Feet on the Street Cart-Tagging Program

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​*Update: The Feet on the Street program will be extended to Friday, Aug. 12, 2022.

In July and August of 202​2, Ann Arbor will be participating in a program to improve residential recycling, lower contamination and provide updated recycling information to residents. 

Conducted with the assistance of The Recycling Partnership and through its membership in the Washtenaw Regional Resource Management Authority (WRRMA), the City of Ann Arbor will launch the “Feet on the Street" cart tagging recycling initiative —a communitywide initiative to improve the quality of recycling in single-stream curbside recycling carts​ by providing residents personalized and real-time curbside recycling education and feedback. 

Postcards ​​

During the week of June 27, postcards of recycling information will be mailed to residents in single-family homes indicating what to recycle and what not to recycle in your curbside cart. We have asked residents to replace all old recycling information including old magnets with the updated post card.​

Observation and tagging 

  • From July 11 to August 12, 2022, cart-tagging staff, wearing high-visibility vests, will look at each cart while it is at the curb prior to it being emptied by the recycling truck. They will quickly lift the lid, look inside the cart and then use their findings to provide individualized feedback as needed.

  • ​If the cart-tagger sees something in the recycling cart that does not belong, an orange “oops" tag will be placed on the cart with clear feedback on how to fix it.  

  • If material that is not recyclable is found in the cart on a future visit, the​ cart will be tagged with a red tag and will not be serviced until the contamination is removed. The tagger will also turn the cart to help drivers identify to not service the cart.

  • After the second or third pass, another postcard will be sent to all residents in single-family homes with educational information about the items that were most prevalent and problematic.​


Warning tag                                          No pickup tag

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