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Bedfordshire's recycling brand - ten years on

Bedfordshire County Council’s ‘Recycle Now’ branding is ten years old and is recognised by 93% of the county’s population. This achievement rivals those of other household brands such as Fairtrade which is around 60% according to a 2007 TNS Omnimas report.

“In 1998, the council asked us to create a recycling brand that would be easy to recognise and remember. Although it targeted all age groups, we knew that it had to be particularly bright and snappy to appeal to young people. After substantial brainstorming, the original ‘Recycle now or the earth gets it’ logo was born. The ‘recycle now’ logo has lived on and moved with the times without losing its identity. We are absolutely delighted to learn that, since its launch, Bedfordshire’s recycling has gone through the roof,” said Mark Burley, managing director of Waterhouse Design.

Ten years ago, Bedfordshire households only recycled and composted 6% of household waste. Since launching the ‘recycle now’ campaign, this figure has risen to 40%, smashing its targets.

“Recycling rates are continuously rising. Even in years where new facilities have not been introduced, recycling has continued to rise as people’s awareness increases with strongly branded messaging. We are so grateful that Bedfordshire has taken recycling seriously. Residents have reduced what would have been an enormous annual heap of landfill refuse ten years ago by almost half,” explained Tracey Harris, waste communications manager at Bedfordshire County Council.

Research commissioned by the council revealed the extent of the brand’s success. They surveyed 549 Bedfordshire residents, covering all districts and socio-economic groups; it included those who routinely recycled and those who did not.

93% recognised the ‘recycle now’ logo. 86% of respondents recalled the local recycling advertising over the past six months. 45% said that the logo had encouraged them to recycle.

“This level of success challenges all other household brands; marketing directors would give their right arm to achieve these results with a similar budget,” added Mark.

Anyone visiting the Waterhouse Design studios near Toddington will have seen a relic of the original concept in their meeting room. It is a model of the bright green, branded dust carts that have become so famous throughout the region.

Ten years on, things have not stood still; the ‘recycle now’ branding has proved incredibly progressive, and has given rise to sub-brands such as ‘nappies now’, ‘reduce now’ and ‘compost now’.

“We have recently added ‘recycle now, no time to waste’ to the collection of strapline end tags because it aligns with the international media coverage on global warming. ‘Recycle now’ has truly proved to be a long-term logo and slogan; we are delighted with its success,” concluded Tracey.

If you are one of 7% who live in Bedfordshire who do not recognise this modern heritage in local marketing, look out of your window on bin day – it is painted down the side of your refuse collection lorry.