Zero Waste Business In This Lesson By the

Zero Waste Business

In This Lesson By the end of this lesson, learners will be able to: • (Comprehension) Describe the key goals and objectives of a business Zero Waste plan • (Knowledge) Identify the basic format for a Zero Waste plan and Zero Waste Goals • (Knowledge) Share how different contract and agreement businesses and service providers can utilize to mutually benefit from Zero Waste initiative • (Comprehension) Describe the difference between a waste audit and a Zero Waste audit in identifying opportunities for efficiency and increase savings/revenues • (Knowledge) Understand how leadership, employee training and vendor relations are an important piece of the Zero Waste plan

Zero Waste = A Good Business Plan • • Efficient Smart Forward Thinking Increase bottom-line Lowers prices of raw materials Better reputation Decrease liability

Getting Leadership on Board • Highlight local or industry Zero Waste Companies emphasizing timing and money • Know the company’s mission • Know the company • Social and environmental priorities • Show them the money!

Zero Waste Partners and Resources • Stakeholders: – Upstream – Downstream – Community Partners – Government and Utilities • Vendors – Green Purchasing Agreements – Zero Waste Support – Sharing the costs • Technical Assistance & Advisors – Know when to Ask!

The Zero Waste Economy Designing a Full-Cycle system – Upstream and Downstream Provide Incentives Before Ban or Mandate Expand City Outreach & Technical Assistance and Lead by Example Eliminate Waste by Designing Out of Products and Processes Jobs from Design & Discards Foster Sustainable and Green Businesses Resource Recovery Park Retailers Take Back Difficult to Recycle Materials Producer Responsibility Empowered Consumer © Copyright Eco-Cycle, 2004 with text modifications by permission. www. ecocycle. org/zerowaste/zwsystem

Waste Audit vs Zero Waste Audit • One-time outside dumpster • Divides trash into large categories (i. e. , plastic and paper) • Focus on moving trash to recycling or composting • Reviews at department level • Divides “trash” into products and processes (i. e. , plastic water bottles, metal from manufacturing, food from lunch area) • Focus on upstream: redesign, refuse, return, reuse, repair

9 Generating/Discard Sources Up to 9 typical generating sources 1. Warehousing & Distribution –– Paper, cardboard & plastic packaging, metals, and wood pallets 2. Offices –– Primarily wastepaper of all types, packaging & electronic devices 3. Food Services –– Food discards, packaging, plastics, paper, metals, and bottles & cans 4. Grounds –– Grass clippings, debris, wood, trimmings, branches, and soil 5. Construction – Inert materials, paving, concrete, and building products There also gas and liquid emissions not associated with solids.

9 Generating/Discard Sources 6. Manufacturing –– All manner of materials due to many different types of manufacturing processes (can include many subsets of generation) 7. Vehicular Maintenance –– Lubricants, tires, metals, chemicals, and batteries 8. Retail –– Wastepaper, defective items, plastics, wood, bottles & cans, and packaging 9. Housing & Hospitality – Food, plastics, paper, bottles & cans, electronic devices, furnishings, and textiles Front loader

Take some class time to identify key components for your capstone Zero Waste Business. Using slides 5, 8 & 9, start to identify who the Zero Waste Partners are for the business, as well as the points of generation. Identify missing information that you will need to obtain from the business.

Zero Waste Profiling

Organics are composted onsite in the Hot. Rot Discards are collected from the restaurant, break rooms, and some brewing operations Finished compost is used in onsite restaurant garden Food from the garden is served in the Restaurant 2 weeks later we have stable compost!

Measurement and Evaluation • Baseline information – Billing – Tonnage – Waste Audit – Recycling Audit – Energy & Water – Surveys & Observations

Utility Bills (know what you are paying for) Waste Bills • Number of dumpsters • Frequency of pick ups • Pricing: dumpster or tonnage Recycling & Shredding • Frequency of pickups • Volume of materials • Incentives offered by cities Energy Bills • Tiered pricing • Free energy audits • Rebate programs • Times of energy use Water Bills • Tiered pricing • Separate water for irrigation • Municipalities “greenery” policies • Rebate Program

Purchasing Analysis • Review Purchasing Records – Track information from beginning of materials flow – Identify cost information for determining benefits of waste reduction – Track precise quantities for waste materials which are purchased and then discarded within the facility

Survey OBSERVATIONAL – Current systems and practices – Bin audits – Daily activities and behaviors INTERVIEWS – Managers vs Employees – Behaviors and Attitudes – Motivating Factors – Policies vs Practices

Traditional Hauling Contracts –v. Resource Management Contracts • Traditional Hauling & Disposal Contracts – Contractor has a profit incentive to maximize waste service and volume. • Resource Management Contracts – Contractor seeks profitable resource efficiency innovation

RM Compensation Goals Mutually Beneficial Business Relationship Drive Inefficiency and Cost Out of System Cost-effective Resource Efficiency Share Savings Between Business and RM Contractor • Continuous Improvement in Resource Efficiency • •

Zero Waste Training, Promotions and Total Employee Involvement • Give them a reason • Training 100% • Who’s on the Green Team? • Internal & External promotion • Finding the champions (surveys & observations)

Global Markets, Global Growth, Global Regulations HAWAII Canada England, England UK England United States Sweden Japan Hawaii China Philippine s Litter left by tourists Venezuela Antarctica Venezuela Floating plastic bag Tanzania Philippines New Beach cleanup New Zealand

Next Steps for Zero Waste Plan • Adopt Zero Waste as a Goal and Plan for it • Develop and implement your plan • Work with your vendors upstream to adopt Zero Waste Goals • Become a Zero Waste Leader where you live, work and play!!

Overview of Findings • • Zero Waste Audit of Utility Bills Survey Results Existing Practices – Celebrate current successes – Informal and formal – Employee driven – Uncover the obvious • Missing Information • Challenges (misinformation, what is “green”, inconsistencies) • Opportunities • Employee Suggestions from training

Partnership With Suppliers Green Procurement Reduce total cost within Supply Chain RESPECT REDESIGN REFUSE REDUCE RETURN REUSE RECYCLE

Walmart Require Suppliers to Take Responsibility for Products • Wal-Mart used it buying power to work with suppliers and to drive progress in packaging reduction • Even smallest reduction lowers suppliers’ costs, enables shipping more efficiently, cuts greenhouse gas & saves customers’ money • In 2011, eliminated more than 1 billion feet of wire ties in toy packaging – enough to wrap around Earth nearly 8 times

Zero Waste “Recipe for Success” *Compliments of Ricoh Electronics, Inc. • • Objectives Leadership Benchmarking Organization Project plan • • Training & Promotion Use of 5 R Concept Verification Continuous Improvement = Total Participation

Sample Zero Waste Goal Adopted March 2009 ABC Company goal is to achieve Zero Waste by 2020 (100% diversion from landfill, incineration and the environment) With an interim goal of 75% diversion by 2012 REACHED 75% GOAL BY June 1, 2010 and 90% by 2013!

Hewlett Packard High Tech Packaging Issues • Packaging types vary – endless range • Need to evaluate amount and value • Identifying packaging composition and deal with multi-material packaging

Getting Started • $35/month track bill in 1993 • No recycling • Identified low hanging fruit first – Within 2 months, diverted and baled Cardboard, separating paper and selling Wood Pallets. 50% reduction in cost • Trouble items: pallets, plastics and multilayer/material Mylar bags for electronics • Reinvest savings into labor to divert more material

Lowest Hanging Fruit • Save the most money fast by looking at volume • Typically, pallet reuse or selling of pallets and cardboard • Identify vendors • Identify internal REUSE options for cardboard if possible • The boxes to the right have 4 sides that fold in the bottom and a lid. They sell for $11 each. • It makes more sense and cents to reuse than to recycle

Problematic Materials Identify Issue Polyethylene glued to cardboard • Sometimes easy to separate sometimes not • Contamination on either product Antistatic Metallic Conductive Shielding Bags • Up to 4 types of materials in the bag. • Thousands of pounds monthly • Tried getting MSDS sheet

Identify Solution Polyethylene glued to cardboard • Work with packaging manager to eliminate the items GLUED together and make packaging only one TYPE of material either Cardboard or Polyethylene • This change happened in all divisions from just ONE packaging meeting over the fact that we could not recycle most of this waste Antistatic Metallic Conductive Shielding Bags • For over a year could not find an outlet • Tried baling to Densifier • Out of box thinking: cut pieces and stapled to business cards to hand out at a Recycle Conference, got three companies that would take it ALL

Communication • Announce your programs including your diversion and the goal • Have fun events at Earth Day and America Recycles Day GUESS how many food containers are used in a DAY

Equipment needs • There are many types of equipment that densifies material. – Vertical Baler – Horizontal Baler – Block Densifiers (Polystyrene) – Melt Densifiers (see picture) for Polystyrene, Polypropylene and Polyethylene which are processed separately

COST BENEFIT HISTORY (FY 01 -FY 09) $26, 934, 870 TOTAL COST SAVINGS ACHIEVED FOR HP THROUGH DIVERSION PROGRAM Overall Diversion Percentage Diversion Pounds 81. 6% 85. 5% 90. 4% 87. 7% 89. 0% 88. 7% 87. 0% Savings 90. 3% ED D RT E V I $ 90. 8%

Key Learnings • Start with knowing the material that you are dealing with and the volumes if possible • Identify low hanging fruit, can I reuse (more savings) or recycle • Identify equipment needs to make this cost effective • Work on hard to recycle material and think outside the box

Discuss the business that you have chosen research. Share their mission and social priorities. How can you connect these to Zero Waste?