Yellowstone National Park hits the recycling quadfecta

Customer: Xanterra Travel Collection, Yellowstone National Park’s primary hospitality vendor
Setting: Yellowstone National Park Lodges employee dormitories; 18 buildings across 4 locations
Waste setup: 6-streams (metal, glass, plastic, paper, cardboard, landfill), slim-style and other bins
Results: Decreased contamination, increased diversion & participation, improved user satisfaction

Problem:
Contamination

Yellowstone’s location far from large population centers and recycling infrastructure creates a unique recycling system that requires the separation and baling of recyclable materials into five commodity types with stringent contamination guidelines.

Recycling loads with contamination levels over 25% are refused by Yellowstone’s recycling processor and are sent to a landfill and incur additional charges for the park.

In addition to its geographic isolation, Yellowstone’s guest and worker population is highly transient and come from backgrounds that have differing recycling cultures and do not always use English as their first language.

The park is under continual pressure to stay below its acceptable contamination thresholds and Yellowstone National Park Lodges have a broader goal of reducing landfill waste by 5% annually.

“I’ve been recycling since I was 15 years old, and that’s the one thing that I love most about [Yellowstone National Park Lodges]: that we recycle.”

- Employee

Solution:

Sam Krasnobrod, Xanterra Travel Collection’s Sustainability Program Manager, and his team landed on the Dyvert Vue display case lid system that fits over common slim receptacles like the Rubbermaid Slim Jim. The Vues display the actual real-life example items of what should be disposed in each stream and can be deployed in addition to their wall-mounted printed signage.

The Xanterra team aimed to make recycling as easy and simple as possible and piloted the Vues in six dormitories in 2023. The almost universally positive feedback and improved employee engagement prompted the sustainability team to expand the initiative parkwide.

“I am a visual learner, so it’s really helpful to see what I can recycle.”

- Employee

By May 2025, Vue lids were installed in 18 dormitories across four additional Yellowstone locations: Old Faithful Village, Grant Village, Lake Area, and Canyon Village.

Results:

Data and surveys show that the Vue lids are popular with users and effectively addressed the three behavioral hurdles that contributed to contaminated recycling streams: language barriers, awareness and engagement, and ease of use.

“[the Vues] help me determine what goes where and make sorting recycling fun. I’m excited to recycle”

- Employee, a first time recycler who had never recycled prior to working at Yellowstone

On average, contamination dropped from 28% to 16%, while the streams with the highest contamination levels dropped the most. Diversion was also up slightly, even accounting for the reduced contamination in each stream, indicating that users have more confidence in the recycling system.

The Xanterra crew poses while filling the Vue displays

User surveys found 25% more residents reported recycling “all the time” or “most of the time” and satisfaction with the recycling system more than doubled after installation of the new recycling bins compared to when the old-style bins were used. Many confirmed that the Dyvert Vue lids empowered them to recycle more by providing accessible information about what goes in each bin, increasing their confidence and motivation.

“[The Vues are] the best recycling bins I have ever seen”

-Employee

The full report published by Yellowstone National Park Lodges can be found at: https://www.yellowstonenationalparklodges.com/content/uploads/2025/12/Dyvert-Vue-Case-Study-Final.pdf