No Waste: Increasing Recycling at Lake Elmo Park Reserve Swim Pond

Summary

Impact Statement:

Washington County Department of Public Health and Environment led a multi-sector quality improvement project and increased the recycling rate at a county park. Expansion of this model to all county parks will further protect the environment and contribute to Minnesota's statewide goal of a 75% recycling rate by 2030.

Summary:

Washington County Department of Public Health and Environment (PHE) in Minnesota, partnering with the county Parks Department, identified a lack of accessible recycling at the Lake Elmo Park Reserve swim pond. An initial waste sort, where 3 days' worth of refuse was sorted into trash, recycling, and compost, found a recycling rate of only 1.9%. PHE had not partnered with the Parks Department on a large-scale project like this before and was looking forward to this collaboration.

Waste and recycling collection processes were mapped, and root causes were identified from all stakeholders. A consensus workshop determined priority areas and tasks, including working in tandem with a redesign project; allowing the new recycling bins to coincide with already planned construction; placing new, color-coded bins at the swim pond; combining trash and recycling collection; using new bin labels with pictures and multiple languages; and adding a new recycling contract to allow for dumpsters on site, eliminating the need to haul materials off site to a centralized collection location. A follow-up waste sort in 2016 indicated that the recycling rate increased to 21% as a result of these changes.

Organization that conducted the QI initiative:

Washington County PHE

Citation:

Giesen , J. Public Health Quality Improvement Exchange. No Waste: Increasing Recycling at Lake Elmo Park Reserve Swim Pond. Mon, 08/14/2017 - 09:02. Available at https://www.phqix.org/content/no-waste-increasing-recycling-lake-elmo-park-reserve-swim-pond. Accessed October 5, 2024.

Background and Aim

Aim statement:

Increase the recycling rate at Lake Elmo Park Reserve Swim Pond to 15% by September 5, 2016.

Need For The QI Initiative:

Because the recycling rate was only 1.9%, improvements were needed. Furthermore, with two additional departments affected and each playing various roles in the multiple processes, quality improvement (QI) tools were clearly required. Along with the 2015 waste sort, park visitor surveys were conducted. These were conducted over two weekends with 150 participants. The results of these surveys indicated that many were not aware that recycling services were available in the park. A copy of the survey is attached.

Area for Improvement:

Minnesota set a 75% recycling goal by 2030. Per Minnesota law, counties are responsible for managing solid waste. PHE strives to increase diversion wherever possible, especially recycling "on the go" or outside the home. Initial waste sorts at Lake Elmo Park Reserve indicated a baseline recycling rate of 1.9% (by weight), with the potential to increase to a 25% (by weight) recycling rate, as indicated in the data from the 2015 waste sort. Because recyclables weight little, recycling this additional 23.1% would decrease the volume of trash by more than 40%, reducing trash collection costs and additional state and county waste charges.

Root Cause:

To kick off the QI process, staff from PHE, the Parks Department, and Community Corrections/Sentence to Serve (STS) came together and were directly involved with recycling and trash collection at the park. With these different roles in collection, the goal was to map out the collection process and identify gaps. The collection process was simpler than expected, so efforts were switched to a cause-and-effect diagram. With insight from all stakeholders, potential causes were identified, falling under the following categories: communication, people, methods, and materials. Once these causes were identified, opportunities for improvement were identified and graphed based on effort and impact, and associated actions were developed. See the attached cause-and-effect diagram.

Planning and Execution Details

QI Implementation:

Key opportunities included eliminating inefficiency of double collection by having park staff collect trash and recycling, adding recycling locations to the park map, updating signs to include multiple languages, communicating the importance of recycling, and updating bin placement and style. The opportunities and actions addressed scaled beyond the participants' decision-making abilities, so it was identified that additional tools were needed with an expanded list of participants. A consensus workshop was hosted, including staff from parks who were responsible for developing policy, park guest services, park maintenance, and park programming. Also included were Community Corrections staff responsible for the STS crew that collected recycling, and PHE staff. A facilitated brainstorming activity asking, “What strategies can we implement to increase recycling at Lake Elmo Park Reserve Swim Pond?” helped to take everyone’s ideas and opinions and group them in an affinity diagram. The main categories of solutions fell under container location, container design, education, and policy. A formal action plan was developed, and the initiative started moving forward. Initiative impacts were as follows: • For park visitors, recycling became readily available in new, easy-to-identify bins with multilingual labels. • The STS crew was eliminated from the recycling collection process to streamline the process, opening more time for them to work on natural resource projects within the park. • Park maintenance staff had the additional task of collecting recycling. PHE provided a grant for additional equipment to mitigate the increase in work.

Focus activities

Administration:

Customer Service/satisfaction

Organizational effectiveness

Other QI Focus Activities:

Recycling

Cultural competency

QI Methods:

PDCA/PDSA Cycle (Plan, Do, Check/Study, Act)

QI Tools:

Affinity Diagram

Brainstorming

Cause and Effect Diagrams

Prioritization Matrix

Process maps

Root cause analysis

Surveys

QI Tool Documentation:

Affinity Diagram.JPG

Cause and Effect Digram.pdf

Initiative Dates:

5/25/15 to 9/7/16

Initiative Duration:

Between 12-18 months

Methods of evaluation:

Impact was measured using a post-implementation survey and waste sort.

Supplemental Materials:

Storyboard

Survey

Supplemental Files:

Attachment	Size
2016_Park user survey.pdf	456.98 KB
LEPR Guest Survey.pptx	146.99 KB
FINAL_LEPR QI Project Storyboard.pdf	443.73 KB

Results

Measurable QI Outcomes:

A follow-up waste sort was conducted in 2016 to identify the improved recycling rate after the initiative was implemented. The data indicated that the recycling rate (the total amount being recycled) at the swim pond went from 2% in 2015 to 21% in 2016, exceeding the goal in the initial aim statement. Additional calculations showed that the capture rate (the percentage of recyclables that actually got recycled) in the swim pond went from 8% of all recyclables collected in 2015 to 69% of recyclables collected in 2016. Annual park user surveys indicated a 5% increase in visitors who noticed and used recycling bins. The number of users who rated recycling facilities as good or excellent increased from 76% in 2015 to 87% in 2016.

Other QI Outcomes:

• Streamlined the collection process, opening up time for more natural resource work at the park. • Additional languages were used on posters to cater to a larger population base. • New sorting stations included hardware to allow for faster collection, compared with previous collection bins. • Triggered park staff to evaluate recycling at park events, resulting in additional funding for temporary bins.

Lessons Learned, Observations and Insights:

Lessons Learned -There was some turnover throughout the project, which is why so many staff members are listed. Once consistent contacts were established, the project moved forward. -The Memorandum of Understanding is a helpful tool to obtain long-term commitment from partners. -Recycling needs to be made intuitive and easy for users. -The effort was successful because willing partners all shared the same goal. -Involving key decision makers allowed for efficient development and implementation of an action plan.

Future Plans:

This project is planned to expand to all Washington County parks and be used as a model for cities interested in park recycling. To continue the momentum of this partnership, an enhanced campground recycling pilot was implemented in 2017.

Training and Preparation

Information about the Community

Information about the Health Department

QI Staff Information

Total number of Staff on QI Team:

18

QI team members:

Role in the Initiative:

Project staff member

Role in Organization:

Environmental Coordinator

Name (Optional):

Nicole Stewart

Role in the Initiative:

Project staff member

Role in Organization:

Senior Program Manager

Name (Optional):

Judy Hunter

Role in the Initiative:

QI council member/facilitator

Role in Organization:

Senior Management Analyst

Name (Optional):

Alex Eichman

Role in the Initiative:

Survey development

Role in Organization:

Planner II

Name (Optional):

Tommi Godwin

Role in the Initiative:

Waste sort and data collection

Role in Organization:

Consultant

Name (Optional):

Sarah Haas

Role in the Initiative:

Project staff member

Role in Organization:

Park Maintenance Supervisor

Name (Optional):

Steve Hansen

Role in the Initiative:

Project staff member

Role in Organization:

STS Crew Leader

Name (Optional):

Rick Tungseth

Role in the Initiative:

Project staff member

Role in Organization:

Parks Director

Name (Optional):

John Elholn

Role in the Initiative:

Communications

Role in Organization:

Parks Coordinator—Guest Services

Name (Optional):

Steve Hart

Role in the Initiative:

Communications

Role in Organization:

Parks Guest Services Supervisor

Name (Optional):

Lori Meyers

Role in the Initiative:

Project staff member

Role in Organization:

Parks Coordinator

Name (Optional):

Peter Mott

Role in the Initiative:

Project staff member

Role in Organization:

Public Works Deputy Director

Name (Optional):

Wayne Sandberg

Role in the Initiative:

Project staff member

Role in Organization:

Parks Manager

Name (Optional):

Brad Swenson

Role in the Initiative:

Communications

Role in Organization:

Communications Specialist

Name (Optional):

Bethany Venable

Role in the Initiative:

Project staff member

Role in Organization:

Senior Environmental Specialist

Name (Optional):

Jamie Giesen

Role in the Initiative:

Communications

Role in Organization:

Parks Coordinator

Name (Optional):

Laura Erickson

Role in the Initiative:

Project staff member

Role in Organization:

Parks Maintenance Supervisor

Name (Optional):

Mark Prchal

Role in the Initiative:

Waste sort and data collection

Role in Organization:

Consultant

Name (Optional):

Shannon Riley

No Waste: Increasing Recycling at Lake Elmo Park Reserve Swim Pond

Summary

Background and Aim

Planning and Execution Details

Results

Training and Preparation

Information about the Community

Information about the Health Department

QI Staff Information

Accreditation Details

Collaborations

Contact Information of the Submitter

Comments

Excellent multi sector/multi

QI Spotlight

quality improvement together.

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No Waste: Increasing Recycling at Lake Elmo Park Reserve Swim Pond

Summary

Background and Aim

Planning and Execution Details

Results

Training and Preparation

Information about the Community

Information about the Health Department

QI Staff Information

Accreditation Details

Collaborations

Contact Information of the Submitter

Comments

QI Spotlight