EFFECTIVE LOBBYING OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT FOR RECYCLERS
According to Bismarck, politics is "not an exact science", it is the "art of the possible." Politics is a matter of "who gets what, when and how." Every recycling business must have a political awareness and presence, just as surely as it has customers and supplies, to ensure its survival. This article examines the "why, what, and how" of success with local politics and politicians. If you’re reading this article after a political body has threatened your business it may be too late already. The Why You operate a 20-employee recycling company in a city with 75,000 people. You collect mixed bins, for a fee, from commercial customers and sort out the paper, wood, metals, cans, and bottles at your small clean MRF. You receive a notice that in 3 days the city council will vote on whether to approve changes to its franchise agreement with Big Waste, Inc. granting Big Waste the exclusive right in the city to collect mixed paper, wood, metals, cans and bottles for a fee. You presume that you, along with a few other aggrieved business owners, will speak at the meeting and easily convince the Council not to approve the changes. You expect that Big Waste won’t attempt to grab your accounts even if it obtains new franchise rights.
UNLESS YOU CAN COLLECT YOUR MATERIAL WITHOUT CHARGING A SERVICE FEE, YOU HAVE JUST LOST YOUR BUSINESS.
Unbeknownst to you, Big Waste has negotiated with staff and courted the Council Members for over a year to get this franchise for your accounts. As proof of its community commitment, Big Waste told the Council that it will build, at its expense (ho ho), a children’s visitor center at its nearby landfill, proudly displaying educational exhibits touting its 15% recycling rate at its dirty MRF. You had no clue this was in the works. The council vote in 3 days is a done deal. At the meeting the council will politely and congenially tell you of the city’s need to "insure responsible waste collection and disposal" for the citizens at "competitive rates" and the dire threat of AB 939 penalties. The council will grant the exclusive franchise to Big Waste. Big Waste will take over your accounts and maybe hire your employees.
You might think immediately that you will sue, but litigation is expensive and may not prove to be successful. That is why a recycling business must have a political strategy for survival.
You can focus on how the attributes of recycling adapt readily to the needs of the City Council.
Recycling:
Is very popular with voters;
Is environmentally correct, which is also popular with voters;
Creates local jobs;
Brings dollars into or keeps dollars within a community; and
Is popular with commercial and industrial generators (who have political clout) because of lower collection fees.
These attributes, communicated effectively to the Council are very compelling. But, as Bruce Springsteen put it, "sooner or later it all comes down to money". Big Waste has a lot. Neither you nor most recycling businesses can match dollars with Big Waste. But fast and smart can defeat big and powerful if the fight is staged under favorable controlled conditions. And you can defeat Big Waste. The How First, if you don’t have enough resources to accomplish an effective political strategy alone, you need to unite with similar enterprises to do so, including your competitors, customers, and suppliers or anyone else impacted by a Big Waste franchise (“the enemy of my enemy is my friend”) It also means joining associations like NCRA, ACRI, ISRI, CRRA, CAW, and others who will help you fight.
Next, look at what Big Waste does effectively to capture local votes:
If Big Waste can meet with staff to plan source reduction, recycling, and composting programs to boost its waste diversion statistics for A.B. 939 purposes, so can you.
If Big Waste contributes money to council election and fundraising campaigns, so can you. The law strictly regulates the amounts and types of fundraising.
If Big Waste performs charitable functions in the city (free collection day, children’s center) you can too, even if they’re different. What’s important is the perception that you are an important contributor to the community.
If Big Waste threatens to raise residential rates to coerce voter influence upon the council-counter with your own business community clout who should be upset at the increase in commercial disposal rates to subsidize the residential ratepayer. You can also suggest to a friendly council member that the council can audit Big Waste’s expenses-like the “fair rent” it pays to its parent company for the land where Big Waste has its transfer station, and save money that way for the ratepayers.
If you or other allies are unionized, involve your unions, which will lose jobs if you go out of business. Big Waste involves its union.
Do what Big Waste usually can not do at council meetings-bring lots of supporters. Council members perceive bodies in the audience and speakers as voters.
Give council and staff data showing your economic and environmental contribution to the community. Make the decision for the council to keep you in business an easy one.
Cultivate the news media. Recycling is popular feature material for print and television media
Hire legal counsel if necessary to give the city legal reasons why it cannot legislate you out of business. This can be very effective if done well in advance of any vote. Maybe in a perfect world you shouldn’t have to do any of this. But as long as Big Waste wants your accounts, you have to.