INTERREG IIIA: CROSS BORDER AWARENESS
CAMPAIGN
Preface
This report summarises the activity and outcomes of the cross border waste
awareness campaign funded under the EU Interreg IIIA, Measure 2.2
Programme.
The project partners were the Department of the Environment (Northern
Ireland) and Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government
(Republic of Ireland).
The campaign was managed by the Department of the Environment, aided
by consultants Beenvironmental, who reviewed activities during the course
of the project and evaluated the findings. Management was assisted by a
Project Management Board and Project Steering Group comprising
representatives from central and local government, business, industry,
agriculture, education and the Special European Union Programmes Body.
The media contract was delivered by Lyle Bailie International, assisted by
McCann PR and Mary Murphy Associates.
The Departments would like to thank the Steering Group for its valuable
time and assistance in ensuring the successful delivery of the project and
ongoing interest at the local level throughout the cross border area.
Further details of the evaluation reported in this document can be obtained
from:
NI
Wake Up to Waste
EHS Commonwealth House
35 Castle Street
Belfast
BT1 1GU
Tel:
028 9054 6725
ROI
Environmental Awareness Section Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government
Custom House Dublin 1
Tel:
01-8882488
Or Visit:
www.wakeuptowaste.org (NI)
www.raceagainstwaste.com (ROI)
.
CONTENTS
Introduction 1
Aims and objectives
1
Delivering the campaign
2
Benchmarking and testing prior to the campaign
4
Outcome and evaluation
5
Summary of key output and impacts
8
Introduction
Raising awareness of waste issues is essential to ensuring our policies for more sustainable living and protection of the environment are put into practice. The overall challenge is to reduce our waste and make more effective use of our resources, in a way that minimises impact on the environment and contributes positively to economic and social development.
Both Northern Ireland, through “Wake up to Waste” and the Republic of Ireland, through “Race Against Waste”, have initiated innovative branded marketing campaigns to support their strategies1, by raising awareness of the need to reduce waste and encouraging
behaviour change. These campaigns have been successful in supporting a new attitude to the waste we produce and identified the willingness of individuals to participate in waste reduction and recycling measures.
However, both jurisdictions recognise that there is still much more to do, to change
behaviour and maintain momentum over the longer term. Recent reviews2 have highlighted
particular gaps in business and community engagement. These issues are particularly acute in the cross-border area because:
! it is disadvantaged by increased costs, distance to markets and peripherally;
! there is potential to locate a network of waste management and reprocessing facilities which takes advantage of economies of scale in accordance with the proximity principle;
! there is significant pressure from illegal dumping in the cross-border area.
The Department of the Environment in Northern Ireland and Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government in the Republic of Ireland therefore combined resources to deliver a cross border waste awareness campaign that would build on the work to date and provide a focus for environmental improvement.
A grant of €2.5 million was awarded through the INTERREG IIIA Programme under Priority 2 (administered through the Special European Union Programmes Body), to fund the project.
Aims and objectives
The overall aim of the project was to extend and complement existing communication programmes in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, highlighting innovative cross-border business and domestic recycling activities and maintaining the momentum for change.
1 Waste Management Strategy for Northern Ireland (2000); Republic of Ireland Changing Our Ways (1998) and Preventing and Recycling Waste: Delivering Change (2002)
2 For example, Waste Management Advisory Board Review of the Northern Ireland Waste Management Strategy (2004) and ROI Waste Management :Taking Stock and Moving Forward (2003),
The project was assisted by a Steering Group which ensured stakeholder input throughout the duration of the project. Membership of the Steering Group was diverse to reflect the cross border nature and focus of the campaign, drawing from public, private and voluntary organisations operating in the INTERREG area with an interest or involvement in the campaign. Appendix 1 lists the membership of the Steering Group.
Figure 1 shows the main aims and key objectives of the project.
Delivering the campaign
The approach adopted to deliver the campaign included a high profile television and media advertising strategy incorporating:
! TV advertising campaign across Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland including UTV and RTE networks, incorporating a common advert for both jurisdictions;
! radio advertising on local stations across Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland;
! weekly and trade press to reinforce messages across the island with targeting of publications in the border areas;
! development of a dedicated website highlighting the innovative cross-border activities under the INTERREG banner with links pages to Wake up to Waste and Race Against Waste websites;
! production of fridge magnets for distribution by local authorities to reinforce the messages transmitted through other media and extend their impact beyond the life of the campaign;
! e-marketing through advertising on selected web sites;
! cinema advertisements;
Main Aims
! Reduce the volume of waste going to landfill and increase the recycling of waste materials in the cross-border area through education/awareness.
! Involve and encourage participation in waste reduction/recycling/recovery by a wide range of stakeholders.
! Contribute to the improvement of inter-regional understanding of waste generation, monitoring and management by providing robust baseline data.
Key Objectives
! Demonstrate to all domestic residents how toseparate and recycle household waste.
! Demonstrate to business decision makers/employees how to separate and reuse organic waste and building waste.
! Engage business and entrepreneurs in the all-island economy of the commercial opportunities arising from the reduction, re-use and recycling of domestic, business and farm waste
.
! mid rears, super rears displayed on buses and shopperlites displayed in supermarkets and shopping centres;
! high profile public launch of the campaign in the border area;
! a cross-border workshop event bringing together consumers, businesses and the community to identify networking opportunities during the media campaign; and
! Research and tracking to measure outcomes and provide detailed and innovative information on activity and behaviour in the cross-border area.
The above approach was supported by a comprehensive public relations strategy which focused on building knowledge and understanding of the opportunities for enterprise, new business and economic benefits across the business community.
In designing the creative element of the campaign, focus was placed on delivering a practical message, with the aim of transforming current knowledge and understanding amongst stakeholders into positive actions. The choice of material streams for the advertising focus was underpinned by their contribution to waste production and the availability of recovery and reprocessing facilities.
The materials selected were:
! glass bottles and jars
! plastic bottles
! cans
! paper
! organic waste
Waste minimisation messages were also a major feature, focusing on junk mail. This is a particular issue which contributes significantly to waste arisings in both jurisdictions.
Waste minimisation message as featured on www.mywaste.info
Benchmarking and testing prior to the campaign
Extensive creative pre-testing was undertaken prior to the launch of the campaign material. Benchmarking research was undertaken in September 2004 to provide a snapshot of prevalent attitudes and behaviours prior to the start of the campaign. This was followed by tracking research in December 2004 which aimed to identify any changes in attitudes and behaviours as a result of the campaign. Comparisons were then made between the findings from the benchmarking and those from the tracking research.
To monitor the effectiveness of the TV advert relating to junk mail, mailing preference services were contacted to provide details of the number of people registering with their service (to record their preference to not be included on mailing lists) during August, September and October.
Data on recycling rates were also sought, both prior to the start of the campaign to provide baseline information and at the end of the campaign. The intention was to compare findings and enable evaluation of the impact of the campaign on recycling behaviour. However, as local authority returns are only reported annually in the Republic of Ireland and quarterly in Northern Ireland it was not possible to use this data within the timeframe of the project.
Local authorities in the border area (six in Republic of Ireland and six in Northern Ireland) were therefore contacted and asked to provide recycling information for the months of August, September and October 2004. Data for the same period in 2003 was requested to allow for comparison and to allow seasonal variations to be taken into account when
assessing the data from 2004. The data provided will be followed up by a more detailed review of overall recycling rates when these are available in 2005.
Recycling data for August, September and October 2004 was also requested from eight recycling organisations.
Interviews with reprocessors in both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland were carried out to assess capacity issues and potential barriers and opportunities. Two reprocessors were selected for interview for each material stream in both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, plus one border company dealing with organics3. Table 1 lists
those companies interviewed for each material stream.
3 Whilst the TV advertising campaign is focused on home composting only for the organics waste stream, it was considered important to include at least one major organics reprocessor as centralised organics collections are offered by a number of councils and this could be an area for further development and support..
Table 1 Companies interviewed for each material stream.
The interviews suggested that there was a high level of contamination of materials collected for reprocessing, and identified a need to educate the public and/or businesses to improve the segregation of recyclables. A number of companies also raised the need for information to be provided to the public which focuses on the end product. These findings confirmed the focus of the campaign advertising to provide both ‘how to’ information aimed at reducing contamination of the materials collection and featuring transformations of the different materials into useful end products.
Outcome and evaluation
Launch event The campaign launch was held on 14th September 2004 at the Manor House
Hotel, Killadeas, Co Fermanagh. This attracted 120 delegates. Whilst not specifically targeted at the business sector, the launch did provide the opportunity for businesses to network at the event and gain further information on the campaign messages and business workshop.
The launch was successful in attracting positive media attention, with coverage in local and national papers, TV and radio raising the profile of the campaign amongst all stakeholders.
Media Campaign The campaign exceeded the targets set in terms of audience reach by the three main media tools, namely TV, radio and press. For example, the target for the
proportion of all adults to see the TV campaign adverts once was 90%, however 93% was achieved in Northern Ireland, and 91% achieved in the Republic of Ireland. The target of 80% set for all adults to see the campaign at least three times was also exceeded, with 84% achieved in Northern Ireland, and 82% achieved in the Republic of Ireland.
The extent to which the campaign impacted upon awareness was reported as:
! 23% made an attempt to reduce waste
! 19% made an attempt to reuse
! 25% increased amount recycled
Paper Glass Cans Plastics Organics Kosmos Irish Polymers
Northern Ireland Greenpak Quinn Glass Bryson House BPF Recycling Natural World Products Rehab Recycling Partnership A1 Metal Recycling Wellman International Republic of
Ireland Smurfit North Kerry Glass Recycling Munster Metal Co Ltd Shabra Plastics
This is claimed rather than actual behaviour. Sustained changes in actual behaviour will become evident over time and will be influenced by a number of interdependent factors, including improved recycling infrastructure and enforcement as well as increased public awareness arising from the campaign.
For the individual material streams, the increase reported through tracking surveys included a 7% increase in understanding how to recycle glass, 10% increase in how to recycle plastic bottles, and 3% increase in how to recycle cans. For paper there was a 14% increase in the claimed use of both sides of a sheet of paper, plus a 23% increase in action taken to reduce junk mail. In addition, there was a 7% increase in usage of home composters.
Examples of consumer press advertising.
Business Workshop The Business Workshop was an all-day event held at the Ballymascanlon Hotel on the 8th November 2004. A multi-stakeholder dialogue was
achieved through a mix of presentations, video presentations from reprocessors and breakout sessions that focused on key issues relating to business opportunities and development.
Representation at the workshop included an even distribution between private and public sectors:
! 38% of delegates were actively involved in reprocessing and waste recovery
! 30% of delegates were from local authorities and government agencies.
49 delegates were from the business sector (representing 60% of those who completed feedback forms). Of these business delegates:
! 90% found the workshop to be beneficial
! 93% said they would consider exploring new partnerships/alliances in developing and growing their business.
Feedback from local authorities and recycling organisations Feedback in relation to the campaign was very positive. Local authorities in the cross-border area considered that the campaign supported them in their efforts to raise awareness of the benefits of recycling and greatly assisted them in encouraging recycling on a local level.
Without exception, those asked to comment on the campaign and its effectiveness were very positive. Examples of comments received are given in Appendix 2. Respondents commended the use of humour in the TV advertisements and the choice of local celebrities. The use of transformation as a key theme was viewed as very beneficial in helping people to understand how their actions can result in a positive change.
Positive awareness within schools and communities of the key messages within the adverts, with recognition of the theme music, slogan, transformation examples, was also reported. The adverts were regarded as clear and concise, positively communicating the message of how to recycle, underpinned by why it is important to recycle.
Recycling Data The quantities collected for recycling during August and September are illustrated in Figure 2. This shows a 7.8% increase in recycling rates from August to September. Figure 2: Tonnes recycled during the monitoring period Workshop video containing business case studied and copies of television adverts 680 690 700 710 720 730 740 750 760 770 780 790 Aug Sept tonnes
Bryson House Recycling, who operates a kerbside collection scheme in Belfast, reported an increase of 11% from August to September 2004.
Distribution of fridge magnets 215,000 fridge magnets where produced and distributed on a population pro-rata basis, to all 32 local authorities in the INTERREG area. These colourful magnets contained key messages from the campaign and council officers have reported that they have proved a valuable and popular educational tool.
Summary of key output and impacts
Domestic Residents
! Waste awareness advertising campaign across Northern Ireland and Ireland through TV and radio, and up weighted in the cross border area through press, cinema, web, bus backs and shopping centre advertising
! Development of dedicated www.mywaste.info website to include innovative cross-border activities and links pages under the INTERREG banner;
! Production and distribution of 215,000 fridge magnets highlighting key campaign messages;
! Audience reach of 92% of domestic residents in the INTERREG area on how to separate and recycle household waste;
! Audience reach of at least 15% of young adults (15-34 year olds) in the INTERREG area on how to separate and recycle household waste.
Business Sector
! Cross-border business workshop event attended by 127 delegates of which 70% where from business related fields.
! Direct contact with over 250 businesses with the SME’s sector across the INTERREG area.
! 9 case studies of successful commercial operations arising from the reduction, re-use and recycling of domestic business and agricultural waste.
Promotional fridge magnet including key messages of campaign
Recommendations and next steps
Based on the evaluation of the campaign, twelve recommendations were made to assist future planning and integration of communications programmes:
Recommendation 1: A more detailed facilities audit should be undertaken and applied to the data sets to provide further insight into behaviour changes and impact of the campaign.
This would allow more detailed consideration to be given to the actual ability of
householders to recycle specific materials at a local level in light of the raised awareness from the campaign, compared to their willingness to participate.
Recommendation 2: Data from annual returns by local authorities in March 2005 should be used to establish whether tonnages of those materials recovered and featured in the campaign have increased.
Returns available in 2005 will be assessed and reported as part of the publication by both jurisdictions of regular statistics.
Recommendation 3: A follow-up campaign should be undertaken in 2005 to reinforce the key messages of the campaign.
Material from the campaign is already being utilised as part of ongoing development of the two jurisdictions’ communications programmes.
Recommendation 4: Future development of the Wake Up to Waste campaign and the Race Against Waste campaigns should take account of this campaign when developing media and PR material.
Communication programmes are regularly reviewed and opportunities will be taken to incorporate the findings of this campaign.
Recommendation 5: The good relations existing between DOE and DEHLG need to be maintained and built upon in the development of follow-up campaign, with information disseminated between the two departments and agreement reached as to how best to continue the valuable work completed through this project without losing any of the momentum.
The partnership between DoE (NI) and ENFO provides a mechanism for regular information exchange and the opportunity for collaborative work on future campaigns.
Recommendation 6: Communications with stakeholders involved in the campaign need to be sustained so that messages are reinforced and the education process is progressed through the introduction of new information.
The two jurisdictions have worked jointly to address an environmental issue that affects the whole island of Ireland and has brought together representatives from both the public and private sectors, all of whom have contributed constructively to maximise the cross-border benefits of the project. This provides a model for future joint working to address waste management and other issues which affect both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
Recommendation 7: Consideration should be given to maintaining the steering group to inform the development of future campaigns and also to facilitate further waste related cross-border activities in the future.
The two jurisdictions recognise a continuing need for local forums to assist communication of messages and enable long term behaviour change.
Recommendation 8: Partnerships should be established between SMEs, local councils, and the two government departments to continue effective engagement with SMEs.
In Northern Ireland, InvestNI support a number of schemes including waste minimisation clubs, Envirowise, Biowise, Northern Ireland Waste Exchange Bureau, ‘SMART’ and
‘COMPLETE’ awards aimed at helping businesses, particularly SMEs. These schemes also provide a mechanism for partnership and engagement of government/business sectors.
In ROI, a National Waste Prevention Programme - involving the development of waste prevention and minimisation strategies across all sectors - is currently being developed and implemented by a Core Prevention Team within the EPA.. Baseline studies are currently being developed as part of the initial phase of the 5 year Programme, which also envisages mandatory waste and material audits, waste prevention pilot schemes etc. The Programme has been allocated an initial budget of €2m from the Environment Fund, financed by the proceeds of the landfill and plastic bag levies.
Recommendation 9: Relevant data and information relating to SMEs should be shared by other appropriate forums and opportunities explored for existing work with SMEs within both departments to be developed further in light of the findings and the focus of this campaign. The Netregs, NIWEB and Wasteworks websites provide an information and exchange mechanism for SMEs . Research and development supported by InvestNI provides assistance and encouragement for SME’s, but recognise that more needs to been done especially in the cross border area. The Enterprise Ireland Environment Policy Department provides environmental advice, information, financial and other supports for Irish owned industry with a key focus on SMEs. Their www.EnviroCentre.ie website
provides free access to information e.g. guides to environmental law, best environmental practice, case studies and events all designed to improve the environmental performance of Irish SMEs.
Recommendation 10: A comprehensive survey should be commissioned to establish the nature and extent of reprocessing in both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland; identify reprocessing gaps and constraints to developing reprocessing capacity.
Recommendation 11: Data relating to types and quantities of recyclables recovered should be regularly evaluated from local authorities to establish whether there are adequate tonnages of different materials to provide feedstock for reprocessing on the island.
A recent in depth feasibility study on paper carried out by WRAP (to be published in 2005) has reviewed tonnages and sources on an all-island basis.
Recommendation 12: Ensure future campaigns include monitoring of the relative
effectiveness of different media using tracking questions which target the effectiveness of each media.
Appendix 1: Membership of the Steering Group
Name Organisation
Pamela Arthurs Eastern Border Region Graham Byrne Dungannon & South Tyrone Kate Burns ICBAN
Nuala Cormican SEUPB Monica Curran SEUPB
Martin Doherty Education & Awareness Taskforce Michael McKenna DEHLG
Paul Morrissey DEHLG Riona Nifhlanghaile DEHLG
Rose Kenny Louth County Council Pat Corker EHS
David Eagleson EHS Celine Rodgers EHS Janet McClelland EHS Stephanie McCauley EHS John Minnis EHS
Jane Beasley Be Environmental Elaine Lockley Be Environmental Maria McCann McCann PR Claire Trainor McCann PR
David Lyle Lyle Bailie International Julie Ann Bailie Lyle Bailie International Andrea Carrigan Lyle Bailie International Mary Murphy Mary Murphy Assoc. Neasa Kane Mary Murphy Assoc.
Trevor Knipe Waste Management Advisory Board Raymond O'Malley Irish Farmers Assoc.
Jim McCorry Newry & Mourne Council (SWaMP) Michael Laverty Antrim Council (arc21)
Alex Kinghorn Ballymena Council (arc21) Gillian Cheatly Ulster Farmers' Union Eamon Molloy Derry City Council (NW) William Poole CBI
Jackie Harrison/Erik O'Donovan IBEC
Appendix 2: Comments from Local Authorities & Recycling Organisations
Comments received from Local Authorities and Recycling Organisations during the data collection phase included:
• “In terms of the advertising campaign I have had a lot of positive feedback from both adults and children. I would do a lot of schools work and the children have definitely taken notice of the ads and are able to tell you all about them. Adults have also mentioned the campaign; in particular there has been a lot of interest in the reducing junk mail ad”.
• “This is an excellent campaign and one which people will remember long after newspapers editorials, adverts and council staff talking to them are forgotten. It is imperative that at least one drive per year in this style is used, Don't recycle ads for at least five years or people will accuse you of being cheap and hence think the whole reduce, reuse, recycle drive is tacky”
• “The campaign has definitely had a positive impact on awareness. As education officer I have started mentioning the new ads in both my primary and secondary talks-the kids are able to sing the song that accompanies the ad and able to tell me why a change would do them good”.
• “The choice of celebrities used in the ads was excellent – they appeal to all ages”.
• “As a result of the ads, people I have talked to seem much more aware of why the material recycled are valuable”.
• “We generally don’t ask people why they want to purchase a compost bin, but two people this month told me that they had seen the TV ads about composting and wanted to buy a compost bin”.
• “The TV ads were enjoyable to watch, which makes them more likely to be remembered”.
• “I haven't noticed a large increase in the amount of compost bins we are giving away but I have noticed a greater awareness”.
• “I have used the information pack for schools from www.mywaste.info. The schools were very receptive to them”.
• “I think this campaign has been very successful, the style of the ads is very good and showing the closing of the loop with regards to what the materials can be recycled into is essential. The ads are very clear and concise. Overall I am very impressed and
