improving residential recycling compliance and usage in Providence

This project was conducted by a team of 4 graduate students from Harvard and MIT, in partnership with the City of Providence, as part of a Harvard Kennedy School Urban Field Lab Class in the fall of 2023.

In the last decade, Providence’s recycling rates have declined and its recycling contamination rates have increased. Poor residential recycling usage and compliance costs the City of Providence millions in fees, pulls the city further from its climate goals, and eats away at precious space in Rhode Island’s state landfill, a resource reported to reach
capacity by 2034. To address this problem, the City of Providence is exploring ways to improve residential recycling rates.

The team’s accomplished the following:
1. Helped Providence understand what is leading to low rates of recycling
2. Collected stakeholders’ input on barriers to recycling
3. Researched peer cities’ best practices in improving recycling rates
4. Tested the impact of recycling educational materials