Is Recyclebank worth it?

Tom Paine

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I continually see stories such as this (Oak Ridge, TN) and this (Alcoa, TN) and this (Lambeth Borough, London) and this (Knoxville, TN) about Recyclebank, the recycling rewards program that offers consumers reedemable reward points based on how much they recycle. In spite of the glitzy corporate PR Recyclebank generates, its economic benefits to many municipalities seem to be marginal at best. Of courses, participation rates and benefits tend to vary from one area to another based on demographics, housing mix and other factors.

Many South Jersey communities that were early adopters have since dropped the program.

Recyclebank was founded in Philadelphia and later moved its headquarters to New York, although it still has staff in Philadelphia. Upon Philadelphia winning $1 million from the Bloomberg Philanthropies Mayors challenge last month, Mayor Nutter cited Recyclebank as an example as the type of program the Bloomberg Challenge might help create.

The company has raised upwards of $100 million in venture capital funds. You can see part of a recent presentation by Jonathan K. Hsu, CEO of Recyclebank, at a Wall Street Journal conference below:





No one questions the value of increasing recycling rates and influencing consumer behavior to help accomplish this. But what I've consistently heard from many communities is that participation in the rewards program is too low and the cost of supporting it is too high for many municipalities.