The recycling engagement campaign recently commissioned by St Albans City and District Council has now drawn to a close. The door-to-door engagement campaign targeted 20,000 properties in areas of low recycling participation. During the five-week project (taking place in October and November 2014), a team of eight Recycling Promoters, overseen by a Project Co-ordinator, approached all 20,000 households, making successful contact with 7,016 residents – a 35% contact rate.
During the doorstep conversation, Enventure Research’s experienced Recycling Promoters aimed to gain an insight into residents’ attitudes and behaviours surrounding recycling with the use of a specifically designed short questionnaire, administered via a computer aided personal interviewing (CAPI) device. Recycling Promoters also aimed to encourage residents to recycle as much as possible, with emphasis on recycling the correct materials and reducing contamination, and on recycling food waste. In addition to those spoken to on the doorstep, a further 361 residents participated in an online survey, which was promoted via a leaflet pushed through doors by the doorstepping team.
The survey results were presented to the Council in a comprehensive research report, which outlined key findings and recommendations. Overall, the response to the doorstepping campaign was very positive, and it was clear that residents were enthusiastic about recycling. The findings indicated however that further work needs to be carried out in promoting the food waste scheme to residents to ensure that this type of waste of recycled as much as possible.
