In parts of LA, blue bins can bring you cold green cash now. As of last month, LA is the largest city to partner with RecycleBank. The pilot program makes RecycleBank’s services available without charge to 15,000 single-family homes along selected routes in the West Valley and North Central sections of the city – Northridge, Topanga, Sherman Oaks, Hollywood, Lincoln Heights and Cypress Park. It is designed “to encourage additional Blue Bin recycling, increase recycling rates and put meaningful savings in the pockets of participating residents.”
Bar codes keep track of the weight of the waste. That weight becomes points. RecycleBank lets you redeem the points at area retailers (no doubt frequented by area men) for groceries, gift cards, school supplies, you name it. In a good year, those points could be worth 400 dollars or more.
RecycleBank’s profit comes from partnering with cities. Landfill loads cost them; recycling pays. The money the cities save gets shared with the for-profit company. RecycleBank sells advertising – via selling its database of customers’ names to companies too.
LA already diverts 65 percent of its waste – less than some other California cities, but more than any other of the largest in the country. But the city keeps re-upping its work: reaching out to apartment buildings was the latest show Mayor V and Councilman Garcetti put on.
Waste management may not be a sexy topic, but LA’s sticking with it. Wonder how long it will take to break 75% recycled or diverted?
