Nearly five years ago, Downtown Cincinnati Inc. (DCI) and the Office of Environment and Sustainability (OES) worked together to have 20 public recycling cans installed throughout Downtown Cincinnati. Part of the City’s Green Cincinnati Plan, which includes public recycling under the Zero Waste Focus Area, the project was a worthwhile effort with the potential to have a significant impact. However, the city-owned recycling cans were nearly identical in color to the city-owned trashcans creating confusion for individuals looking to properly dispose of recyclable items. To mitigate the issue, 3CDC’s Operations team hand painted the cans blue, adding new recycling graphics that set them apart from regular trash receptacles.

The City has continued to place significant emphasis on its Green Cincinnati Plan, putting forth great effort to achieve the goals it outlines. While public recycling is part of the plan, it specifically notes DORA recycling as a Priority Action – and at the end of the City’s last fiscal year, there was enough leftover funding to expand its public recycling efforts into the DORA district. In the spring of 2023, DCI worked with OES to have 17 additional public recycling cans installed in downtown Cincinnati’s DORA district. Additionally, the team was able to stretch the funding to have the initial 20 cans professionally refurbished. To date, 37 public recycling cans have been installed downtown.

Since that time, DCI has begun to include recycling training as part of its employee onboarding program. During the training, staff members learn about recyclable materials and the importance of recycling in public spaces. Since they began to offer the training, 67 employees have participated.
Rumpke Recycling also began accepting plastic cups, like the ones used in the DORA district, making the city’s public recycling efforts even more valuable than before. DCI conducted a recycling audit in 2021 to measure usage of the recycling cans and was pleased with the overall results. The team plans to conduct another audit later this year to assess how the impact has grown with the addition of the DORA recycling cans.