Abstract:
Methods and systems are provided for improving recycling and participation rates by providing financial incentives to households engaged in recycling. Certain embodiments of the invention relate to reduction of costs associated with waste collection and the enhancement of collection efficiency. Other embodiments of the invention relate to opening a marketing channel for participating retailers to build value from responsible corporate citizenship.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]     This application claims the benefit of and priority to copending U.S. Provisional Patent entitled “System and Method of improving recycling through the use of financial incentives,” by inventors Patrick K. Fitzgerald and Ron Gonen, filed on Feb. 7, 2005 and accorded Ser. No. 60/650,610. 
     
    
     FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH STATEMENT  
       [0002]     Not applicable.  
       THE NAMES OF THE PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT  
       [0003]     Not applicable.  
       REFERENCE TO MICROFICHE APPENDIX  
       [0004]     Not applicable.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0005]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0006]     The invention is generally directed to methods and systems for improving recycling rates by providing financial incentives to households engaged in recycling. Certain embodiments of the invention relate to the reduction of costs associated with waste collection and the enhancement of collection efficiency. Other embodiments of the invention relate to opening a marketing channel for participating retailers to build value from corporate citizenship.  
         [0007]     2. Background  
         [0008]     The cost of waste collection and disposal in many cities has reached a critical level. The decrease in available landfill capacity means that the cost for disposing of municipal solid waste continues to increase. Where landfill capacity exists there remains the potential environmental hazards associated with landfill operation. The financial and environmental burdens associated with the disposal of waste in landfills has encouraged municipalities to actively pursue recycling as an alternative.  
         [0009]     The cost for disposing waste in landfills has risen dramatically in recent years due to the effects of diminishing landfill space and increasing state landfill taxes. In addition, there is the added environmental cleanup costs for landfills that leak dangerous chemicals into the environment.  
         [0010]     As the global manufacturing sector has developed, the demand for recyclable goods has increased. Manufacturers have long recognized that it is far cheaper to manufacture from recyclable material than it is to extract and manufacture from virgin material.  
         [0011]     The advances in Single Stream Recycling (SSR) technology reduces the cost of recycling. Recent improvements in the automated separation of recyclables at processing centers have dramatically reduced the cost of collecting, sorting, and processing recyclables. SSR technology enables an automated process to separate a commingled group of recyclables (for example, cardboard, paper, plastic, glass and aluminum). SSR technology enables municipalities to cut collection cost by only having to collect one recycling container, as opposed to separate containers, and permits processing centers to cut costs by using an automated process to separate the recyclables, as opposed to manual labor, to reduce labor costs and sorting time.  
         [0012]     Federal, State, and local governments have dramatically increased funding for recycling programs.  
         [0013]     However, a lack of advanced tools in strategy, operations management and information technology in the waste management industry has limited the ability of municipalities to implement incentives for households to recycle, to design effective strategies, and to measure performance. Low recycling rates have stifled the potential for municipalities to cut operating costs and generate revenue.  
         [0014]     Recycling reduces the financial burden of waste disposal, reduces energy costs, and conserves our environment&#39;s resources. The average household recycling rate, after rising steadily in the 1990&#39;s, has stalled. By way of example, the 14th Annual Nationwide Survey of Solid Waste Management in the United States, conducted by Scott Kaufman, Research Director of RecycleBank, found that twenty-eight states reported a decrease in recycling since 2001.  
         [0015]     There is, therefore, a need to establish recycling initiatives which recognize the existing problems associated with the disposal of waste and promote recycling efforts as part of a waste management program.  
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0016]     The invention is generally directed to methods and systems for improving recycling rates by providing financial incentives to households engaged in recycling. Certain embodiments of the invention relate to the reduction of costs associated with waste collection and the enhancement of collection efficiency. Other embodiments of the invention relate to opening a marketing channel for participating retailers to build value from corporate citizenship.  
         [0017]     An embodiment of the invention provides methods and systems for improving recycling rates by providing financial incentives to households for the amount recycled. A further embodiment of the invention provides methods and systems relating to reduction of costs associated with waste collection and the enhancement of collection efficiency. An aspect of the invention provides methods and systems relating to opening a marketing channel for participating retailers to build value from corporate citizenship.  
         [0018]     An embodiment of the invention also provides acquisition and statistical analysis techniques for recycling data, which will allow, for example, monitoring of compliance with applicable laws, extractions of trends from populations, long term planning, performance analysis, and standardization of municipal grant applications.  
         [0019]     While information technology tools have revolutionized the way many governments and industries operate, the waste management industry remains behind this rapidly ascending efficiency curve. During the past decade, the waste management industry has introduced information technology tools in order to design efficient routes for haulers. However, when it comes to data collection and performance analysis, information technology tools have been conspicuously absent.  
         [0020]     To address this problem, an embodiment of the present invention tracks and analyzes tonnage and participation at the household level in order to design and implement effective strategies to increase recycling. This data acquisition and analysis, in turn, enables officials in all sectors of the economy to recognize and address trends on a micro and macro level in the following ways:  
         [0021]     A. Accurately measure the effectiveness of recycling programs on a geographic basis, e.g., tonnages collected, recycling rates, and participation rates.  
         [0022]     B. Provide detailed data describing the effectiveness of recycling programs, e.g., help optimize route collection systems by matching tonnages collected with truck capacities, help optimize route collection systems by matching truck capacities with participation rates for the route, and provide data and analysis detailing the overall efficiency of recycling programs.  
         [0023]     C. Examine the socio-economic relationships between recycling participation and demographic characteristics.  
         [0024]     The amount of recyclables from households can be tracked from the curbside to the point of ultimate disposition. Associated hauling costs, tipping fees, distances traveled, etc., may be entered into tracking programs and applied to cost-benefit analyses. Transfer stations, materials recovery facilities (MRFs), and processing facilities will be able to determine from where they are getting their recyclables and how or whether they can more efficiently and economically collect and receive these recyclables.  
         [0025]     By managing effectiveness at the household level of collection, routes can be designed for optimum use of truck capacity and labor. Calculations as to the number of households or tonnages needed to optimize routes can be performed. Additionally, because data is collected on a household to household basis, the often-arbitrary lines separating neighborhoods can be factored out, allowing for degrees of freedom in waste management planning that were previously impossible to achieve.  
         [0026]     Studies have shown that there is wide variance in recycling rates between different socio-economic classes within individual municipalities. Often, recycling rates are lower in moderate-income areas and rise with increasing median household incomes. An embodiment of the present invention, through a combination of incentives, seeks to reduce this variance. Moreover, data collected will allow the effective targeting of outreach efforts to increase recycling rates, further reducing this variance.  
         [0027]     Aspects of the present invention give municipalities and waste managers the ability not only to compare recycling rates and efficiencies with other municipalities and businesses, but also to establish superior datasets. This can provide a clear advantage when applying for grants from government and nonprofit agencies—high quality data can be used to clearly articulate where grant monies will be spent, and how the effects of those expenditures will be measured.  
         [0028]     Various aspects of the present invention promote a system where the amount of a material (such as paper) that has been recycled can be analyzed in conjunction with existing data on a municipality&#39;s use of that material, thereby providing important accountings of energy use and economic activity, and information on the environmental effects of the municipality&#39;s use of the material.  
         [0029]     The environmental benefits of recycling are that it saves energy, reduces greenhouse gas emissions, reduces air and water pollution, and conserves natural resources. To explain in more detail:  
         [0030]     1. Recycling Saves Energy. The steps in supplying recycled materials to industry (including collection, processing and transportation) generally use less energy than the steps necessary to supply virgin materials to industry (including extraction, refinement, transportation and processing). In addition, energy savings associated with recycling may accrue in the manufacturing process itself, since recycled materials may require less additional processing.  
         [0031]     2. Recycling Reduces Greenhouse Gas Emissions. Recycling reduces greenhouse gas emissions. Recycling reduces the need for industry to generate energy by burning fossil fuels. Recycling in lieu of landfill disposal also reduces emissions of greenhouse gases such as methane from landfills.  
         [0032]     3. Recycling Reduces Air And Water Pollution. Recycling reduces a range of pollutants from entering the air and water. This benefit accrues, because of reduced fossil fuel use and the fact that recycled materials have already been processed once. The benefits also accrue because recycling keeps materials out of landfills, where they can introduce leachate into groundwater systems, and out of solid waste incinerators, which emit pollutants into the air and generate uncombusted ash residue.  
         [0033]     4. Recycling Conserves Natural Resources. Recycling reduces the need for landfills and other disposal facilities, allowing land to be used in a more environmentally beneficial manner. Recycling also reduces the pressure to expand forestry and mining production by substituting recycled materials for the use of virgin materials.  
         [0034]     An embodiment of the present invention provides a method and system for managing data relating to recycling by providing a database system comprising an input for receiving information from a recycling pickup vehicle, said information comprising sets of source identifications and associated recycled quantities. The database system can produce such information as:  
         [0035]     i. a geographic analysis module for analyzing geographic recycling patterns of respective households;  
         [0036]     ii. a historical analysis module for analyzing temporal trends of recycling for one or more respective households;  
         [0037]     iii. a route analysis module for analyzing recycling statistics for a recycling pickup vehicle;  
         [0038]     iv. a route optimization module for predicting an optimal recycling pickup vehicle route;  
         [0039]     v. a compliance determination module for determining a statistical likelihood of a respective household compliance with recycling requirements; and  
         [0040]     vi. an incentive response module for determining a responsiveness of a respective household to recycling incentives. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0041]     The invention will now be described by way of the drawings, in which:  
         [0042]      FIG. 1  shows elements of a recycling pickup vehicle experience;  
         [0043]      FIG. 2  shows elements of a user experience;  
         [0044]      FIG. 3  shows elements of an administrator experience; and  
         [0045]      FIGS. 4A, 4B ,  4 C, and  4 D show a set of system reports. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0046]     An embodiment of the invention utilizes a unique rewards program that provides an economic incentive for households to increase their recycling rate. This aspect of the invention employs a method and system, that:  
         [0047]     1. Matches a recycling container to a household address by providing an identifier such as a machine readable code (e.g., bar code and/or radio frequency identification [RFID] tag) on the container so as to associate the container with the household of origin;  
         [0048]     2. Weighs the container at the time of pickup to determine the quantity of recyclable materials in the container during the normal pickup cycle;  
         [0049]     3. Reads and/or analyzes data with an on-board computer aboard the recycling pickup vehicle;  
         [0050]     4. Translates the record of recycling and the quantity of recyclable materials recycled into a credit amount (e.g., “RecycleBank Dollars”), and credits an account associated with the household;  
         [0051]     5. Enables households to redeem the credit (e.g., “RecycleBank Dollars”), for example, at participating retailers for goods, services, coupons valued for goods or services, and/or other benefits or discounts; and  
         [0052]     6. Enables the household to view their account and view information such as the dates of their recycling activity, the quantity recycled for a given period of time, how many credits (e.g., RecycleBank Dollars) they earned for recycling for certain recycling activity, the total amount of credits (e.g., RecycleBank Dollars) in their account, their shopping history with their credits (e.g., RecycleBank Dollars), and also enables the household to order RecycleBank Dollars to be used for purchases at participating retailers.  
         [0053]     The benefits to households, governments and businesses is summarized in Table 1.  
                       TABLE 1                       Benefits to Households   Benefits to Government   Benefits to Business                   Receive an economic   Reduce taxes due to   Build value from       incentive to recycle   reduced costs of waste   corporate citizenship           disposal       Reduce taxes due to   Enhance collection   Access new marketing       reduced costs of waste   routing efficiency   channel       disposal       Support responsible   Enhance data collection   Measure return on       businesses   and analysis   investment       Preserves environment   Preserves environment   Preserves environment                  
 
         [0054]     An embodiment of the invention provides a method and system for recycling comprising the provision to each household of an identified recycling container containing either a bar-code or an RFID tag. The container is automatically recognized or identified by a recycling pickup vehicle with an on-board weighing mechanism and a reader, and/or handheld reader/computer. The on-board weighing mechanism and/or handheld reader/computer records that the household has recycled and records the weight of the recyclables. A record is created that the household has recycled and the weight of the recyclables, and a value to the household account is assigned. Preferably, the household account can be viewed electronically via the Internet, although this functionality is not required (for example, monthly account statements can also be mailed to the household.)  
         [0055]     Further, it is noted that the location of the recycling household can be performed manually, or via a global positioning system or other type navigation system.  
         [0056]     An embodiment of the invention provides a system for carrying out the method set forth above. For example, the present invention specifically contemplates a recycling container labeled with a bar code and/or an RFID tag. Likewise, the present invention contemplates a bar code reader and/or an RFID tag reader associated with a recycling pickup vehicle, and a load cell system for determining the weight of the recycling container before and after emptying.  
         [0057]     An embodiment of the invention utilizes a database and algorithms to assign a value to the household for recycling and for the amount recycled, which may be a financial (monetary or economic) value. The database and algorithms also enable the flexibility to apply different reward rates for recycling by household, street, township, city or state to ensure that households receive the optimum impact of the incentive. The household may, for example, view their recycling data on an Internet site which translates the amount of recycled material into a value and allows them to exchange the value for goods, services, coupons valued for goods or services, and/or other benefits or discounts.  
         [0058]     An embodiment of the invention provides a method of presenting the data collected into a suite of reports that includes the ability to view data at a household, street, neighborhood, community, township, county, city or state level. The reports include the ability to view participation rates and averages, and recycling rates and averages. The data and reports are used to enhance collection routing and efficiency, and target community outreach. The data enables municipalities, private haulers, contractors, environmental consultants and governmental officials to understand when and where the recycling fleet should go, and to determine truck capacity for routes, and frequency of collection. The data enables municipalities, private haulers, environmental consultants, academics and government officials to perform targeted community outreach (as opposed to blanket advertising) and to measure the effectiveness of community outreach and recycling education efforts.  
         [0059]     An embodiment of the invention provides a method for calculating the economic and environmental impact of the recycling efforts in participating communities.  
         [0060]     An embodiment of the invention provides a method for building one or more marketing channels involving participating retailers, who benefit from an increase in brand value from their commitment to the environment and recycling, and to the local communities served by the recycling program.  
         [0061]     An embodiment of the invention provides methods and systems for increasing recycling rates.  
         [0062]     An embodiment of the invention provides methods and systems for decreasing the tax burden to government and businesses associated with waste disposal.  
         [0063]     An embodiment of the system works in the following way:  
         [0064]     Pickup (see  FIG. 1 ):  
         [0065]     1. Each address/user in the database is provided a unique account number and that is associated with a unique machine readable code (e.g., an RFID tag) on a recycling container.  
         [0066]     2. Data collected by the on-board computer on the recycling pickup vehicle and/or handheld reader/computer is imported into the database.  
         [0067]     3. When the data is imported, the event of the pick up and the weight of the pick up for each recycling container&#39;s machine readable code is associated with the address/user.  
         [0068]     4. The event of the pick up and weight of the pick up are calculated to provide a value to the address/user for the recyclables. The value is determined by the system administrator and depends upon the availability of rewards and the current recycling rate for the population where the address/user is located.  
         [0069]     Back End:  
         [0070]     1. Participating retailers (and their related rewards) are recorded in the database.  
         [0071]     2. A credit amount is associated with the rewards offered by the participating retailers.  
         [0072]     The system preferably provides data from the recycling pickup vehicle as a text (.txt) file, although other data formats are suitable. This data file may have the following fields/columns: 1. Customer Account /Container ID; 2. Date; 3. Time; 4. Gross Weight; 5. Tare Weight; 6. Net Weight; 7. Level Condition; 8. Truck ID; 9. Consecutive Number; and 10. Checksum.  
         [0073]     This data (.txt) file is then uploaded via a web-form to the administrator toolset. The file upload itself is, for example, handled by a ColdFusion MX backend. Using Cold Fusion Markup Language (CFML), the system will read in the file. It then parses the file into a data structure. This data structure is then looped over such that each “pick-up” record is examined at one time.  
         [0074]     Each “pick-up” record is inserted into the Pickups data table. The data table is stored, for example, in a Microsoft SQL Server and is connected to through an ODBC connection. Upon insertion, each “pick-up” record is given a unique identifier by the database for later reference.  
         [0075]     To help insure the data is not corrupted, the system attempts to ignore duplicate entries. Before inserting the new entry, a query for “pick-up” entries for the given user with the same date and time as the new “pick-up” data in question is executed. If the new “pick-up” data and the existing “pick-up” entry have the same date and time, it is assumed that this is a duplicate entry and it will therefore ignore it (not add it to the database).  
         [0076]     For each “pick-up” record that gets inserted, the net weight of the recyclables is added to the user&#39;s total weight recycled to date.  
         [0077]     For each “pick-up” record that gets inserted, the recycling event and the net weight of the recyclables is converted to an account credit equivalent, e.g., “RecycleBank Dollars.” The User&#39;s table is then updated by adding this account credit value to the user&#39;s existing account credit balance.  
         [0078]     At the end of this process, each new “pick-up” entry will have been entered into the database. The user&#39;s total recyclables and their account balance will have been updated.  
         [0079]     Pseudo code for this process would look like this:  
                                                                                                                             READ text file into data structure with individual records           FOR each record in text file                Query for existing record with same data           IF existing data                Skip this record - it is duplicate                ELSE                Insert new data into database           Update user information for:                a.   Net weight recycled to date           b.   Recycle Bank Dollar balance                END IF                END FOR                      
 
         [0080]     User Access (see  FIG. 2 ):  
         [0081]     1. When the address/user logs in with their account they view their recycling activity and the amount of credits (e.g., “RecycleBank Dollars”) that they have earned for recycling.  
         [0082]     2. The address/user is able to view participating retailers and rewards.  
         [0083]     3. The address/user chooses rewards in exchange for the credits in their account. The value of the reward is deducted from their account.  
         [0084]     4. A report is generated that shows the date/time that addresses/users ordered rewards.  
         [0085]     5. A reward and fulfillment process is initiated to deliver the reward to the user/address.  
         [0086]     Data Analysis (see  FIG. 3 ):  
         [0087]     1. The data collected is analyzed for recycling rates, participation rates, route efficiency, and performance analysis.  
         [0088]     2. Address/user shopping information is recorded and analyzed to determine shopping patterns by neighborhood, region, and popularity.  
         [0089]     3. Various reports may be generated based on the database, such as a Single User Report, a Full User Report, a Single Vendor Report, a Vendor Report, a Vendor Report (Graph), a Monthly Overview Report, a Monthly Route Overview Report, a Hauler Overview Report, an Analysis of Recycling and Participation Rates, a Daily Report of RecycleBank Rewards Ordered. (See  FIGS. 4A, 4B ,  4 C and  4 D.)  
         [0090]     Having thus described different embodiments of the invention, other variations and embodiments that do not depart from the spirit of the invention will become readily apparent to those skilled in the art. The scope of the present invention is thus not limited to any one particular embodiment, but is instead set forth in the appended claims and the legal equivalents thereof.