Recycling Reinvented, Public Awareness Campaign
Buffalo, NY
On January 20th, Mayor Byron W. Brown today encouraged residents to participate in his latest public awareness campaign, called Recycling Reinvented. Recycling Reinvented is a 6-month campaign that includes targeted messaging with the goal of reducing contamination in the City’s residential recycling totes while increase recycling overall.
Over the last few weeks, City residents have been exposed to targeted print and bus ads, social media posts, and radio and TV public service announcements, referencing the Recycling Reinvented campaign, which focuses on four recycling contaminant areas: Plastic, Food Waste, Yard Waste and Clothing Items. During this six month campaign, public awareness messages will focus exclusively on each of the four targeted recycling areas.
“The city of Buffalo is working at the cutting edge of recycling, using specialized technology and smart collaborations to further improve key aspects of service,” stated Mayor Brown. “We are proud of the work we’ve been doing since the launch of the 34andMore Recycle Buffalo and encourage City residents to support Recycling Reinvented, which focuses on the larger area of contaminants that is affecting cities across the United States.”
The effort to educate residents about what is recyclable has proven to substantially reduce contaminants in other cities, which saves cities money and makes the recycling process more efficient. Block Clubs are also being asked to step forward to help spread the word by participating in a “tote tagging” program in their neighborhoods.
“When people put the wrong items in their recycling totes, handling those materials costs taxpayer dollars,” stated Susan Attridge, Director of Recycling and Refuse. “We want to help our residents correct these issues and recycle right. Our city is committed to increasing recycling but doing it the right way.”
On March 5th, Mayor Byron W. Brown and Tops Friendly Markets hosted a ‘Reusable Bag Giveaway’ directly after new legislation that took effect March 1, 2020. The ‘Reusable Bag Giveaway’ took place in Buffalo on Thursday, March 5, 2020 at two Tops locations: 1275 Jefferson Avenue and 345 Amherst Street.
“The City of Buffalo is pleased to partner with Tops Friendly Markets in educating City residents on ways to reduce their reliance on plastic bags as new law comes into effect,” said Mayor Brown. “I recently launched the Recycling Reinvented campaign to address the Top 4 contaminants in the City’s Green Recycling Totes and plastic bags are #1. We want to help our residents correct these issues and recycle right. Our city is quickly becoming an environmental leader—and better recycling is an important step on that journey.”
Kathy Sautter (Tops Friendly Markets, Public & Media Relations Manager), Mayor Byron W. Brown, Boy Scout Troop 139, and Susan Attridge (City of Buffalo’s Director of Recycling & Refuse)
