Have you had issues with decals falling off of your containers, rolloffs, toters, or portable toilets in less than 12 months?

If so, there are three areas you can check to prevent this issue from occuring in the future. 

1) Examine the decal application process.

• Are the decals being applied to the container when the paint is still wet?  Water based paints will not dry if a vinyl decal is placed over the wet paint and the decal will never form a permanent bond with the metal surface of the container.  To be safe, allow 24 hours drying time before applying a decal to a freshly painted metal surface. 
• Temperature - Unless you are using a special vinyl (such as Flexcon Drumcal which can be applied down to 10 degrees fahrenheit), do not apply decals to equipment with a surface temperature below 50 degrees fahrenheit.  Cold temperatures kill the adhesive and the decals will not be able to form a strong bond with the surface of the equipment. 

2)  Examine the Surface of the Container, Rolloff, Toter, or Portable Toilet

• Is the surface metal or plastic?  Is the surface smooth, textured, or ribbed? 
• Different surfaces require different vinyl materials.  While it is more expensive to go with a drumcal material or a cast vinyl material, the life of the decal will be significantly increased when the proper vinyl material is used. 

As a rule of thumb:

• Use standard calendared vinyl (Ritrama) for decals being applied to flat metal surfaces and smooth plastic surfaces.
• Use cast vinyl for decals being applied to ribbed or uneven surfaces.
• Use Flexcon Drumcal for decals going on Portable Toilets or other products with textured plastic surfaces.
• Use 3M vinyls for decals that need to last 5-7 years (i.e. for Truck Decals and Decals on other Highly Visible Equipment).

3) Examine the Product

• If you find that you are properly applying your decals and ordering the correct vinyl material, you should have no issues with the decals sticking to your equipment.  If you are experiencing issues, then the product is defective or you are not receiving what you ordered.   

Fading

All inks - even UV rated inks - will fade over time.  However, if your container or rolloff decals are fading in less than two years it is most likely the result of the quality of the ink or of the quality of the screen being used.  The higher quality the ink and the higher the dot density of the screen will result in longer decal life.

That being said though, as a rule of thumb, oranges, reds, yellows , and half tones will fade faster than other solid colors — usually half the time.  To slow down this fading, we recommend using clear coat over those colors since  clear coat typically adds 1 to 2 years to the life of a decal.

If you need more information, don’t hesitate to contact us.

Happy Holidays!

H.H.H. Incorporated - Stick with Us!

So why do people choose to ignore recycling programs when they are bombarded by environmental messages on a daily basis?  One word: Change.

Managing change can be one of the most difficult tasks in managing your business.  However, managing change becomes even harder when it involves changing habits that have been reinforced by long time practices of your company or organization.

So how do you change the habits of your customers, employees, or students? 

Use immediate, understandable feedback.  

Yes the idea sounds simple, but immediate, understandable feedback isn’t just responding to issues when they arise.  It requires proactive communication with your target audience in a manner that makes recycling convenient and enforceable.   

So how can you implement immediate, understandable feedback in your recycling programs?

1) Make Recycling An Extension of Your Target Audience’s Current Habits. 

While change is needed, change for the sake of change may lead to less compliance with the recycling program.  If possible, involve your target audience in the development of the program so that they feel like they have a stake in the success of the program.   

In addition, these steps can also increase participation in recycling programs:

• Logical/Convenient locations of recycling bins (How can people recycle if they don’t know where to recycle?)
• Properly Sized Recycling Bins (extremely important in residential programs since  too small of a recycling bin may lead residents to discard recyclable items once the bins are full)
• Proper number of Recycling Bins (in an event setting, instead of setting up a 1:1 ratio of recycling bins to trash containers, examine the types of waste that the event will generate.  Will most of the waste be recyclable products?  If so, maybe a 2:1, 3:1 or even higher ratio of recycling bins to trash containers is needed.
• Clear, Consistent Communication - which leads to point number 2 …

2)  Consistent Communication.

Be proactive and communicate with your target audience so that recycling becomes second nature.  Just like riding a bicycle takes time to master, expect that it will take time for your target audience to feel comfortable and become master recyclers.  Therefore, instead of labeling all of your recycling bins in the same manner, mark your containers so that they are consistent with the nature of your recycling program (after all, bicycles also have to be adjusted to fit the rider) .   

For instance, if you are running a residential recycling program, the residents are going to have different questions each week since they use different household products and eat different foods over the course of a year.  Therefore, the markings on the containers should be thorough and should act like a reference guide so that the residents can determine which items are recyclable. (sample below)

Sample Residential Recycling Guidelines Decal

However, if the recycling program is for an event or if it is being conducted in a location where there is little to no change in the types of recyclable products,  instead of using a reference type of decal, a bullet point or single product decal will make it easier to recycle. (sample below) 

Sample Commingled Recyclables Decal

Similarly, also take into account language barriers that exist in your program areas.  Are bilingual messages or pictograms needed to be understood?

Bilingual Commingled

Lastly, what is the age and the environment of your intended audience?  Younger audiences and office environments are drawn to characters that promote recycling. 

School or Office Recycle Decal

Besides being proactive, consistent communication also has a reactive element to it.

So what happens when a resident does not comply with your recycling program?  Do you reward residents who do not recycle by picking up their trash which is mixed with recyclables? 

If so you may be committing the Folly of Rewarding A while Hoping for B (”On the Folly of Rewarding A while Hoping for B” by Steven Kerr). http://www.sba.oakland.edu/Faculty/york/Readings434/Readings/On%20the%20folly.pdf

The most effective Immediate Reactive Feedback I have seen occurs in a town in Wisconsin.  If the workers on the trash route suspect that recyclables are mixed with the trash, they slice open the trash bag.  If recyclable items are present, the bag is left at the curb and it is not collected until the following collection day and the infraction is recorded on a dear customer tag. (pictured below)

While that response may seem harsh, residents have quickly learned to follow the guidelines in that town because the hauler does not reward the residents who do not follow the rules (i.e. has been Consistent in its Communication from Start [proactive measures] to Finish [reactive measures]). 

Perforated Non Collection Notice

I hope immediate, understandable feedback helps you build a successful recycling program in your company, community, or organization.

HHH Incorporated … Stick with us!

If this is the first time you have considered implementing a container identification system for your company or if you are in the process of trying to improve your current identification system, you may be asking “What system works best?”

Well, in acknowledgment of the political season where most statements are specifically unspecific - The best container identification system is the one that works for your company.

Seriously though, rather than recommend a “One Size Fits All” approach, I am recommending that you following the approach that many of our customers have taken - Identify 1 or 2 major operational issues you face and then use the container identification system to solve those issues.

Here are a few examples of what our customers have done to solve their operational issues:

Issue: Free Garbage Pick-Up - When a driver is filling in for another driver on a commercial route with several stops in the same alley, the driver filling in on the route picks up all of the containers in the alley instead of just the containers scheduled for that day.

Solution: Schedule Identification Decals - A company that we service had issues with its substitute drivers picking up trash for free because the company had 10-15 cans in each alley and it was easier for the substitute drivers to pick up all of the cans instead of cherry picking at the containers and potentially missing one or two stops.  To resolve this issue, the company purchased 4″ circles with their logo in 7 different colors … for example Monday=Black, Tuesday=Blue, Wednesday=Green and so forth.

If a container was only supposed to be serviced on Tuesday, a blue logo was put on the top right, front corner of the container to identify it as a Tuesday stop.  If another container was supposed to be serviced on Monday and Wednesday, 2 logos (one black and one green) were placed on the container so that substitute drivers were able to distinguish that that container needed to be serviced on those two days.

Measuring Success: The program worked well for the customer since the logos could be seen by the driver from inside of the truck.  In addition, the color coding eliminated language barriers and the program was easily communicated to drivers.

Schedule Identification Decals - Each Color Represents a Day of the Week

Issue: Tracking Cans and Dispatching Cans During Dark Winter Mornings - Our customer was concerned with the safety hazard that existed for its drivers during the winter months when the drivers had to get out of the truck to locate a dispatched container.  The customer needed its drivers to be able to distinguish the container size and container number in low light levels.

Solution: Reflective Letter/Numbers Combo - This customer went with 4″ high reflective letters and numbers.  To distinguish the container size, the customer went with: “C2″, “C4″, “C6″, “C8″, “R20″, and “R30″.  After the container size, there was a dash and the container number followed.

Measuring Success: The letters and numbers can be seen from inside of the truck and the drivers do not have to leave the vehicle at any time so our customer eliminated the safety hazard for its workers.  Because the numbers were die-cut from reflective material, there is no fading so the numbers have lasted for the life of the container.

While these two examples are just a sampling of the identification programs that we have produced for our customers, if you need an idea on how to resolve an operational issue through an identification program, do not hesitate to contact us.  We would be more than happy to help you develop a successful identification program.

H.H.H. Incorporated … Stick with Us!

While online purchasing has significantly grown over the past 10 years, it is only in the last three years that it has become a trusted sourcing tool within the waste industry.

While we prefer doing business the old fashioned way (face to face or at least by phone), it became clear that we needed to offer our customers and prospective customers the opportunity to purchase decals from us 24/7.

The most challenging aspect of the decision to offer our products online was letting go and tapping into the expertise of a web developer to program our site. 

It was tough letting go since I learned html programming as a hobby in college and until recently I used what I learned back in 1993 to get hhhincorporated.com to be listed at or near the top of Google, Yahoo, and MSN. 

Perhaps you or someone you know remembers my original website - The Diabetes Homepage - which was an offbeat look into diabetes and it gave users the ability to play online games of chance with Derwood the Diabetic.   Through 1997, The Diabetes Homepage was one of the most visited diabetes website in the world and was rated one of the top 1000 sites on the web by Point Communications. 

Well, a lot has changed since 1997 and especially in the last 3 years.  With the expertise of Gary Kopycinski of Shire Enterprises, the new hhhincorporated.com has become a reality … and with our new website I believe we offer one of the most user friendly buying experiences for the waste industry and possibly on the web.

Just think …. What would it be like to see a larger image or more information on a product without having to navigate through two or three pages before adding the item to your shopping cart?   What would it be like to be able to design your containers or find out what decals were applied to your containers when they were shipped from the manufacturer?

Well, you don’t have to wonder any longer.  Enjoy your buying experience on hhhincorporated.com and I look forward to you being our newest customer to buy from us for three generations.