How Yellowstone National Park cut contamination, increased diversion, boosted participation, and improved user satisfaction.
By Ben Ditzler
Effective recycling messaging can be a challenge, even in the best of circumstances. Messaging that works in a facility with a constantly shifting worker and guest population with different backgrounds, levels of engagement, and English not necessarily as their first language is even trickier. Add in a location far from the nearest recycling facilities and the need to sort recycling into five distinct streams with low contamination thresholds and it can seem like a mountain to climb.
Yellowstone National Park鈥檚 primary concessionaire and hospitality operator, Yellowstone National Park Lodges (YNPL), part of Xanterra Travel Collection, turned to a unique form of recycling messaging to improve all aspects of its recycling collection system.
The Challenging Recycling Environment
Yellowstone National Park is the world鈥檚 first national park and welcomes nearly 5 million visitors each year to see the park鈥檚 unique geothermal features and the unparalleled natural beauty and wildlife. Accommodating so many visitors requires thousands of workers and during summertime, Yellowstone becomes a city unto itself. Like its visitors, employees are drawn from across the country and the world by a sense of adventure and the chance to live and work in such a unique locale.
Recycling and waste practices differ widely by location, and there is obviously no universal 鈥渟tandard鈥� for what is recyclable. There are an ever-increasing number of materials in the world today and what counts as recyclable in one location may not be recyclable in another. User awareness and engagement can be difficult among the Yellowstone National Park鈥檚 mostly transient workers. Many of YNPL鈥檚 more than 3,000 employees have limited or no experience recycling and sometimes do not use English as a primary language. The recent narrative that 鈥渞ecycling is broken鈥� or 鈥渋t all just ends up in the trash anyways鈥� does not help either.
Situated primarily in the northwest corner of Wyoming and extending into Montana and Idaho, Yellowstone is far from other large population centers and recycling infrastructure. The park must separate its recycling into five streams (metal, glass, plastics #1 and #2, mixed paper, cardboard) in addition to a landfill stream, and a pre-consumer food-waste compost stream at limited locations. Effective waste sorting is critical, as rates of recycling contamination higher than 25 percent risk the possibility of being rejected and sent to a landfill. YNPL employs recyclers who mitigate this risk, but controlling what gets recycled ultimately starts at the bin.
Previously, YNPL used many traditional messaging techniques that resulted in falling short of their recycling goals due to the challenging environment. In employee areas, the collection setup included blue colored recycling bins with chasing arrow icons, differing openings (to signify different streams), and custom printed graphic and textual signage posted directly above recycling bins describing what should be discarded into each bin and stream.
As Xanterra鈥檚 mission of Legendary Hospitality with a Softer Footprint庐 indicates, its key components are people and sustainability. They are deeply committed to the future of the park and will continue to make significant infrastructure investments that will help welcome visitors to Yellowstone for generations to come.
The Solution, X3
Knowing their existing system was coming up short, YNPL鈥檚 Sustainability Program Manager, Sam Krasnobrod, knew they needed a new system that 1) engaged users, 2) made it clear what should be recycled, and 3) was effective with English and non-English language speakers.
鈥淚 was fortunate to stumble across Dyvert when looking for ways to improve our recycling program. Initially, when I started looking for ways to reduce recycling contamination, I considered large, multi-lingual posters with examples of what belongs in each stream. Dyvert鈥檚 Vue lids addressed the same challenge by placing clear, physical examples directly at the point of disposal,鈥� said Sam.
Dyvert鈥檚 systems are curated by each facility and show users the actual, real-life, unique-to-the-location items that should be discarded into the proper opening or stream. The systems are language-neutral and locate the messaging as close to the users鈥� visual attention as possible, near the opening of the bin. The systems are customizable for any waste stream combination, including compost collection and multiple recycling streams, as is the case at Yellowstone.
While improving recycling for the millions of Yellowstone visitors is a long-term goal, Sam believed that addressing the system for park employees was a vital first step. Due to the park鈥檚 remote location, most workers reside in dormitories and other housing located within the park. And since most recycling by employees occurs in this housing, they presented the ideal location to begin.
Sam and his team piloted the new recycling system in six dorms in 2023. The product selected for the project was the Vue, a display case lid that fits on Rubbermaid Slim Jims and comparable 23-gallon slim bins that are widely available. With so many streams and so many locations, the slim bins presented an economical solution for making a large impact with a relatively modest budget. Slim bins were used for four of the recycling streams鈥攎etal, glass, plastic, mixed paper鈥攑lus the landfill stream. Cardboard is collected separately because of its bulky characteristics and because there is little confusion over what counts as cardboard.
The Dyvert lids not only provided effective messaging on the bin, but they also allowed complementary printed signage in the space behind the bin. Yellowstone thus overhauled its printed signage with a focus on graphic images and a de-emphasis on textual, language-based information.
Positive Results, Happy Employees
Before extending the Dyvert system and updating printed signage across the park and all employee areas, the six initial locations were studied and quantitatively assessed for contamination and stream weights. Each location was measured daily for 10 days before the Dyvert Vue lid installation and 10 days afterwards. Results showed a drop in contamination for all four measured recycling streams with small improvements in the metal and glass streams, modest improvement in the mixed paper stream and a large improvement in the plastic stream, improving from 31 percent to only 13 percent.
Overall contamination dropped from 28 percent to 16 percent and perhaps most significantly, it dropped well below the 25 percent maximum contamination rate required by the recycling processor. These results indicated that the park could greatly reduce load rejections of the plastic stream, thereby improving recycling diversion and helping the company reach its 5 percent annual increase in waste diversion goal.
In addition to lowered contamination, the total weight of the four measured streams increased after Vue lid implementation, resulting in a higher diversion rate. When combined with information gleaned from user surveys, it indicates that users increased their engagement and gained confidence with the park鈥檚 recycling system that used the Dyvert display lids.
To gain further insights into users鈥� perceptions and behaviors, employees housed in a specific set of dorms were randomly surveyed. Additionally, anecdotal information was collected through many dozens of conversations with employees in the course of bin implementation and surveying. Residents鈥� comments about the Dyvert Vue system included:
鈥� 鈥淣ice and easy to use,鈥�
鈥� 鈥淚 am a visual learner, so it鈥檚 really helpful to see what I can recycle鈥�
鈥⑩�淭he best recycling bins I have ever seen.鈥�
With the new system, the number of people reporting that they recycled 鈥渁ll the time鈥� or 鈥渕ost of the time鈥� increased by 25 percent. User satisfaction also increased under the new system as it received universally positive feedback.
Additional surveyed residents went on to say:
鈥淐oming here, [the Dyvert Vue Lids] stood out to me a lot because I noticed people actually take this seriously and there鈥檚 a procedure for this.鈥�
鈥淚鈥檝e been recycling since I was 15 years old, and that鈥檚 the one thing that I love most about [Xanterra]: that we recycle.鈥�
Park-Wide Implementation, Foundation for the Future
With the positive pilot results in hand, Sam and his YNPL team set about to install the Dyvert Vue lids in the remainder of the dorms and offices across a total of 25 locations covering nearly every employee-centered locale.
YNPL also piloted the Dyvert Vista cabinet-style bin system in its employee cafeteria. Like the Vue lids, the Vista also keeps contamination to a minimum, while providing a larger capacity and giving a more upscale, campus feel to the eating area.
YNPL considers the improved printed signage along with the Dyvert system to be a practical, high-impact upgrade to the Yellowstone National Park Lodges鈥� recycling program, delivering measurable improvements in both recycling quality and employee engagement.
By addressing the core behavioral hurdles of language barriers, engagement, and ease of use, the new system significantly reduced overall contamination rates and increased diversion. Not only was more material recycled, operational costs and headaches were improved through avoided contamination fees and reduced staff training requirements. The new collection system is so intuitive that it almost just runs itself. It helps YNPL meet its goal to reduce the quantity of material sent to landfills by 5 percent annually and informs its planning as it aims for future reductions.
Environmental responsibility is a core tenet of YNPL. Equally important, is a commitment to their employees, most of whom are drawn by the very nature of Yellowstone National Park itself. The opportunity to live, work, guide visitors, and steward the environment is powerful amongst the employee community.
The revamped recycling program not only tangibly improved recycling results, but it also provided the perfect opportunity to boost overall morale鈥攆rom long-time managers to first-season hourly staff.
Comments Sam, 鈥淭he results in Yellowstone have been consistently positive, and the approach is already generating interest from peers across the industry.鈥� | WA
Ben Ditzler is the Founder and Owner of Dyvert, makers of display case/3D messaging products for recycling, compost, and waste bins. Dyvert helps universities, schools, offices, restaurants, athletic and entertainment venues, as well as other large and small facilities improve their waste signage, operations, and expenses, by repurposing and retrofitting their existing infrastructure. Ben is a certified TRUE Advisor for zero waste with over 15 years of experience in the waste field and holds two U.S. patents for messaging recycling bins. For more information, visit .