CRRA2021

Technical Project Coordinator

Lauren Tango is the Technical Project Coordinator for Recyclist.  Interested in both promoting behavior that positively impacts our environment, and technology, her role combines these to bring Recyclist’s innovative application to municipalities across the country.  She has worked on researching renewable energy technology, the impact of water policy on ecosystems, and is excited to continue to learn about and contribute even more to the solid waste and recycling industry. When not working, she enjoys spending time in the outdoor places she is passionate about conserving.

Real Humans+Innovative Technology = Higher Participation+Lower Contamination

What happens when two people strike up an impromptu conversation about lid-flipping at a CRRA conference? Great things! Back in 2019 in Palm Springs, a dialog started between The Recycling Partnership and Recyclist about gathering residential lid-flipping data and the potential to use it to impact program participation and contamination levels. That conversation eventually moved online (of course, by then it was 2020!), and ultimately yielded an innovative collaboration between the two organizations.

Now, using a customized version of the Recyclist Program Tracker, field inspectors participating in The Recycling Partnership’s Feet on the Street program give direct feedback to residents about their contamination and track it via mobile app. Project managers in the office can see those reports in real time. The collected data is then used to conduct targeted outreach and analyze the program’s overall impact on participation and contamination results over time. 

Attendees in this session will learn about best practices for efficient residential outreach as well as see critical data from The Recycling Partnership’s Feet on the Street program. As jurisdictions across California look towards rolling out or expanding residential organics collection programs by 2022, it’s never been more important to understand the dynamics of monitoring contamination and delivering targeted education. The timing couldn’t be better: the new data that The Recycling Partnership is rapidly accumulating on recycling has great potential to help municipalities gain insights into how we can tangibly move the needle towards higher participation and lower contamination in both residential recycling and organics programs