For three decades, Cascadia Consulting ("Cascadia") has amassed an unparalleled understanding of waste systems including managing recycling characterization studies nationwide, supporting the development and evaluation of recycling participation and contamination reduction policies at the local and state levels, creating organizational zero waste plans for a variety of corporations and institutions, and implementing programs recycling participation and contamination reduction programs that have reached tens of thousands of residents and businesses.
Here, we synthesize that collection knowledge and experience. We will discuss methodological and analytical practices developed and used at Cascadia. Using select, anonymized datasets, we will discuss some constant themes emerging from conducting recycling characterization studies (contamination and capture rate of recyclables), and present our perspective on how to address those themes. Lastly, we will discuss communicating these studies to clients as well as to the communities so that realistic and data-driven policies are made to increase recycling participation and compliance.