No Sorting Needed...and You Get Cash?!

RecycleBank has come up with a revolutionary concept that entices people to WANT to recycle: combine all of our everyday recyclable items together in one large bin and get paid in the form of useful grocery and pharmacy coupons.

So far, this single stream recycling program is working in communities in Pennsylvania, Virginia, New York, Connecticut, Vermont, Nebraska, Maine, and New Jersey. Here's how it works:

"Each household in a RecycleBank area receives a bin with a computer chip in it. The household then fills the bin with paper, glass, plastic and metal--no sorting needed--and sets the bin on the curb. When the recycling is collected, an arm on the truck weighs the bin and uses the computer chip to record the weight. The data is added to an online account, and customers can log in to redeem their points each month for coupons and gift certificates.
"We generally see about a 100 percent increase in recycling in mid- to affluent neighborhoods," says CEO, Ron Gonen. "In lower-income neighborhoods, it can be up to 1,000 percent, because the recycling rates are so low there.
"If you think about solar or wind power or buying a hybrid, they're very important, but today they're not something that's accessible to the average person," he said. "I look at recycling as the average thing that every person and household can do."
Especially if it puts cash in your pockets."