Posted by Mike Smith :: February 23, 2009 @ 6:04 am

When I moved from the east coast to the Midwest, I found it strange to learn that recycling wasn’t mandatory. To make matters worse, anyone wanting to recycle had to pay extra each month. That’s why I was so pleased to hear that my waste collector would be expanding its recycling program through a partnership with RecycleBank.

The new recycling bin, provided by RecycleBank, is coded with an RFID tag to link my bin to my account. By placing an expanded number of recyclables in the bin each week (no sorting needed) participants in the RecycleBank program earn rewards that can be redeemed at a variety of merchants.

Along with local merchants, national partners include Bed, Bath, and Beyond, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Kraft, Target, and many more. Currently, each pound of recyclables earn participants 2.5 RecycleBank points. Offers vary, but one example was $2 off a purchase of $5 or more for 20 RecycleBank points. Saving $2 for 8 pounds of recycling may not sound like much, but I suspect that points quickly add up. For people like me who recycle anyway, the rewards are like free money. The financial incentive will also help motivate me to recycle even more. Households that recycle as much as possible and compost organic materials hardly generate any “trash” at all. If you live in an area where you pay per bag of garbage collected, recycling more can also help reduce your garbage bill.

As I’ve said in previous posts, there are many different motivating factors to inspire a particular behavior. Recycling wasn’t very popular in my town when it was done strictly for environmental reasons. By adding a financial incentive, the number of participants is sure to increase.

Have you used RecycleBank or a similar program? What are your impressions?