SWAG agenda 032818 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Government % recyclables in the trash 2016 -17 Orange County 19% Town of Carrboro 18% Town of Chapel Hill 18% Town of Hillsborough 39% County Solid Waste staff then contacted individual Department heads and conducted an in- person survey focused on waste reduction and recycling activity and messaging in each Department. Along with the survey, Solid Waste staff conducted a building (or Department) walk- through primarily to identify the need for additional recycling bins and for ensuring that all the waste bins were paired with recycling bins for convenient recycling. County staff followed up by delivering and placing recycling bins where needed. Following that activity, each Department head was given a copy of the survey results and their particular Department's waste audit results. At that point, each Department head was offered training opportunities for furtherance of waste reduction and recycling. Most County and Town of Chapel Hill Departments have taken advantage of training opportunities or are planning to schedule them. The Town of Chapel Hill is working with the County to incorporate recycling training into their New Employee Orientation (NEO) similar to the County's current NEO protocol. Next Steps Town of Carrboro Departments will be surveyed in the coming month or two, as the Department heads' schedules permit. Town of Hillsborough surveys are slated for early in 2018. Following the surveys, County staff may conduct a second round of waste audits for all governments to determine if any further progress in waste reduction and recycling has been made and if various Departments need any further assistance in improving these efforts. Efforts will focus not only on reducing recyclables in the trash, but also on reducing waste in the first place as illustrated by the techniques shown in the survey.