With the bulk of recyclables being consumed in homes, underperforming curbside
programs explain much of the weakness in recycling rates in recent years. Under the
leadership of the NRC, the National Recycling Partnership has initiated the Model Cities
Program, which will invest in up to four cities in the United States to demonstrate the
best practices in residential programs - managerial, technical, and educational -and
show how recycling rates can be improved.

Depending on local circumstances, a combination of best practices from the following
options will be applied at each project:

    Properly sized setout containers for single or multi-stream programs
    Direct incentives for households
    Inclusion of all high value recyclables in the collection mix
    Parallel (same-day) service with waste collection
    Adequate education and promotion budgets
    Simple, consistent recycling messages
    Sound metrics

Baseline, mid-project, and post-project metrics on results will be collected and
incorporated into a final project report. Each report will be broadly disseminated to
recycling stakeholders.

Budget needs for each project will be established through a scoping process with
officials from the selected community. Capital costs are estimated to range between
$150,000 - $250,000 per project plus direct costs and indirect costs of NRC staff and
consultants.

PROCESS

Step 1 – Community Identification and Review
A list of candidate cities will be identified, evaluated, and ranked based on:
    • Opportunity to impact recycling rates
    • Community readiness – Political support, managerial and budgetary adequacy
    • Geographic/size diversity
    • Political climate and support from stakeholders

Step 2 – Site Visit
Candidate sites will be contacted to gauge interest and, if appropriate, a site visit will be
scheduled to discuss project aspects and expectations in detail. In coordination with the
candidate community, communications with other stakeholders will be established.

Step 3 – Scoping
The community’s current recycling capabilities will be reviewed and baseline metrics will
be established. A project plan will be developed for review by all parties and will include
proposed application of best management practices, capital and labor budget,
implementation schedule, and metrics. Respective roles of the NRC/NRP and the
community will be clearly identified.

Step 4 – Implementation
Parties will sign a project agreement that will transfer funds to the community.
Community will make capital purchases. A pre-implementation media strategy and a
public education program will be developed collaboratively. Project progress will be
measured at agreed upon benchmarks.

Step 5 – Close-out
At the conclusion of the project period, a final report describing the project,
implementation issues, and metrics will be compiled by NRC/NRP in conjunction with the
community. The community may continue on with the program after completion of the
project period, but no further funds will be available from NRC/NRP. The community
retains ownership of all capital investments funded by the Grant.

PROJECT SCHEDULE

COMMUNITY        SCOPING                      STARTUP                    COMPLETION
Hartford, CT       March – August 07           October 07                 October 08   
TBD                  August – October 07         Winter 07-08              Winter 08- 09
TBD                  Oct – Dec 07                   Spring 08                   Spring 09
TBD                  January – March 08           Spring 08                   Spring 09