Steve’s breakdown: Okay, this is all about Mecklenburg County encouraging residents and businesses to practice both recycling and waste reduction. Please click here to view the RFP. It’s due April 16 by 5pm.

CHARLOTTE, NC: Mecklenburg County is seeking a Service Provider to work in cooperation with County Waste Reduction Staff on the design of an education and marketing campaign that promotes the County’s widespread waste reduction initiatives, building upon the existing “Wipe Out Waste” and “re-think” platforms. Education and outreach strategies should take into consideration data from the recently completed Solid Waste Management Plan, Mecklenburg County Waste Composition Study, Food Waste Diversion Study and Best Practices for Local Government Solid Waste Recycling, Diversion from Landfill and Waste Reduction Study. The first three were completed in 2012, with the Best Practices study being finalized in December 2011. All of the documents are available on the County’s website, http://charmeck.org/mecklenburg/county/SolidWaste/ManagementPlan/Pages/default .aspx.

The selected Service Provider will be a one-stop shop for all of the Solid Waste Department’s promotion needs, handling the design and printing of promotional materials and buying the media that will be employed to reach the diverse demographics that make up Mecklenburg County. Suggested strategies should also include web development/maintenance and social media outreach, as well as measurement tools or mechanisms to assess the effectiveness of the marketing campaign. Methods to incentivize residents’ participation are also desirable.

Annually, Mecklenburg County measures the effectiveness of campaigns and corresponding programs through an annual University of North Carolina-Charlotte (UNCC) Urban Institute Survey of County residents. County Employees also follow the “Balanced Scorecard Measures”:

• Awareness of Source Separation Ordinance
• Participation in Backyard Composting
• Awareness of Construction and Demolition Recycling Opportunities and Infrastructure
• Litter Index

Promotional campaigns must include measuring tools that provide data supporting the aforementioned measures.
The Service Provider must be well versed in all major media outlets and have demonstrated experience in developing educational materials and targeting promotions with maximum impact and effectiveness, in addition to possessing strong media negotiating and buying skills. The Service Provider will need to develop a good working knowledge of all Mecklenburg County Solid Waste Department Waste Reduction Programs and is expected to use their knowledge, resources and creativity in proposing appropriate strategies for the promotion of these specific waste reduction and recycling initiatives.

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