Results Report Pilot Project Two – Household Food Waste Separation Roadshow:
Author: Pauline McDonogh on behalf of the Regional Waste Management Planning Offices.
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Background: The regional waste planning offices (RWPO’s) in conjunction with IWMA, Cre and DECC conducted a highly successful pilot project to improve household food waste separation which was completed in 2020. The pilot was conducted in four separate geographical areas and resulted in: Enhanced awareness amongst householders to separate food waste including a better understanding of why this action is important in relation to climate change; An increased presentation of food waste in the correct kerbside bin – increases as high as 25% in one of the geographical areas; A reduction in contamination of the food waste presented. Significantly less plastic packaging presented in all four geographical areas. A national Food Waste Working Group was established to review the recommendations in the report which had an initial focus on progressing the following two recommendations: 1. Every new customer signing up to a waste collection service is provided with a Food Waste Separation pack which includes a kitchen caddy, a starter pack of liners and an instructional leaflet; 2. The information toolkit is revised and distributed to all existing customers eligible for a separate food waste collection. IWMA members have pledged to commence recommendation one early 2022. IWMA Members are looking at cost effective options for recommendation two and hope to be in a position to distribute several thousand to existing customers in the near future. To support the work of the Food Waste Recycling Group it is intended that a substantial number of household food waste recycling packs will be distributed through the Regional Waste Planning Offices to support industry efforts. The Regions have considerable experience in organising events in tandem with local authorities and using companies/NGO’s to educate and raise awareness in relation to waste management. Consequently DECC invited the RWPO’s to develop a pilot project roadshow to ascertain the feasibility of distributing packs directly to householders at a number of locations in quarter four 2021.
Phase Two Pilot Food Waste Separation Roadshow Procurement: The Regional Waste Planning Offices carried out the following procurement: 1. Conduct an RFQ (Request for Quotations <€25k) process for the provision of 7,000 household packs – each pack will contain a 7 litre kitchen caddy with the information about food waste separation printed on it, a roll of 100% compostable caddy liners, the revised information leaflet from the first pilot. A condition of the request was that packs must be fully assembled and delivered to one location; 2. Conduct an RFQ for a distribution service for household packs by Roadshow. This service will consist of no more than 20 events across 10 locations over a six week period. Each event will aim to distribute a minimum of 400 packs and provide interaction with householders, quick
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demos on using liners, explanations about the importance of food waste separation etc. The locations will be chosen by the RWMO’s and will feature public buildings, public car parks, shopping centres, CA sites, garden centres. Metrics from each day will be collected. Citizens availing of a household pack will have to prove an eircode. A full report on the roadshow will be required from the service provider no later than 4 weeks after the final event. 3. Conduct an RFQ for the provision of exhibition materials to facilitate the roadshow including “pop up” displays, magnetic signage for vehicles, pop up marquee & associated equipment. This procurement process was conducted over the summer and the following companies/organisations were appointed: 1. Midland Environmental Services: Household Food Waste Separation Packs; 2. VOICE Ireland: Delivery of the roadshow; 3. Davis Printers (Limerick): Provision of exhibition & roadshow materials. In addition the regions media buying partner, Southern Advertising, was commissioned to develop and deliver an advertising strategy for the roadshow.
Designing the Roadshow: A key purpose of the roadshow is to understand the best locations both from the public perspective in accessing the service but also from the perspective of the roadshow provider to deliver the service. As with the provision of all services during the pandemic, designing the roadshow involved significant consultation with the managers of locations to ensure covid compliance and to minimise risk to public health. Additional 2021 specific challenges which impacted on the start date of the roadshow included, a global shortage of plastic and supply chain issues both of which impacted on the delivery dates for the for the food waste separation packs. In addition, being cognisant of climate action, we took into consideration venues to which people were already travelling and/or proximity to centres of population so that unnecessary journeys could be minimised. Our initial intention was to host the roadshow in September and early October but these challenges prevented this start date so it was necessary to move it forward to November with a December 4 th completion date. Previous experience in event planning indicates that the public is very focused on Christmas from early December. These challenges limited the number of events that could be hosted within the timeframe available. We also incorporated the following:
A mix of urban & rural events; A mix of weekend & week days;
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A timetable that would allow sufficient time for set up & dismantling; Utilising public spaces: main streets/shopping centres/public buildings.
This led to the roadshow being hosted at the following locations:
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Location Parkway Shopping Centre, Limerick Navan Recycling Centre
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Birr Rugby Club
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Lidl Car Park Walkinstown
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Laois County Hall Car Park
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Showgrounds Shopping Centre Clonmel Belturbet Main Street
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Letterkenny Shopping Centre
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Lidl Car Park, Ballymun
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10 Bridgewater Shopping Centre, Arklow 11 Wexford County Hall 12 Main Street Carrickmacross
Date & Time November 11th 10am-2.30pm November 12th 10am-3pm November 13th 10am -3pm November 15th 10am-3pm November 17th 10am-3pm November 19th 10am-3pm November 24th 11am-4pm November 26th 10am-3pm November 27th 10am-3pm November 30th 11am-4pm December 1st 11am-4pm December 4th 10am-3pm
Advertising the events: Environmental messaging and particularly advertising events can be challenging as these messages, although of importance to audiences, compete alongside all other types of advertising which the public is bombarded with daily, particularly social and digital advertising. To this end, it was decided that the events warranted a mix of both advertising across traditional and new media. An advertising strategy was developed which incorporated: 1. A local radio advert, supported by social media advertising on the radio station social channels (appendix 1); 2. A local newspaper advert (shown below); 3. A press release accompanied the radio & print media adverts and several interviews were conducted; 4. Targeted Facebook advertising.
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With 12 events over 11 locations, national advertising was not undertaken as it was felt this would lead to increased demand that could not be supported during the pilot roadshow. Advantage was taken of any additional “free” awareness raising and advertising including: 1. Promotion undertaken by Environmental Awareness Officers; 2. Promotion by local Environmental Groups, Tidy Towns and Residents Associations; 3. Promotion by participating shopping centres on social channels and through their PA systems.
The radio & social media advertising heavily referenced that limited supplies of food waste separation packs were available at each location. This may have influenced the public’s participation particularly in the afternoon of each event. This type of messaging is only applicable to the pilot roadshow and would not feature in a full national roadshow. Additional information about advertising each event is included as appendix 2
Staging the Events: A roadshow project manager was appointed by VOICE. The manager took responsibility for staging each event. This included:
Liaising with the RWPO to obtain information about each location; Transporting the packs & promotional material to each event; Setting up the event including liaison with on-site staff; Managing VOICE volunteers (two additional volunteers at each event); Engaging with the public; Overseeing the collection of eircodes from the public; Participating in any publicity requests such as interviews and photography; Providing a short update, within 24 hours by email after each event.
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The roadshow manager has also provided a full report which is included as appendix 3.
Results: Engagements can include actions such as reacting to, commenting on or sharing the ad. Video Views 50% is the number of times the roadshow video was played at 50% of its length. Frequency is the average number of times that each person saw the roadshow advert
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Location, Date & Traditional Time Media
New Media
Parkway Shopping Centre Limerick; 11/11 10am to 2.30pm
19,072 people reached; 1523 video views; 418 engagements.
Radio: Live 95fm: Avg. listenership 101,000; Print: Limerick Leader Avg. circulation 13,420.
No of Packs distributed 392
Feedback from event
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Navan Recycling Centre, Co Meath; 12/11 10am to 3pm
Radio: LMFM Avg. listenership 101,000 Print: Meath Chronicle Avg. circulation: 10,373
13,292 people reached; 1502 video views; 241 engagements.
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The feedback was hugely positive from the public; A lot of people didn’t know their Eircode; Many collected more than 1 pack; Good interaction with the display communication tools; Good interaction & information sharing on how to separate food waste correctly.
Most people were ready to share their eircode; About 75% of people were collecting a second or third pack for a neighbour/family member; A good proportion of people collecting packs did not currently have a food waste collection service at home but were home composting; The recycling centre also had a food waste
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Birr Rugby Club, Co Offaly 13/11 10am to 3pm
Radio: Midlands 103 Avg. listenership 115,000 Print: Offaly Independent Avg. Circulation: 13,040
5931 people reached; 844 video views; 119 engagements.
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Lidl Car Park, Walkinstown, Dublin 15/11 10am to 3pm
We were unable to place adverts in press & radio because we did not have approval from Lidl until 14/11
33,296 people reached; 3558 video views; 551 engagements.
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Laois County
Radio: iradio
20,264 people
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composting service where people could sign up and bring their food waste for free; Some people mentioned they have compost bins or hot composters at home. People were very enthusiastic.
This was a quiet venue as there was no training on; Nearly all the public referenced the radio interview/social media advert; Many referenced the cost of the food waste collection service; Lots had their own compost. Most were opportunistic they had not come specifically about 15% had seen/heard advert; Steady flow of shoppers throughout the day, Complaints from apartments without a food waste service featured prominently. Good engagement
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Hall, Portlaoise 17/11 10am to 3pm
Avg. listenership 360,000 Print: Leinster Express Avg. Circulation: 13,040
reached; 2611 video views; 273 engagements.
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Showgrounds Shopping Centre, Clonmel, Co Tipperary 19/11 10am to 3pm
Radio: Tipp FM Avg. listenership 76,000 Print: Clonmel Nationalist Avg. Circulation: 8,873 and Tipp Star Avg. Circulation 7,400
8858 people reached; 1508 video views; 247 engagements.
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Belturbet Main Street, Co Cavan, 24/11 11am to 4pm
Radio: Northern Sound Avg. listenership 146,000 Print: Anglo Celt Independent Avg. Circulation: 9,366
7337 people reached; 1255 video views; 126 engagements.
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with Environment Officer who took an additional 50 caddies for distribution; Event well supported by council staff; Multiples were collected for schools, a Men’s Shed and other community outreach; Attendees heard about the event on Laois Today, by word of mouth & social media advertising. Good location outside M&S; Approx. 50% had seen/heard the advert; The passers-by were definitely more engaged in Clonmel than other locations; Unlike other locations most people only took one caddy; Most people had access to the food waste service. More people at this event heard about it through word of mouth & their Tidy Towns group than the advertising; Most individuals took only 1 pack; Some attendees expressed
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Letterkenny Main Car Park, Co Donegal 26/11 10am to 3pm
Radio: Highlands Average listenership 92,000 Print: Donegal Democrat Avg. Circulation: 8,250. Donegal News Avg. Circulation 9,448
9434 people reached; 1464 video views; 158 engagements.
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Lidl Car Park, Ballymun, Dublin 27/11 10am to 3pm
Radio: Not available Print: Northside People Avg. Circulation: 20,000
21,408 people reached; 2459 video views; 326 engagements.
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difficulty at accessing the service even though they are living in an urban environment. Lots of people composting and feeding animals with food waste. Adverse weather impacted this event, the roadshow was set up outdoors & then had to move indoors so time was lost; Good engagement with the council who took an additional 70 packs; People heard about the event via Council website, social media and radio advertising; Very busy shopping centre location. Significant feedback from the public having difficulty accessing the service. Very busy location but still difficult to engage with people; Mostly passers-by though some had seen social media & print advertising; Almost everyone engaged with had
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10 Bridgewater Shopping Centre, Arklow, Co Wicklow 30/11 11am to 4pm
Radio: East Coast Average listenership 64,000 Print: N/A
4782 people reached; 1032 video views; 123 engagements.
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11 Wexford County Hall, Wexford 01/12 11am to 4pm
12 Main Street, Carrickmacross, Co Monaghan, 04/12 10am to 3pm
Radio: South East 103 Average listenership 75,000 Print: Wexford People Average Circulation: 24,795. Wexford Standard Average Circulation: 16,063 Radio: Northern Sound Avg. listenership 146,000 Print: Northern Standard Avg. Circulation: 13,500
7948 people reached; 1603 video views; 253 engagement.
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4106 people reached; 898 video views; 98 engagement.
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access to the service. Roadshow location inside the shopping centre while fine was not prime; The centre itself unfortunately had a good few vacant premises and presumably this is affecting footfall; Majority of interaction was via passers-by. Most successful event of the roadshow; Individuals heard about it through the Council, local tidy town groups and the radio & social media advertising; Individuals very organised with eircodes at this venue.
Monaghan CoCo was very engages so an additional 90 packs were given to EAO and an additional 30 to a local school Good central location on Main Street, with significant footfall; A lot of people came specifically for the caddies; Many people reported they didn't have a food
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waste collection service. McElvaney Waste attended the event & reported many customers receive the service but do not use it. The attendance of the Minister may have impacted on the running of this event.
Roadshow Costs: The Following costs were incurred for the Roadshow: Supplier
Product
Midland Environmental Services
7000 Food Waste Separation Packs consisting of a 7 litre caddy printed with information, a roll of 100% compostable liners, an information leaflet. Management & delivery of the roadshow including project management, insurance for each event, 3 staff per event, set-up, dismantling, citizen engagement, recording of eircodes, provision of data for each event & a final report. Promotion & Exhibition Material including a pop up marquee, tables, chairs, pull-ups, branded clothing.
VOICE Ireland
Davis Printers
Southern Advertising
Total Roadshow Cost (including VAT)
Development & execution of advertising strategy to promote the Food Waste Separation Roadshow including a radio advert, press adverts, targeted social media advertising which involved video production for “cold & warm” audiences.
Cost (Including VAT) € 30,135.00
Unit Cost (If applicable, including VAT) 4.31/pack
24,950
2080.00/event
4,941
28,782
412/event All materials the property of MyWaste & will be reused in 2022. 2399/event
€88,808
€7,400/event
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Conclusions: More than 4,000 households have benefited from Food Waste Separation Road Show which visited 11 locations across the country in November and December this year. As part of the roadshow Food Waste Separation Teams travelled to some of Ireland’s largest towns, met with shoppers, and handed out free household food waste separation kitchen caddy packs with some easy-to-follow advice. The food waste separation packs contained a free kitchen caddy, a starter pack of caddy liners and an information leaflet. The Irish Waste Management Association (IWMA) has also committed to all new household customers signing up to a waste collection service receiving a food waste separation kitchen caddy pack from IWMA affiliated waste collectors from the beginning of 2022.
The roadshow was beneficial in improving our understanding of how to engage and deliver food waste separation packs post pandemic across urban and rural areas. We are confident that the packs coupled with citizen engagement have the potential to deliver real behavioural change in food waste separation and ultimately improve the recycling rate and reduce contamination. The roadshow clearly demonstrates: The public is interested in this messaging and willing to engage which includes making a journey to avail of a food waste separation pack; There is significant potential to harness this interest and create real behavioural change through personal interaction at a roadshow event; Preventing food waste should also feature in future events as the public referenced this at all pilot roadshow locations; Both “warm” and “cold” audiences engaged with the messaging; Advertising was more generally successful in towns & rural areas; It was most difficult to advertise in the largest urban settings (Dublin); A mix of advertising is recommended for future events including, social media, traditional media and local authority promotion via community groups; Local authority venues and shopping centres were the most successful for the pilot roadshow; Sporting club locations were ineffective and should only be chosen if other events such as sports training are taking place at same time; Future roadshow’s could benefit from collaborating with the EAO network and taking advantage of co-hosting events, county shows etc.; It is recommended a supply of food waste separation packs should be made available locally after each roadshow via public buildings or CA sites to ensure citizens that missed the event can avail in the coming days; Locating outside supermarkets or within their car parks provides good footfall but would yield significantly more interest if tied in with in-store promotion; Access to a food waste separation service for both urban (apartments) and rural dwellers remains a barrier and was commented in at 60% of all pilot roadshow locations;
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The quality of the Food Waste Separation Pack was excellent & no units were lost or damaged in transit; The management & delivery of the roadshow by VOICE was excellent; There is significant project management required by the Regional Waste Planning Offices to ensure each event runs smoothly.
Recommendations: 1. Any future iterations of the distribution of Household Food Waste Separation Packs will need to be supported by IWMA efforts to provide packs to existing customers as well as new customers; 2. Efforts should be made to dovetail communications locally with waste collectors for all further rollout; 3. The local authority sector is crucial to the success of this project and future rollout should be done in conjunction with local authorities so that citizens can access the packs outside of special events by collecting them from CA sites, public buildings etc.; 4. Attendance at large scale events (National Ploughing Championships, Bloom in the Park, Over 50’s shows, Ideal Home etc.) needs to be considered to ensure large numbers of units can be distributed effectively; 5. The role of the regions needs to be explored with DECC and if a project is to commence in 2022 the resources within the RWMPO’s needs to be addressed as this pilot clearly demonstrates significant human resources are needed to conduct procurement as well project management for the rollout; 6. We further recommend an immediate decision on DECC funding is required as this initiative is more suited to summer/autumn than winter.
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