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VISUAL WASTE AUDIT

ABC COMPANY, RECYCLETOWN, USA

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Background

ABC Company wished to examine ways and means of reducing its waste and maximizing its recycling. In order to get a snapshot of the materials being generated on site, a series of three-day visual waste audits was conducted.

Current Situation

It would appear that there is no universal recycling system in place in the various buildings at the Site. Some buildings have the mini-bin system (with no deskside garbage bins); some have mini-bins and deskside garbage bins; some have deskside garbage bins. As far as desktop recycling goes, some buildings have nothing on the desktop and staff take paper directly to a central recycling bin. Others have an ‘in basket’ for paper recycling which staff empty into central recycling bins. Bottles and cans seem to be either recycled in the kitchen area or end up in the garbage. There is a mixture of recycling containers (some labelled, some not) and an assortment of other types of containers, placed here and there throughout buildings.

In Bldg 1, staff have to go outside to recycle fine paper in a wheeled-bin.

Old corrugated cardboard (OCC) is recycled in Bldg 1; it doesn’t seem to be in other buildings.

It is not clear which paper materials will be accepted by the recyclers.

Contracts

XYZ Hauling Company has the solid-waste (garbage) contract for the whole site.

Recycling is picked up at the Admin Centre by XYZ Company. Confidential Paper picks up from the other buildings.

Purpose

The purpose of the waste audit was:

to weigh, identify and classify the office waste (non-recyclable and recyclable) being generated;

to isolate and quantify recyclable materials going out in the garbage;

to offer recommendations on how to capture these recyclables;

to offer feedback to staff on the current programs’ progress and to communicate details of future program improvements to them.

The Waste Audits

Visual waste audits were carried out by Midpoint International Inc. as follows:

November 4,5,6, 1999

Bldg 1 Garbage and Recyclables

November 11,12,13

Bldgs 2,3 and 4 Garbage only

November 18,19,20

Bldgs 5,6 and 7 Garbage only

Recyclables (only in Building 1) and Garbage were collected and labelled by floor and building in transparent bags by janitorial staff and placed in a central area for weighing and identification.

Garbage

Office, washroom and food waste

Each building’s waste in the above categories was tagged by building and floor, weighed and identified, for each of three days.

Food Waste

Food waste from Building 1 cafeteria/kitchen was weighed and identified, for each of three days.

Recycling

Bottles and cans

Building 1 - bottles were collected and weighed on November 4 and in the absence of actual weights, the November 4th weight was used for the following two days’ audit.

Building 1 - cans were collected and weighed on November 5, and in the absence of actual weights, the November 5 weight was used for the other two days’ audit.

NB There was no opportunity to weigh bottles and cans from any of the other buildings during the waste audit.

Office Paper

Building 1 - office paper was tagged by floor, weighed and identified.

NB There was no opportunity to weigh and identify office paper from any of the other buildings during the waste audit.

Old Corrugated Cardboard (OCC)

NB There was no opportunity to weigh any OCC from any of the buildings during the waste audit. It should be noted that OCC from Buildings 5,6 and 7 was included with the garbage for the waste audits and was treated as such in the final analysis.

Waste Audit Results

The results from the visual waste audit (please see Appendix 1 for each building’s comprehensive waste audit) show that the following results:

Building 1 (401 staff) generates 64 kgs of waste (office/washroom) per day;

generates 16 tonnes of waste per year;

35% of the waste is potentially recyclable;

11% could be diverted through an organic food removal program;

recycles 157 kgs of paper, bottles, cans per day

recycles 39 tonnes per year;

currently diverts 71% of its waste to recycling.

Building 2 (356 staff) generates 55 kgs of waste (office/washroom) per day;

generates 14 tonnes of waste per year;

43% of the waste is potentially recyclable;

22% could be diverted through an organic food removal program.

Building 3 (133 staff) generates 22 kgs of waste (office/washroom) per day;

generates 6 tonnes of waste per year;

48% of the waste is potentially recyclable;

30% could be diverted through an organic food removal program.

Building 4 (46 staff) generates 11 kgs of waste (office/washroom) per day;

generates 3 tonnes of waste per year;

33% of the waste is potentially recyclable;

37% could be diverted through an organic food removal program.

Building 5 (77 staff) generates 16 kgs of waste (office/washroom) per day;

generates 4 tonnes of waste per year;

30% of the waste is potentially recyclable;

40% could be diverted through an organic food removal program.

Building 6 (400 staff) generates 77 kgs of waste (office/washroom) per day;

generates 19 tonnes of waste per year;

32% of the waste is potentially recyclable;

37% could be diverted through an organic food removal program.

Building 7 (? Staff) generates 15 kgs of waste (office/washroom) per day;

generates 3.75 tonnes of waste per year;

34% of the waste is potentially recyclable;

33% could be diverted through an organic food removal program.

Building 1 Kitchen/Cafeteria generates 189 kgs of waste per day;

(1,500 users per day) generates 47 tonnes of waste per year;

30% of the waste is potentially recyclable;

60% could be diverted through an organic food

removal program.

Highlights of waste audit

Office Waste

As will be seen above, each building on site has the potential to recycle between

30% - 50% more than it’s doing.

The following recyclable materials were most commonly found in the garbage:

kraft envelopes and paper;

fine paper and photocopier paper wrappers;

newspapers, magazines, flyers;

polystyrene (#6 plastic); pete (#1 plastic), pp (#5 plastic);

bottles, cans (steel and aluminium);

Kitchen/Cafeteria Waste

A huge amount of polystyrene is not being recycled in all buildings on site. Although polystyrene is light (and as such won’t necessarily show up as a big percentage of the waste), it’s bulky and takes up space in the garbage. It’s also collected as a recyclable at the site.

The following reusable items were found in the garbage:

three-ring binders;

instruction manuals;

safety helmets.

Recycling

The fine paper collected from Building 1 was remarkably contamination-free (i.e., there was little or no garbage mixed in with the recyclable paper). Bottles and cans that were weighed were also free of contamination.

Recommendations

In order to improve the current situation, we suggest the following:

. ABC Company should identify a greening coordinator for the site;

. A temporary, volunteer Green Teams be set up to support the coordinator;

. The coordinator should work with the Green Team to ensure that:

a mini garbage bin program is implemented in all buildings on the site;

each staff member has a personal desktop paper recycling container;

sufficient recycling units and single bins and are available and strategically placed;

central recycling bins in photocopy rooms are clearly labelled;

the recycler’s list of acceptable materials is displayed at each centre;

a communications program is undertaken to ensure senior management’s visible support, and staff’s buy-in, for the program;

old corrugated cardboard is treated as recycling, not as garbage, in all buildings;

staff are encouraged to use reusable mugs instead of polystyrene.

The coordinator should also ensure that:

the recycling contract be re-tendered with a view to combining all recycling contracts with the one company. A list of recyclable materials, picked up in whatever combination is required by the Site should be part of the contract (please see Appendix 2 for a sample list of recyclables). Reporting of pickups and weights should be mandatory and should accompany supplier invoices.

the garbage contract is retendered with a view to getting a clear picture of the weight of garbage leaving the site, as well as the pickup cost (per site) and tipping fee (per tonne) charged.

. The coordinator should work with janitorial services to ensure that:

janitorial staff understand the changes the new program will bring to their work load (i.e., more time to do other necessary tasks);

janitorial staff have a record of where all new central units and recycling/garbage single bins are placed.

The Final Word - The Power of Recycling

Recycling is a way of life.. Most people use the Recycling Box system correctly and are used to source separating materials.

Recycling at work is equally a fact of life today. When staff understand the contribution their recycling is making and when the program is explained and made accessible to them, recycling will become less frustrating and better supported.

Although recyclable paper was picked up only from Building 1, the lack of contamination shows a sincere wish to recycle. However, all through the site there is potential to recycle between 30% and 50% more, so there is room for improvement.

Introducing the mini-bin system (and thereby removing deskside garbage bins) will improve the current situation. By removing deskside garbage bins, the temptation to ‘chuck everything into the garbage’ is also removed. And, because, staff themselves empty desktop container(s) into central garbage and recycling bins, janitorial staff no longer have to go from to desk emptying waste. This frees them up to deal with other tasks.

The mini-bin program has a proven track record in Canada and the United States and will result in increased recycling rates, and decreased garbage rates. And in time, with the renegotiation of both recycling and garbage contracts, there should be a reduction in waste charges.

Ensuring that all staff have access to desktop and central recycling containers will go a long way to making the program user-friendly and will encourage compliance because it’s easy to use.

Appointing a program coordinator who will work with volunteer Green Teams will create an ownership of the program that will stretch to all buildings on site. And when staff feel ownership of a program, they also feel a responsibility to make it work well.

ABC Company is a leader in the field of Mushroom Growing. The site can become an environmental leader in worksite recycling programs. The goodwill, the staff support and the collection systems are all in place - cohesion and direction will help ABC Company reach its potential.