The Recycling Partnership Launches New Messenger Experience to Offer Local Recycling Information
In honor of Global Recycling Day, we’re pleased to announce the launch of a new Messenger experience that will provide people with recycling information based on the location they select. This is part of Communities For Recycling, a national initiative to help people have more impact on a local level when participating in recycling efforts to meet a global challenge. Facebook worked with The Recycling Partnership, the leading NGO transforming recycling in the United States, and leading CPG brands like PepsiCo to help create the new Messenger local recycling information experience.
According to the report on The State of Curbside Recycling in 2020, of all the recyclable material available in U.S. households, only 32% of recyclable materials are currently collected and recycled, resulting in more than 20 million tons of valuable curbside recycling being lost to landfills each year. This often stems from public confusion around what, where, when, and how to recycle different materials properly in each community. Every U.S. community has its own policies and procedures for waste and recycling, with some brands adding “check locally” before recycling on their product labels, showing limited success. Finding local and accurate recycling information can be difficult and may require additional effort that some people aren’t willing to make.
New Messenger Experience Makes it Easier to Recycle
Starting in Atlanta, GA and Ft. Worth, TX, people can now use the new Messenger local recycling information experience to find out how to recycle curbside common items like plastic bottles, cardboard and metal, as well as less obvious items like yogurt cups, pizza boxes and egg cartons. People can simply type any item into the Messenger experience to get back local-specific recycling guidance.
Highlighting Local Heroes Who Give Back Through Recycling
Communities for Recycling wants to make recycling an example of giving back. The Recycling Project will highlight people like Vanessa Barker, a Fort Worth native whose non-profit The Welman Project takes surplus materials from companies and gives them to teachers, providing much-needed resources to those who need them, all while preventing countless pounds of material from going into landfills.
Another example of a local resident doing their part is Shawn Deangelo Walton, an Atlanta native who provides opportunities for at-risk youth through his urban farm. His organization, Everybody Eats Together offers nutrient-dense food to the people of Atlanta. His work reflects his innate recycling mindset to protect and value all available resources.
Amplifying the Communities for Recycling Message
Currently, there is no national standard of what is included in recycling programs. So The Recycling Partnership is working with thousands of municipalities to identify what’s acceptable in their local community and will then input that information into a database that provides information to thousands of communities, letting them know what they can and cannot recycle in their local curbside program.
Access The Communities for Recycling Messenger experience by sending a message from the Communities for Recycling Page. Currently, the full experience is available exclusively for residents of Fort Worth, TX and Atlanta, GA who recycle curbside, however, all users are encouraged to check their recycling IQ with a nine-question quiz and join a national Facebook Group intended to inspire involvement in recycling in communities nationwide.
To celebrate Earth Day on April 22, we will be hosting a fireside chat with leaders from The Recycling Partnership. Click here for more details.