Recycling Metrics Options & their Potential Use in Making Business Decisions. Rhonda J. Rollins, EPA Region 4

Transcription

1 Recycling Metrics Options & their Potential Use in Making Business Decisions Rhonda J. Rollins, EPA Region 4

2 Disclaimer of Endorsement Mention of or referral to commercial products or services, and/or links to non-epa sites does not imply official EPA endorsement of or responsibility for the opinions, ideas, data, or products presented at those locations, or guarantee the validity of the information provided. Mention of commercial products/services on non-epa websites is provided solely as a pointer to information on topics related to environmental protection that may be useful to EPA staff and the public.

3 "What gets measured gets managed. - Lord Kelvin Economics of Materials Why Track? Business Decisions Options State Measurement Program (SMP) EPA tracking WasteWise & Portfolio Manager (PM) Municipal Measurement Program (MMP)

4 Southeast Region Market Demand for Recyclables from Mfrs.

5 EPA/SERDC Economic Impact Study Source:

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7 Market Demand Stats KW Plastics Troy, AL World s Largest recycler HPDE/PP Plastics from Alabama only run plant for ~ 2 days, import the rest. ~ 27 million tons must be recycled to reach FL s 75% recycling goal. GA - 2 nd largest infrastructure in U.S. to utilize recovered material. Play Mart, Summerset, KY mfrs playground equipment from 80-95% recycled HDPE. ~ 1/3 of the needed milk jugs come from within 500 miles Nucor Steel, Flowood, MS purchases + 30% of their material from the scrap yard next door to the mill. Clear Path Recycling, Fayetteville, NC - largest PET recycling plant in N.A. In the past 5 years, SC s recycling industry announced $1.1 Billion in capital investment & creation >2,500 jobs. TN Launched online Materials Marketplace Over 115 TN companies have joined. Source: SERDC 2016 Demand Map Postcards & TN

8 Why Bother Tracking This Stuff?

9 General Benefits of Tracking Increased demands for sustainability reporting Buildings that benchmarked energy consistently over 4 years reduced energy use by 2.4% per year similar expectation for materials Save Money Waste Reduction/Recycling can cut disposal costs Tracking can provide info to negotiate better hauling rates/reduce costs

10 Can it Help you Make Better Business Decisions?

11 Cost Savings - Examples City of North Port, FL 10,465 tons, net benefit $378,000 (2016) Pasco Co., Florida - K-12 Schools ~2,100 tons, saved $978,000 (2017) One Bush Street, San Francisco Office Building recycling/composting programs Annual savings = $24,000 FedEx, Memphis diverted over 11,000 tons, saved $15 million (2016) Mannington Mills-Calhoun, GA (constr/eng.) 1,800 tons, saved $932,000 (2016) Rooms to Go (Atlanta, GA) - prevented/recycled over 35,0000 tons (mostly wood, cardboard, paper) netting $6.9 million (2017) Texas Army National Guard, Austin, TX, diverted 3,506 tons of MSW and Construction and Demolition (C&D), saved $157,849 (2015)

12 Examples of Metrics-Based Business Decisions Gov t Examples Orange County Health Dept., FL Tracked, re-negotiated hauler contract, saved ~$260/month Itasca County Courthouse, NY reduced junkmail 90% (and staff handling time) Coffee County, TN Industry Examples SERDC Map Could use to site MRFs & processors NC sited MRF Based on metrics NC Uses Recycled Wood Chips - $700M & 770 jobs

13 Some Metric Options SMP, PM & MMP

14 State Measurement Program (SMP)

15 Measurement Snapshot (2016) R4 States represent 20% of the US population (~65M) In 2016, R4 States: Disposed 58 million tons of MSW, recycled 20 million tons, composted 1.4 million tons of organics. TN Recycled ~2.6M tons, Composted ~315,000 tons R4: ~ 40,806 jobs, and economic net benefit (est.) : $3.6 billion TN - ~ 4,000 jobs & $259M benefit 4 States have 29 Pay as You Throw programs (GA, KY, NC, TN) Households served by Curbside Programs: 8.1 million (NC, KY, FL) TN- Avg. Tipping Fees - $39.24

16 WasteWise or Portfolio Manager

17 Portfolio Manager EPA s ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager is an online tool anyone can use to measure and track energy and water consumption (and now, materials/waste), as well as greenhouse gas emissions. Use to benchmark the performance of one building or a whole portfolio of buildings, all in a secure online environment (one tool for energy, water, waste) Check it out at easy It s free to use and creating an account is quick &

18 Waste & Materials Tab 18 18

19 Step 1: What Material & Where s It Going? Select the material you re managing Trash, Cardboard, Furniture, etc. Select the Management method Disposed, Recycled, etc. Add up to 10 different meters at once 19

20 Inventory of Materials for Tracking 29 Material Types and 4 Methods of Management 72 Unique Combinations 26 Summary Metrics, including: Total Waste Diverted Materials/Rate Disposed Waste (and by destination) Recycled Materials Donated/Reused Materials Composted Materials Waste/Materials Disposed Appliances x x x Batteries x x Donated/ Reused Recycled Composted Beverage Containers (aluminum, glass, plastic) x x Building Materials - Carpet/Carpet Padding Building Materials - Cement/Concrete x x x Building Materials - Mixed/Other x x x Building Materials - Steel x x x Building Materials - Wood x x x Cardboard/Corrugated Containers x x x x Compostable - Mixed/Other x x Electronics x x x Fats/Oils/Grease x x Food/Food Scraps x x x Furniture x x Glass x x x Grass/Yard Trimmings x x Lamps/Light Bulbs x Mixed Recyclables x x Office Supplies x x Pallets x x x Paper - Books/Textbooks x x x Paper - Copy Paper x x x Paper - Mixed x x Plastics - Mixed Plastics - Wrap/Film x x x x x x x 20

21 Step 2: How Often Is it Collected & Weight/Volume? First, select Regular or Intermittent Page will dynamically change based on your choices For Regular, chose whether you will enter with a quantity, or just tell us the size of your dumpster 21

22 Step 3: Enter data (Monthly, Quarterly, etc.) Tables to enter records for each month Similar to entering energy and water Exact fields will depend on the meter type (regular, intermittent) You do not need to complete this step to set up a meter Come back and fill in later Can create bulk spreadsheet upload template or get data uploaded through web services 22

23 Where do I get this data? The goal of waste and materials management in Portfolio Manager is to help you start tracking information you may not be tracking today Ask your hauler if it is possible to measure the weight of your materials This should be your long term goal You can also try to estimate the weight yourself If you can t get the weight, we offer the Container option, which requires you to estimate a % full When you first start using Portfolio Manager, you can enter 100% full Over time, try to start looking once a month 23

24 Step 4: Don t Double Count Tell us which meters to add to your total Similar to the process for energy & water Usually, all of your meters will be associated 24

25 The Municipal Measurement Program (MMP) Summary For Municipalities - A FREE web-based service providing standardized program assessment and information management tools. Municipalities complete a Program Assessment Survey Program performance reports Benchmarking reports Recommendations

26 Community Overview Municipalities How It Works Program Assessment Form

27 Community Overview Residential programs Municipalities How It Works Program Assessment Form

28 Community Overview Residential programs Materials collected Municipalities How It Works Program Assessment Form

29 Program summaries Economic benefit reports Municipalities How It Works Program Assessment Form Diversion rates Per household analysis Trend reports

30 Program information Drop-off locations Municipalities How It Works Publish Information on RecycleSearch

31 Potential Benefits FREE service municipalities use to measure and improve programs. Create a central platform to efficiently collect and share municipal program information. Provide stakeholders an efficient, cost-effective way to deliver content, tools, and resources. Harmonize and standardize measurement & terminology. Reduce duplication of effort (saving time and money).

32 Timelines MMP Launch Timeline Soft Launch - September 10 Limited Access Dress Rehearsal OFFICIAL LAUNCH January 2019 Opens to all municipalities in the US and Canada Stay Tuned!!

33 Thank you!

34 Reduce Waste Getting Started General Ideas (Production/Mfg) Examine office, production and purchasing procedures to see where wastes can be reduced - Perform a waste audit Burt s Bees Dumpster Day (youtube example) Offer employee incentives to come up with new ways to reduce the company's wastes. Use Waste Exchanges, etc. to find outlets for hard to recycle items (e.g. expired chemicals/obsolete equipment) =TN Materials Marketplace, LifeCycle Building Center, Habitat for Humanity ReStore, etc. 34

35 General Waste Reduction Ideas (Office) Reduce unwanted mail Requires staff time & costs to receive/deliver/recycle/dispose (Each former employee still receiving bulk mail costs you $18) Use flexible interior features, such as movable walls, to reduce waste associated with renovation. Eliminate single-use cups/tableware (coffee mugs instead of Styrofoam/paper) - Coordinate with janitorial staff to use less toxic, non-toxic and/or non- VOC cleaning products