So far, everything has been running well. We haven’t had many problems because we’ve tried to grow the business in a very focused manner. When first starting out, we knew that we had an idea that would be popular and create tremendous demand, and rather than trying to fill out the program too quickly, we decided to keep our focus first on operational excellence and great service to our current customer. That focus on service first is what has allowed us to avoid hitting any snags.

What happens if customers exceed the $400 rewards limit?

A lot of customers max out because the program is so well-liked that people are recycling everything that they possibly can. So in order to continue to motivate people to recycle even after they’ve hit their rewards limit, we’ve decided to provide additional opportunities to earn more points through the recycling of other items like cell phones.  And in the next few months we’ll be rolling out more opportunities for people to recycle materials such as food waste. We would also like to continue to add information about what people can do for the environment in their local communities, so we’re working on a “green search” function on the homepage. Our goal is to be the complete environmental service provider to the communities that we serve.

Will that include expanding to recycle industrial waste?

We will be providing commercial service in 2009 to help companies to recycle. We decided to do this after a number of work partners asked if we could develop a commercial rewards program for them. It will work similar to the residential program.

And your residential programs don’t just serve individual houses. RecycleBank recently rolled out its first apartment complex kiosk in Wilmington, Delaware and is also using kiosks in a pilot program currently running at Columbia. How are the kiosks working out so far?

The kiosks are working great and we’re very excited about them. People simply bring their bag of recyclables to the kiosk and weigh it there to get their points. Currently the kiosks are in all the freshman dorms at Columbia and we expect to get kiosks in all the dorms next semester. The pilot program gives us an opportunity to work out bugs and kinks and make sure we fully understand how to make the kiosks work right before expanding their use.

How do you pick which places to expand to next?

We tend to seek out places with a lot of people but not a lot of landfill space, but for the most part, it’s word of mouth. People learn about us and give us a call. We’re also in the process of building a sales force to talk with different cities about RecycleBank’s opportunities. Right now we’re .providing service in over 10 states and have over a million homes under contract. We’re also currently in discussions with communities in England who want to use RecycleBank’s services.  

Wow, RecycleBank sounds like a win-win plan for everyone! How can people get RecycleBank to come to their neighborhood?

Call your mayor! Tell them that you want to get rewarded for recycling.

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Posted on Jul 28, 2008 at 8:13 AM
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