Recycling Initiative Starts in Fishtown

Last Thursday, Feb. 18, at the Fishtown Neighbors Association monthly meeting at the Fishtown Recreation Center, Carla Castillo of the city's new RecycleBank program visited to speak of the new city-wide initiative that rewards residents of Philadelphia for simply recycling each week. The initiative hit Fishtown before any other neighborhood in the city.

Castillo explained that if a resident lives in a house or apartment of six units or less, he or she is eligible for the RecycleBank program. The person will receive a sticker within two weeks to attach to their home recycling bin, and each time the recycling is picked up by the city, a system weighs and registers the materials and the pounds turn into points.

"The Sweeps Department is going around giving people $50 tickets if they don't put recyclables in the recycle bins,” Castillo said. “The city wanted to try something new – to offer the carrot instead of the stick. Lots of municipalities are going this way because it is a huge savings.”

Castillo called the RecycleBank program a “win-win-win” situation because of its three-fold benefits for this recycling initiative.

“What's different now is we're gonna reward three groups of people,” she said. “We're gonna reward the city by saving them 1.5 million dollars a year in landfill costs. We're gonna reward you as members by giving hundreds of dollars back to you just for recycling as part of our points which turns into discounts at local stores. And we're gonna reward the local businesses by increasing foot traffic to come to these businesses.”

Carlene Majorino and Christa Vickery
Group 8, Fishtown