Reclaim West Sussex, Viridor

Remarkable was appointed to create an integrated community and stakeholder consultation programme in support of a 25 year PFI waste handling and recycling contract between West Sussex County Council (WSCC), Viridor and the county’s seven district councils.

The Brief

Remarkable was tasked with developing a five year communications framework, which was a requirement of the tender documentation. This was then extended to the delivery of a brand identity for the contract and an initial tranche of communications activities, preparing the way for WSCC to manage the communications for the long term.

The objectives were:

• To ensure that the tender included a highly effective community communication programme.
• To establish a clear brand identity for the contract and raise awareness of its aims and progress with the residents of West Sussex and all stakeholders.
• To educate and inform the audiences about the need for more recycling in West Sussex and encourage them to recycle more and send less to landfill so that 45 per cent of the county’s household waste is recycled by 2015.

The Solution

Remarkable created an integrated communications programme, drawing on the expertise and experience of its property and planning, public relations, and marketing and design teams.

The property and planning work comprised a political audit so that Viridor would be equipped with an in-depth understanding of the political complexities of West Sussex prior to winning the contract. In terms of ongoing communications, the strategic approach was established by thinking from the standpoint of the local communities and councils in West Sussex and meeting their needs for information, reassurance, and education.

As a result the Reclaim West Sussex brand was developed. This was used to good effect on all marketing communications materials, ranging from advertorials in the county council’s magazine for residents to an education bus, for which Remarkable planned and designed the interior displays, the launch and follow up activities.

Other work included:

• Benchmarking consumer research on the performance of Household Waste Recycling Sites across West Sussex
• A website explaining Viridor’s plans for new and improved Household Waste Recycling Sites, the progress of the relevant planning applications and related proactive/reactive media relations where sites were controversial
• Preparation of a detailed recycling guide for local residents

Measurement and evaluation:

All materials were reviewed and signed off by Viridor and WSCC, acting for all the local authorities involved.

Monitoring ensured that we responded to media coverage promptly, dealing with issues that were raised in respect of planning applications.

In addition, the consumer research on the performance of Household Waste Recycling Sites across West Sussex was an important benchmarking exercise at the operational level. The aim was to enable Viridor and WSCC to see how service levels in each area progress following the introduction of physical upgrades to existing sites, more user-friendly replacement sites and improvements in customer care.

Results

Reclaim West Sussex got off to a good start. The communications programme helped engage with the relevant local authorities. The brand and communications programme were deemed so effective that it was delivered to the county council as a turn-key solution that their internal team could assume responsibility for running as an ongoing programme.