Ecology & King County
Washington state’s recycling programs have a long history of encouraging people to recycle more, but when China stopped importing the state’s dirty paper and plastic in 2018, the conversation shifted to recycling right. C+C conducted a survey to identify the behaviors and attitudes driving recycling contamination and then worked with the Washington Department of Ecology, King County and a regional group of industry stakeholders to create the Recycle Right/Recicla bien brand. Through an eight-week statewide awareness campaign in English and Spanish on the importance of keeping recyclables empty, clean and dry, we earned 32 million impressions, 4.5 million video views and more than 10,000 social engagements. C+C also created an outreach toolkit for municipalities as well as a social marketing plan for addressing the problem long term.