Page 497 - Solid Waste Analysis and Minimization a Systems Approach

CASE STUDY 475

In, assessing the current material sorts, several key findings were made:

■ Office paper is not currently sorted; all recyclable paper is placed into the same
containers.
■ Contamination exists in the mixed office paper containers, such as improperly dis-
posed of nonrecyclable materials. This includes food waste, newspaper, plastic,
aluminum cans, Styrofoam cups, and plastic wrappers.

Proposed modifications include

■ Training of employees—Focuse on what materials may be deposited in the mixed
office paper–recycling bins.
■ Development and utilization of signage—Describe what may be deposited in the
recycling bins.
■ Recycling collector modifications—In particular require that the current recycling
collector (Lake Erie Recycling) provide monthly reports on the amount of materi-
als collected. Also, require the recycling collector to purchase the materials at the
current fair market price. The additional revenue could be used to fund future envi-
ronmental programs.
■ Waste hauling modifications—Require that waste will only be collected on-call
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when the 20-yd compactor is full. The general waste disposed of at the landfill is
serviced by BFI Inc., and is collected from One Government Center on an on-call
basis. Past records indicate that the waste has consistently been collected on every
Monday (Tuesday is observed as a holiday), and that the total weight has varied
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from 2.9 tons to 5.0 tons. One Government Center currently uses a 20-yd packer
for the general waste, but management has limited ability to determine when it is
full, and the waste hauler should be contacted to collect it. As a result, the waste is
generally collected every Monday, and may or may not be a full load.

During the facility visits to One Government Center, a select number of random inter-
views were conducted with employees. Key finding from those interviews include

■ Limited room to store recycling bins under some desks
■ Perceived lack of management support
■ Perceived lack of understanding of what is recyclable
■ More lack of interest/action from top management (poor example to staff); approx-
imately 85 percent of staff utilized the desk-side bin, whereas compared with
40 percent of the top management
■ Strong interest by staff in recycling and improving environmental quality

Upon the random interviewing of the select number of employees at One Government
Center, the assessment team discovered that many of the employees (including man-
agement) did not fully understand the recycling system or the standard procedures.
Primarily the employees expressed concerns regarding when and where to dump their
desk-side containers, what to do if they lose or damage the container, and what is