Glossary
Curbside Audit
A cart-level inspection at the point of collection, checking set-outs for contamination, participation, and program compliance.
What is a curbside audit?
A curbside audit is a cart-level inspection at the point of collection, checking set-outs for contamination, participation, and program compliance.
Curbside audit explained
Curbside audits take measurement to the individual cart. Trained staff or drivers inspect set-outs, tag issues, and record findings, often with photos, building an address-level picture of program performance. The data supports targeted feedback, education mailings or notices to specific households, which changes behavior far more effectively than citywide messaging, because the feedback matches what each resident did.
Frequently asked questions
How does address-level feedback change recycling behavior?
Address-level feedback changes recycling behavior because it matches what each household did: a tag naming today’s contaminant outperforms a generic flyer. Feedback tied to the specific cart converts education from broadcast messaging into a correction loop residents respond to.
How does a curbside audit work at the cart level?
A curbside audit works by inspecting individual set-outs before or during collection, recording contamination, correct sorting, and participation per address with photo documentation. The result is an address-level picture of program performance rather than a citywide average.
What do you do with curbside audit data?
Curbside audit data feeds targeted education campaigns, repeat-offender follow-up, contamination fee decisions where programs enforce them, and the street-level map of where problems cluster. Collected once and connected to operations, the same data sharpens both outreach spend and enforcement.