SWAG agenda 030615 - Laserfiche WebLink

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5 SURVEY OF ORANGE COUNTY SOLID WASTE CONVENIENCE CENTER USERS FEBRUARY 25, 2015 Orange County Solid Waste Management ( OCSWM) contracted with the H.W. Odum Institute for Research in Social Science at the University of North Carolina — Chapel Hill (Odum) to assist with the design and analysis of a survey of users of the County's five Solid Waste Convenience Centers (SWCCs). The primary purpose was to collect data with which to apportion the usage of the SWCCs into two parts: usage by residents who live in the incorporated areas of the county, and usage by residents who live outside the incorporated areas. Other information regarding recycling behavior and preferences was also collected. Odum statisticians worked with OCSWM staff to devise a sampling and data collection plan to provide a "snapshot" view of SWCC usage over a one week period for each site. OCSWM staff entered data from the collected surveys into an application provided by the Odum Institute, and Odum statisticians analyzed the data and wrote the report. Across all days and sites, 89% of SWCC uses during the data collection period were made by customers who live outside town limits and 11% by customers residing within town limits. Eubanks Road SWCC received 30% of its uses by in -town residents. The other four SWCCs were used almost exclusively by residents outside town limits, with 4% or less attributable to in -town customers. Forty -eight percent of surveyed customers reported having access to curbside recycling services. Of these, 51% were nonetheless recycling at the SWCC the day they were surveyed, most often because they were coming to the SWCC anyway to drop off trash or other items. Of the customers who reported not having access to curbside recycling, 62% indicated that if they did have it, they would use it. For both groups, reasons for not using (or wanting) curbside recycling primarily had to do with the SWCC being more convenient, often because they have to drop off trash anyway or because they have a long driveway or other reason that maneuvering recyclables to the curb is difficult. Thirty -two percent of surveyed customers report using a SWCC more than once a week, and 39% do so about once a week, meaning that (taking into account rounding) nearly 72% of SWCC customers visit at least weekly.