Caption: City recycling worker, Credit: QUEST
Image by: QUEST 
City recycling worker 

#2: Revisiting Mandatory Recycling

From: KQED
Series: QUEST: Recycling in America
Length: 04:21

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Until very recently Philadelphians recycled a dismal five-percent of their trash. But all that began to change a few years ago when the city stepped up its mandatory recycling program and cracked down on violators. Read the full description.
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#2: Revisiting Mandatory Recycling
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Whyy_recycling_small EXTRA!!  Comes with a great slide show. Go here for code to embed on your station website:

#2: Revisiting Mandatory Recycling | 04:21

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Piece Description

EXTRA!!  Comes with a great slide show. Go here for code to embed on your station website:

Broadcast History

Aired locally on WHYY in July 2011

Transcript

Ambi 1: recyclables tossed into truck

Bright blue recycling bins neatly line 45th Street on Philadelphia's west side.

Ambi 2: tossing bins onto sidewalk

William Taylor, a recycling truck driver and a reverend, treats his routes kind of like a recycling ministry.

He does whatever he can to get people on board.

TAYLOR:. This is one of the better neighborhoods for recycling. They have more of a clue of what's supposed to be in the bucket. Some other neighborhoods, they don't have a clue.

It's hard to blame residents for being confused.

It used to be that people had to separate their recyclables: cans in one bucket, glass in another, and so on.

Then the city rolled out “single stream” recycling: just one big blue bin for all recyclables.

WILLIAMS: People just didn't know what was recyclable.

That's Carlton Williams, the deputy commissioner of the Streets Department.

WILLIAMS: Peop...
Read the full transcript

Intro and Outro

INTRO:

Until very recently Philadelphians recycled a dismal five-percent of their trash.

But all that began to change four years ago when the city stepped up its mandatory recycling program and cracked down on violators.

Now residents are diverting nearly 20-percent of their trash – and that’s saving the city fees from expensive landfills.

In our continuing series on recycling in America, Kerry Grens, from WHYY, reports on how a little consequence can go a long way to changing behavior.

OUTRO:

Check out our website for a slide show about mandatory recycling in Philadelphia.

Related Website

http://science.kqed.org/quest/audio/revisiting-mandatory-recycling/

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Production Information

  • Added to PRX ~1 year ago
  • Produced: Jul 08, 2011
  • Producers: Kerry Grens

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