Gloucestershire County Council
Budget
£467,900 Wrap funding
Launched
June 2004
Sections
Background
Gloucestershire is located in the south west of England, covering an area of 1,025 square miles. Geographically the county is split into three distinct areas – the Cotswolds, the Forest of Dean and the Severn Vale – each of which has its own characteristics. The county is largely rural with the main urban focus in Gloucester and Cheltenham, although there are a number of market towns throughout the county, including Stroud, Cirencester, Lydney and Tewkesbury.Gloucestershire has a population of approximately 565,000, a higher than average proportion of which is above 50 years old and a lower than average proportion is below 35. The County’s population grew by 29,000 between 1991 and 2001 (5.63%), which equates to 0.5% per annum.
The more rural districts have greater numbers of detached properties whereas urban districts have a greater number of flats and terraced housing. Housing type has an impact on the provision of collection systems and waste minimisation schemes.
Gloucestershire is a two-tier authority comprising of one waste disposal authority and six waste collection authorities.
Aims and Objectives
- To meet 2005/6 BVPI recycling targets and increase tonnages recycled.
- Increase participation and capture rates and reduce contamination in kerbside dry recycling and green waste schemes.
- Increase recycling and composting at HRCs through improved segregation of waste by site users.
Management
The campaign was implemented and run by a team of 9 lead by a project manager from Gloucestershire County Council.
Approach
A Waste Marketing Campaign Manager and a Marketing Campaign Assistant were recruited to deliver the campaign.- Four stages of doorstep canvassing were completed between Jan 2005 and Feb 2006, covering approximately 30,000 households.
- Quarterly advertising campaigns were conducted using outdoor media (billboards, adshels and bus sideliners). This has been supplemented by the distribution of A3 & A4 posters to local centres such as post offices and shops.
- District specific recycling guides have been produced and distributed to each household.
- Press adverts were placed in the five main newspapers within Gloucestershire to coincide with quarterly advertising campaigns.
- Adverts have also been placed in selected magazines.
- 24 roadshows were conducted over the life of the campaign - 4 in each district.
- A new website was launched in Dec 2005, which incorporated the “Recycle for Gloucestershire” branding and featured the latest information on recycling services and waste reduction measures within the County.
- Gloucestershire was a member of the WRAP home composting programme. A mail out of the home composting leaflet was combined with the distribution of the recycling guides and also a Mailing Preference Service leaflet.
- New high-level signage has been constructed at each of the HRC sites. On site billboards have been erected to display campaign messages.
- Press advertising was undertaken to promote the use of HRC sites.
- A partnership has been formed with the Cheltenham based ReClaim charity to deliver doorstep canvassing work.
Monitoring
Monthly tonnage data was collected, compared and reported on together with Pre, mid and post campaign participation surveys, pre and post campaign awareness surveys, OTS, reach and readership figures were monitored for the media campaign, data was collected and transposed into tonnages on registrations to the Mail Preference Service.
Achievements
Participation in kerbside recycling has risen by 7.5% overall. The County recycling & composting rate has risen from 24 to 30% and the recycling rate at Household Recycling Centres has risen by 11.3% to 57.20%. The amount of waste landfilled has reduced by 10,662 tonnes over the period of the campaign.
“The end of this campaign leaves the GWP in a strong position. Simple and effective design templates are in place for leaflets, press ads etc. We have a number of new assets (such as our website and exhibition panels) to use in future. We have also gained a great deal of experience and knowledge as to what communication techniques are most appropriate and most effective within Gloucestershire. This will allow us to refine and target our future campaigns”. Wayne Lewis, Gloucestershire Waste Partnership Manager