About five months in, the Regional Recycling and Waste Reduction District's new recycling incentives program, Recycle Advantage, has 1,017 participants -- 16,721 fewer than the previous incentives program.
But district Deputy Director Carol Bevis said the number is low because the program is still in its infancy and hasn't expanded into schools yet.
"I would like for it to be a little more than that," she said. "That doesn't sound like a lot, but it's going to be slow."
Recycle Advantage rewards people for reporting that they have recycled. The program, designed by Cranford Co., is meant to encourage people throughout the county to recycle.
Anyone in Pulaski County who is older than 18 years old and not employed by involved government agencies is eligible to sign up for the program on the district's website. Signing up enters a person into weekly drawings for prizes, which are provided by several restaurants, stores, museums and other businesses.
Pulaski County had about 300,000 residents 18 or older in 2014, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
"I know there are more people that need to be signing up," Reita Miller, public outreach specialist for the district, told the district's board at its fall quarterly meeting.
Under the previous incentives program, Recyclebank, only people who received curbside recycling services in Little Rock, North Little Rock or Sherwood were eligible for rewards, which were made available to people after they accrued a certain number of points for recycling.
Of the more than 85,000 eligible, that program never surpassed 20.8 percent participation. Curbside recycling had a participation rate of 75 percent, considered high compared with other programs nationwide, a representative of Keep America Beautiful said.
North Little Rock Mayor Joe Smith, who was the only district board member to vote against having a new recycling rewards program, said through a spokesman Thursday that he thinks it's too early to tell whether Recycle Advantage is going to be successful.
"We'll need a good 12 months or so before we can accurately gauge [its success]," city spokesman Nathan Hamilton said.
Smith opposed the program earlier this year because he didn't believe the county needed it.
Other board members said they felt they were obligated by a promise they had made to constituents to offer a rewards program along with curbside recycling.
The expense of the original rewards program, which was canceled in August 2014, replaced the $134,000 the district had been paying for eight years for five Saturday recycling drop-off sites throughout the county. Those sites are now closed.
The district budgeted $170,000 for fiscal 2016 for Recycle Advantage, about 11 percent of its budget and the greatest expense after salaries and benefits.
Bevis said she believes sign-ups for the program will grow over time and that starting recycling efforts in schools will also help.
Part of the Recycle Advantage program looks at opportunities for schools to establish recycling programs or compete against one another, Bevis said. Additionally, grants will be made available to schools for recycling program proposals.
Bevis said children who become interested in recycling often encourage their parents to recycle, which could have an effect on Recycle Advantage sign-ups.
"If the students are into recycling, then the parents will be," she said.
Metro on 09/21/2015