Introduction FreeTradeIreland.ie Statistics Technical Developments Building Awareness of the Service... 8

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2 Table Of Contents Introduction... 1 Background... 1 Waste Policy & Legislation... 1 FreeTradeIreland.ie Statistics... 3 Technical Developments... 6 FreeTrade Promotional Video... 6 Homepage Upgarde... 6 Advertising... 6 Smartphone Applications Redevelopment... 7 Building Awareness of the Service... 8 Reuse Events... 8 Website Links... 9 Next steps for the service Appendix A Reuse Factsheets This report has been prepared by the FreeTrade Ireland team (Warren Phelan, Brian McIntyre, Brenda McEvoy and Serena Byrne) for Mayo County Council with graphics designed by Ronan Howe and Helen Flynn. FreeTrade Ireland was developed with funding provided by the Department of Environment, Community and Local Government and is financed on an on-going basis by the local authorities of Ireland. Mayo County Council acts as the lead authority for the project on behalf of the other local authorities. 1

3 INTRODUCTION Welcome to the third Annual Report of the online public reuse service This report provides an overview of the activity of the website over the period from July 2012 to June The report reviews the latest statistics, technical developments and key promotional events that took place throughout the period. The report has been prepared by the FreeTrade Ireland Project Team. The team was appointed by Mayo County Council and are tasked with maintaining the website on a day-to-day basis, interacting with users, raising awareness and carrying out technical improvements to the service. BACKGROUND FreeTradeIreland.ie has been online since July 2010, providing a national platform for users to engage in the reuse of items and for Local Authorities to support and promote the better use of resources. The service was developed on the back of the success of the FreeTrade service previously hosted on DublinWaste.ie from 2006 onwards. The service allows users to advertise old, unused and unwanted items and materials on the website for free. All items uploaded are available for free. The service is aimed at householders, businesses, schools and communities. The website collects accurate data on items reused through the service and quantifies the benefits of the service from a financial and environmental perspective. WASTE POLICY & LEGISLATION The European Commission has produced a ten-year strategy, Europe 2020, for reviving the economy of the EU. In order to achieve the main targets of Europe 2020, seven flagship initiatives have been developed, one of which is a Resource Efficient Europe. Waste prevention and reuse will be part of this future initiative. In 2011, S.I. 126 was passed which transposed the Waste Framework Directive into Irish law giving statutory status to the Waste Hierarchy. This prioritises waste prevention and reuse as waste management solutions. In July 2012 the DECLG published A Resource Opportunity which set out a policy roadmap to move away from landfill and to deliver more sustainable and resource efficient solutions. In this policy document FreeTrade Ireland was recognised as a 1

4 successful resource efficient initiative which extends the lifespan of household and business items through reuse. In July 2013, rx3, the rethink, recycle, remake programme funded by the DECLG published the All Island Bulky Waste Reuse Feasibility Study. This study looked at the feasibility for developing reuse areas/ centres alongside traditional recycling facilities. The study identified the requirements, legislative restrictions and other barriers to integrating this type of system at existing facilities. The development of this type of reuse facility in Ireland can be supported by the FreeTrade Ireland service. Items taken in through the reuse centres can be advertised for free through the website to a broader audience ensuring a greater chance of reuse. Posting ads through FreeTrade Ireland will also enable Local Authorities to measure the reuse achieved at their facilities and evaluate the success of the reuse area. 2

5 FREETRADEIRELAND.IE STATISTICS The website is designed with a bespoke back end management system which allows the number of items reused to be logged and their weights quantified. This unique monitoring system allows for the reporting of reuse data which otherwise would be difficult to capture. The management system also records the number and details of members to the website. Traffic activity to the website is recorded using a Google Analytics. Table 1 below provides an overview of the key reuse and activity indicators for year 1 through to year 3 of the service. Indicator Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Total Waste Prevention Indicators Items Reused 1 10,283 14,564 13,644 38,491 Quantity Reused (Kg) 214, , , ,020 Website Activity and Traffic Indicators Visits to Website 1,031, , ,323 2,866,031 Page Views 9,249,572 7,598,631 4,943,367 21,791,570 Unique Visitors 294, , , ,929 Membership Indicators New Members 2 5,278 4,259 3,796 13,333 Table 1: FreeTrade Ireland Statistics for years 1, 2 & 3 During year 3 over 7,860 ads (advertising 16,000 items) were uploaded to the website 3 across 21 categories. Of this total number of uploaded adverts, 90% offered items with the remaining 10% being wanted adverts. 74% of the adverts placed (representing 82% of the total items advertised) on the website were successfully free traded and reused. 1 The total number of items reused since the Free Trade service was first introduced in 2006 is over 66,000 items 2 The total number of members registered to the service is over 45,000 3 The number of ads differs from the number of items being advertised. For example, one ad may be offering ten items. 3

6 A total of 13,644 items were free traded in the last 12 months. The total weight of these items is conservatively estimated to be over 234,000 kilogrammes 4 of material. Over the three years of the service over 38,400 items were reused. The service currently has over 45,600 registered members and since its launch the website has received over 2.8 million visitors, of which 34% have been unique visitors 5. In year 3 FreeTrade Ireland continued to receive healthy levels of traffic to the website with over 905,000 visitors in the last 12 months. These visits amounted to over 4.9 million page views in total between July 2012 and June Approximately 45% of this traffic is from unique visitors which help to measure the extent of new users to the service. This indicates that the service is continuing to grow and reach new users. Since being launched as a standalone website the number of members and users of the site outside of Dublin has steadily grown and now represents 26% of the total membership. With activity on the website increasing in all counties a wider spread of items is being observed and this trend is expected to continue as awareness of the website increases across the country. The recipient of any item from the website is saving the cost of purchasing an equivalent new item. The service also delivers savings against the cost of disposing of the items which instead are being reused. In year 3 the financial savings on purchases is conservatively estimated to be 1,364, The tonnage diverted through reuse represents an estimated saving of over 46,873 7 in disposal charges for users. In monetary terms FreeTrade Ireland continues to deliver real savings for users as shown in Table 2 below. 4 This data is recorded in the website s database. It is a conservative figure which is considered to underestimate the landfill diversion achieved through the website. The system uses default values for items that may be lower than the actual item. 5 All website traffic data is sourced from Google Analytics which tracks activity on the website 6 This figure has been calculated by assuming that the cost of buying new the equivalent free item on the website is 100. With 14,564 items reused through FreeTrade Ireland in Year 2, the savings realised are estimated to be over 1,456, This is based on current market rates for skips, which are typically used by householders/businesses when disposing of bulky items. A standard 4 yd 3 skip costs approximately 200 and will hold approximately 1 tonne of bulky waste. In diverting 270 tonnes of material from landfill, the website achieves a minimum saving of 53,900 in disposal costs. 4

7 Indicator Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Total Financial Indicators Local Authority Investment 93,515 80,538 59, ,956 Savings Delivered by the Service 1,051,731 1,510,300 1,411,273 3,973,304 Return on Investment 1:11 1:19 1:24 1:17 Revenue Generated from Google Advertising 712 1,979 1,529 4,220 Table 2: FreeTrade Ireland Financial Statistics for years 1, 2 & 3 To summarise, in its third year the website has realised financial savings conservatively estimated to be over 1,411,273 for its users. Over the last three years the service has delivered almost 4 million in savings for its users. Key statistics for the service since it commenced in 2010 and for year 3 are illustrated in Figure 1. Figure 1 FreeTrade Ireland Material & Financial Savings Achieved 5

8 TECHNICAL DEVELOPMENTS During Year 3 several technical developments were carried out to the website to improve the functionality of the service. These are detailed below. FREETRADE PROMOTIONAL VIDEO The FreeTrade Ireland Team produced a promotional video aimed at promoting and informing new visitors to the website of the service. The video details the steps involved in becoming a member, posting an ad, finding new homes for items advertised and the overall benefits of the service. This video was published to FreeTrade Ireland You Tube and Vimeo accounts and through social media outlets including Facebook and Twitter. The video has also been embedded on the homepage as a support tool. HOMEPAGE UPGARDE In early 2013 the FreeTrade Ireland team managed a design upgrade of the website home page. The aim was to refresh the homepage, remove outdated features and to replace these with more useful banners and tools. The upgrade is part of the team s continuous efforts to improve the design and functionality of the website. The upgrade involved the removal of the quick category search function which was replaced with banners advertising the FreeTrade Ireland smart phone applications to provide more prominence and raise more awareness of the apps. In addition the promotional video previously described was added to the homepage as an interactive awareness tool. ADVERTISING Google AdSense was incorporated into the site towards the end of September 2011 as a trial to try and generate some revenue for the website from advertising. Through Google AdSense advertisers pay to be hosted on websites and revenue is generated for each click on an ad. FreeTrade Ireland generated a total income of 1,529 from advertisements on the website between July 2012 & June The overall income from website advertising since the implementation of AdSense is 4,220. There remains scope to expand the advertising and revenue generating capabilities of the service. Further development in this area needs to be managed carefully so as to ensure it doesn t detract from operation of the website. 6

9 SMARTPHONE APPLICATIONS REDEVELOPMENT The main technical development in year 3 was the redevelopment of the smartphone application. The early version of the website apps were developed to help users looking for items whilst on the move. However given the extraordinary growth in smartphone use, apps and associated technology, in particular the use of cameras on mobile devices there was a clear need to update the existing apps and expand their capabilities. The aim was to develop apps for iphone and Android platforms which had the full functionality available to users of the website. The redevelopment of the apps was successfully completed in May Figure 2: FreeTrade Ireland Smartphone App Smartphone users can now sign into their account (or create accounts if they don t already have one), upload an item, manage their items and search for an item all from the convenience of their phone. Since the new app became available approximately 60 ads have been placed through the new ad upload feature between from May 30 th until 1 st July This indicates that this was a valuable redevelopment for the service. A marketing campaign to advertise the redeveloped app is proposed for the service in year 4. 7

10 BUILDING AWARENESS OF THE SERVICE Building awareness remains crucial to the lasting success of the service. The service has matured in Dublin since 2006 where the name is established and there is a regular base of users and members. The challenge remains in the replication of this success in other towns and cities across Ireland. During year 3 the FreeTrade Ireland team were involved in a total of 14 events. The map overleaf shows the events at which the FreeTrade Ireland team attended to promote the service. Activities over the course of the year included organising reuse events, exhibiting at other events and conferences such as Greening the IFSC and the Iverk Agricultural Show, giving presentations to householders and businesses, developing promotional materials, media articles, radio interviews and social media campaigns. During the year FreeTrade Ireland continued as an active member of the Community Reuse Network (CRN). The network provides a platform to engage with other community reuse initiatives with the mutual goal of promoting reuse. The team attends monthly network meetings and works with other CRN participants at events and on other initiatives. Raising awareness of the website will remain an on-going challenge for the project team and stakeholders and will become increasingly difficult as future budgets are likely to be limited. Innovative and targeted campaigns and initiatives will need to be implemented. REUSE EVENTS In year 3 the FreeTrade Ireland Management Team organised 2 reuse events at recycling centres in Cork City and Offaly. To support both of these events local advertising was organised for the period around the event day. This included local radio and newspaper ads aimed at developing the brand in areas of low participation and encouraging reuse through the service. Signs advertising the service were erected and remain at the recycling centres to advertise the website. Promotional materials such as shopping bags, user guides and bookmarks to advertise the brand were also developed and distributed. In addition to this staff 8

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12 based at the recycling centres are now also more aware that the service exists as a viable option for quality items Since hosting the reuse information day in Cork City the membership of the service has increased by 40% in the Cork City area. As a result of hosting the Offaly reuse day membership in the local area has increased by 20% and 3 of the 5 items taken in as part of the reuse day were sent to new homes through the service. WEBSITE LINKS Figure 3: Local Print Advertising for the Cork FreeTrade Ireland Event In January 2013 the FreeTrade Ireland Team reviewed the positioning of the FreeTrade Ireland links on all participating Local Authority websites. The aim of this exercise was to examine how the service is advertised and hosted on these websites as these are important access points for members of the public. s, outlining potential improvements, were sent to all Local Authorities advising of th e importance of displaying the service properly and a list of suggestions were made to increase visibility of the service. 9

13 NEXT STEPS FOR THE SERVICE In the coming year the Free Trade Ireland aims to extend the activity of reuse and develop the FreeTrade Ireland brand as a key waste prevention tool. This will require a number of different stakeholders working together to develop and implement the promotional strategy Promotion of the service was a key activity in year 2 with the team organising and attending numerous events throughout the year. The team carried out a series of FreeTrade Ireland promotional days during year 3 which were supported by targeted local radio and print advertising campaigns. These activities were partnerships between the local authorities and FreeTrade Ireland. This is considered an effective approach as it ensures the stakeholders involved have an input and take some ownership of promotional events and the service as a whole. It is proposed to host similar events during year 4 at recycling centres and temporarily designated reuse points. During year 4 FreeTrade aims to actively continue to work with the CRN. In addition to this FreeTrade Ireland will engage with the National Waste Prevention Programme and its initiatives. Both of these relationships will be crucial in the development of reuse as a valuable waste management option. Some of the suggested activities for the coming 12 months are as follows: Implement a FreeTrade Ireland promotional campaign in an urban area with low participation in the service. Following research of the area, a plan will be put in place and a combination of awareness tools and promotional resources will be used. The effects of the campaign will be monitored and evaluated. Undertake local promotional campaigns & reuse days at recycling centres following the successful blueprint used during year 3. Pilot a reuse activity in co-ordination with bulky waste collections provided by Local Authorities Carry out Market research of current website users and their views on the service to understand the attitudes of people who currently use the service. Social media has infiltrated every aspect of personal, community and business life. The team use Facebook liberally to promote the site and will examine the potential for advertising through Facebook in order to increase awareness and Likes of the FreeTrade Ireland Facebook page. Facebook advertising is relatively inexpensive and can be targeted at specific demographics. 10

14 APPENDIX A Reuse Event Factsheets

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