#4) shrink wrap

Plastic (#4) 6-pack rings

Who can do the recycling?

Your hauler can collect many materials that he will then sell to
different markets. All you need to do is find a hauler who will
provide the collection service you need at a price you can afford.

What is contamination?

When trash gets mixed in with recyclables, the result is trash.

Consult closely with your hauler to make sure your recycling plan minimizes the risk of contamination.

How much will it cost?

Recycling does cost money. Refuse removal certainly does, too.

Trash costs

It costs a trash hauler money to deliver trash containers to you, to empty or remove them, and to dispose of the trash. For example, Chicago's Department of Streets and Sanitation charges for trash service according to the following schedule:

Recycling costs

In general, it costs money for a recycling hauler to deliver recycling bins, to empty or remove them, and to process the material.

Containers: Most recyclers will charge you by the "pull," that is, by the number of times they have to send a truck to collect, or pull, your full box. This box usually refers to a large,
roll-off-sized container, about 20-40 cubic yards. Charges will be assessed differently if your recycler is using a different system of bins.

Processing: Most recyclers have a cost per ton for processing your material. This cost reflects their expenses in sorting your material into marketable streams and removing any contaminants.

Market revenue: This price varies greatly. Different mills pay different rates, and different qualities of material receive different prices. Some recyclers prefer long-term, locked-in and stable prices, and others, who play the spot market, can sometimes offer higher prices, and sometimes not.

Labor: How much time will your staff have to spend handling recyclables and trash? That depends on what kind of recycling program you plan. Remember, too, that hiring extra staff to handle the recycling chores can be a valuable form of job training in your community.

PLANNING

Where will your waste be generated?

Behind the Counter: By far, the majority of waste is generated behind the counter, by your staff and by your vendors. All secondary packaging (packaging that holds packages) is generated here. This category includes a lot of cardboard and other items such as shrink wrap, 6-pack rings and polystyrene peanuts. You can also control a lot of primary packaging, such as cans and bottles, here behind the counter.

By your Guests: Your guests will generate some recyclable packaging (such as cans, bottles, cups and plates) as well as a lot of trash (food, drink and other).

Suggested strategies: Because you have contracts with staff and vendors, you have the most control over material streams behind the counter. Back here, you can handle each material where it is most concentrated. Focus your energies on this material.

However, you can exert some control over materials handled by guests by mandating that only plastic plates, cups and utensils are given out. This strategy would allow you to target a specific kind of material from your guests and reduce the chances for contamination or confusion.

How can your recyclables be collected?

One centralized bin with compartments : Hauler Perspective: Because this bin is pretty large, I can make fewer pulls, and focus all my labor at one location. Because the material is already somewhat sorted, less processing is needed. Therefore, this method should hold down your costs.

Festival Staff and Vendor Perspective: This means our staff will
have to take materials to one location and separate the items before putting them into the compartmentalized bin. Our staff and vendors are pretty busy and this might be a lot to ask of them.

Guest Perspective: We do want to recycle, but it's tough to hang on to plates and cups if the recycling bin isn't handy. Can you put the bin in the middle of the vending area?

Separate bins or bags for each material:

Hauler Perspective: As long as all these bags are collected in one place, we'll be glad to haul the material. If we've got to open the bags, that'll be a cost. If the bags have several materials mixed in them, that'll be a cost too. But if the material is mixed in with the trash, forget it. Our workers are not going to dig through that mess.

Festival Staff and Vendor Perspective: So we'll have to tote bags of recyclables from all around the festival back to the haulers' bins? That'll cost us money to pay those laborers. Of course we've already got a crew collecting full garbage bags, so maybe they can handle both materials.

Guest Perspective: As long as we have plenty of places to deposit our trash and recyclables, we're happy. Just make it convenient and easy to figure out.

What about cost?

A note on pricing your actual recycling services. All recycling is extremely site-specific. Each location and each event will be a little different. Each hauler will propose a slightly different way of providing you with the service you need. This is good. This will give you more ideas about what will work.

Tell your hauler as much as you can about how much material you will have. Each festival is unique. Your hauler is an expert; give him as much information as you can regarding your festival.

How many days will the festival last?
How many guests do you anticipate? Better yet, how many cases a day of beverage will you be buying? How will they be packaged?
Is the packaging recyclable and does it contain recycled content?
What is the best way to collect the material-bags, barrels, dumpsters, roll-offs or some other type of container? You will probably need a combination of containers: perhaps bags behind the counter and bins to collect the bags.
Where is the best place for the hauler to bring in a truck to collect the material?

To calculate your total price, make sure you understand the cost or value of all services your hauler will be providing. Some haulers will combine these for you and offer a lump sum, but you will be more able to compare prices if you break these costs out.

What is the charge for "spotting you containers," that is, leaving a container at your site? How is it calculated?
What is the charge for collecting your recyclables? Is it calculated on a price per pound or per ton?
Per load? Per total job?
What is the charge for processing? Is it calculated per pound or per ton? included in the lump sum? Dependent on the quality of material?
How will your hauler handle the revenues from sales of materials? Will these revenues be shared? Are they assumed in the lump sum price?
Is there a charge for disposal of residue or trash found in recycling bins? If so, how is it calculated?

Hauler-English Glossary

Pull: The act of sending a truck out to remove a box or load of material.
Roll-off: A large (20-30 feet long) box designed to "roll off" and "roll on" to a truck. It can hold 20-40 cubic yards of material and can be subdivided into three or four compartments so that several materials can be collected simultaneously and separately.
Spot a box: When a hauler leaves one of his trailers or roll-off boxes on your site during an event, it is called "spotting a box." If there is a charge, it reflects the fact that he can't use it while it's parked at your festival.
Stage the material: Gather it all in one place.

A few reminders: More recycling means less trash and your trash disposal expenses should decline somewhat. Your trash hauler benefits in two ways. The hauler will have fewer loads to pull and will pay less money to the landfills due to less trash.

More recycling sends a "clean" signal to your guests, and they should cooperate by keeping your festival grounds cleaner. Many festivals find that their clean-up costs drop when they make recycling available.

ALWAYS put a garbage can by a recycling bin and vice versa. There should however, be a distinguishable distance between the two containers to avoid inadvertant discard of materials into the wrong container. Have clear signs with pictures and instructions on all recycling bins.

EDUCATION

Who needs to know?

Everyone -- your vendors, your staff and your guests.

What do your vendors need to know?

Recycling is part of the game plan.
Find out how much material will be bought that can be recycled p; cans, plates, utensils, cardboard, etc., and think about buying material that has a recycled content.
Make sure they understand that they will be separating and recycling their waste materials.
Show them clearly what materials they need to be aware of and where those materials go.

What does your staff need to know?

Recycling is part of the game plan.
Find out how much material will be bought that can be recycled p; cans, plates, utensils, cardboard, etc., and think about buying material that has recycled content.
Make sure they understand that they will be separating and recycling their waste materials.
Show them clearly what materials they need to be aware of, and where those materials go.
Make sure that your grounds crew is very aware of the risks of contamination and make them your partners in quality control.

What do your guests need to know?

Let them know that you are providing them with recycling service. Let them know clearly which materials are being recycled AND which ones are not.
Let them know who the sponsors are who support your recycling efforts.

How do you tell your vendors?

Make it part of the agreements or contracts you sign with them. Let them know that recycling is a crucial part of providing a clean, healthy and successful festival atmosphere.
Tell them clearly how they are expected to handle their trash and recyclables, and provide them with easy-to-use collection containers for all recyclables as well as trash.

How do you tell your staff?

Write it into job descriptions and contracts or agreements from the start. This is a crucial part of presenting a clean, healthy festival atmosphere.
Make it part of your review of their duties; see if they have ideas on how to make the recycling go smoother.

How do you tell your guests?

Banners and large signs at festival entrances announcing your recycling commitment.
BIG, CLEAR SIGNS on every recycling bin. (And a garbage can next to every recycling bin.)
Lots of recycling bins (if not using one centralized bin).
Signs at booths and ticket lines to explain your program and get the guests excited to participate.
Signs at point of purchase for food and beverages explaining your recycling effort and exhorting cooperation.
Announcements made during entertainment breaks.
By example. Make sure the recycling bins are clean and that they are being used properly.
You will never have a litter-free fest, but by setting a good example you may discourage potential littering.

TIMELINE

12 weeks before festival Survey your vendors.

What materials will they generate?
Remember to ask them about both kinds of packaging

(primary and secondary).
8 weeks before festival Contact haulers.
1. Can they handle your materials?
2. How would they propose collecting the materials?
3. How much would it cost?

4. Are all details specific in the contract?
6 weeks before festival Choose a hauler. Sign contract.

Finalize collection plans, and choose collection containers.
5 weeks before festival Design and order your public education materials.

Distribute recycling requirements to your vendors and staff.
1 week before festival Set up bins and signage.