College of Public Health Building Waste and Recycling Audit

Transcription

1 College of Public Health Building Waste and Audit April 24, 2013 Introduction Two days worth of trash was sorted from the College of Health Building on Wednesday, April 24, 2013, in the CPHB atrium from 11:00 2:00 p.m. Participants included: College of Public Health administration, students from the college, ECO Hawk, UI Environmental Coalition, Waste Management, Inc., Green RU, and the Office of Sustainability. CPHB is a LEED Platinum building that has been occupied for less than one year. Context Waste audits are educational tools, both for the participants and for building occupants that pass by or see the media. It shows a sign of commitment. Waste audits also serve as a benchmarking tool and help inform a path toward more waste diversion. The College of Public Health previously conducted waste audits in multiple buildings housing its college functions and found that roughly 75% of its waste stream could be recycled or composted. This data informed the design of the new College of Public Health Building, which has earned a LEED Platinum designation. Each floor of the building has one centralized area for recycling (two bins) and trash (one bin). Classrooms do not have bins. Staff and faculty are equipped with a blue desk-side recycling container and a black hanging waste basket, both of which they are required to empty in the central location. The design and occupant role shows a heightened responsibility in CPHB, a model for the campus.

2 Goals The idea of the April 24, 2013 waste audit in CPHB was given momentum by a collective interest in composting in the building. While recycling at a high level, organic waste presented a tangible, not-yetdiverted material in the waste stream. This was audit was intended to illustrate the performance of the building s recycling program. The audit looked at trash from each floor to determine what potential there was for more diversion and what floor it was coming from. The audit also aimed to quantify and inform the potential for an organic waste diversion program, which is a great next step for CPHB as a model for waste diversion on campus. Anecdotes from participants Throughout the event, participants were regularly asked questions about their experience. 1. What did you notice? What caught your attention? Coffee: Large quantity, cup sleeves have Styrofoam on inside, and lots of single-serving coffee grounds containers Paper towels found in recycling (one bag in particular was full of paper towels) Not much paper in trash Large part of organic material is paper towels and napkins 2. What surprised you the most? What didn t surprise you? People that recycle do it well 3. From your observations, what does today s waste audit tell you about what the College of Public Health is doing right? What seems to be working well? Desk-side recycling bins working well stream is good Not many plastic bottles (Hydration Stations working) Very few redeemables in single-stream recycling No bins in classrooms Staff/faculty take recycling bin + small waste basket to centralized location Custodial time is saved and focused on cleaning 4. What opportunities does the college have for improvement? What is not working as well? What could be done better? People recycling do it well, but not everybody s doing it Make it easier to choose the right bin (signage, pictures, list of tricky items) 5. What would further improvement/success actually look like in this facility? Who can help make that happen? What are the next steps? Students need to have buy-in Compost not sure what sustainable solution will be yet 6. Miscellaneous Source separation is tricky, but people that are committed can do it well and spread the word

3 Results single-stream includes paper, plastic, metal, and cardboard. not single-stream includes plastic bags, glass, and redeemables that don t fall within the singlestream collection system. Organic waste can include food, coffee grounds, and paper towels and napkins; paper towels and napkins comprised ¼ to ½ of the organic waste stream. Material Weight Percent - single-stream % - not single-stream 5.4 5% Organic waste % Trash % TOTAL % Table 1: Consolidated waste audit results Waste audit results show a percentage of recycling in the waste stream that is smaller than most other buildings on campus, smaller than previous College of Public Health audits, as well. Other audits have shown buildings waste stream to be roughly 40-50% recycling, 20-30% organic, and 15-25% waste. An ideal waste audit would show only waste in the trash can, meaning all divert-able materials have been diverted. CPHB s waste audit shows a percentage of trash, a good thing. Having minimal recycling in the waste stream points to an effective recycling program in CPHB. The success can be attributed to communications and commitment in the building and also CPHB s smart design: one centralized containers per floor, occupant responsibility for taking recycling and trash to centralized containers, and a lack of bins in classrooms. Along with recycling communications and signage in CPHB, there appears to be strong awareness and participation in recycling. Café First Second Third Fourth Unknown Totals % of total Compost % Trash % Plastic % Liquid % Paper % Cardboard % Plastic bags % Metal % Glass % Redeemable plastic % Redeemable metal % Redeemable glass 0 0.0% E-waste 0 0.0% Batteries 0 0.0% Totals % Table 2: Floor-by-floor waste audit results The CPHB waste audit also looked into waste details from each floor. From this two day sample of waste, it appears the third floor has an opportunity to recycle more. The unknown bag of waste contributes roughly one quarter of the audit s weight.

4 37% 19% 5% - singlestream - not singlestream Organic waste 39% Trash Table 3: Consolidated waste audit results After the waste audit, a recycling audit was conducted, inspecting the contents of bags of recycling. Material Weight Percent *Redeemables do not count toward recycling rate because they do not get weighed % **Mostly paper towels (could have accidentally put bag in with recycling) Redeemables* 6 11% **A few coffee cups whose sleeves have Styrofoam Trash** % Total % Table 4: Audit results Fiscal Year 2013 s diversion figures show a rate 15 percentage points higher than the general campus s. Month Year Diversion Total Trash All Singlestream Shred July % 3,830 2,150 1,680 1,680 0 August % 3, ,914 2,914 0 September % 3,247 1,750 1,497 1,497 0 October % 4,419 3,000 1,419 1,419 0 November % 3,989 2,800 1,189 1,189 0 December % 3,240 2,000 1,240 1,240 0 January % 2,880 1,450 1,430 1,430 0 February % 3,667 2,300 1,367 1,367 0 March % 4,005 1,750 2,255 2, % 32,992 18,000 14,992 14,992 0 Table 5: FY13 recycling rate to-date

5 Discussion The College of Public Health Building is a campus model for recycling. The recycling rate is 45% for FY13 while the campus diversion rate for all other General Education Fund buildings is 32%. CPHB performs well, even without generating any shred recycling weight, an item that often boosts other buildings recycling rates. Comparing the 2013 waste audit of CPHB to previous audits of the College of Public Health s various spaces on campus, it is clear that the amount of recycling in the trash has gone down, a positive sign. Finding gaps in education and communication is important in CPHB. As noted in the anecdotes, the people recycling do it well, but there are many that do not. How can communications or social pressure turn this around? Composting is a large wedge of the waste stream and was a primary impetus for this waste audit. There are multiple scenarios in which this could be addressed, a few of which (though not all-inclusive), are listed here: Outdoor composting container o Work with building administration and campus planning to approve design o Work with building occupants to determine interior design and logistics Begin conversation with other buildings interested in composting (i.e. Nursing, Dental Sciences, other)? Discuss addition to student garden s route /sustainability hires intern to haul organics and other materials