MPS Waste Audit Report s1

MPS Waste Audit Report by Andre Xiong

For a copy of this report or to access more information about waste management / recycling at MPS, visit: http://mpsgoesgreen.mpls.k12.mn.us

School name and grade: Dowling Urban Environmental School k-5 Today’s date: 3-19-2010 Audit date: 2-25-2010 Audit participants: Andre Xiong, Hennepin County Environmental Services Robert Lynch, Head Building Engineer Diane Daun, MPS Plant Operations Doug Link, Allied Waste Services

ANALYSIS OF WASTE GENERATION AT YOUR SITE

Waste generated at your site in February, 2010: MPS is now collecting 1  In February, your school produced 7,500 lb of waste. information about . Trash: 5,600 lb (75 %) waste and recycling . Mixed recycling: 880 lb (12 %) rates by school. The . Organics: 1,020 lb (13 %) analysis below is  Based on your school population of 547 (485 students, 62 staff), each person in based on data for the your school produced nearly 14 pounds of waste during this month.2 month which this 3  It took approximately 9 dumpsters to haul your 5,600 lb of trash. audit took place at  The waste you recycled in February will result in 1,900 less pounds of material your site. To access going to the incinerator as well as the production of new materials and 510 lb of weights from other compost.4 Making new products from recycled material is less expensive and months, please visit: more environmentally friendly than making them from raw materials. Compost is www.mpsgoesgreen.com and click on ‘Green a safe fertilizer that also reduces erosion, water loss, and weed growth in soils. 5 Reports’.  Typical school waste content is comprised of 32% organic waste . Your school diverted 13 % of waste to be composted. Congratulations, keep working to achieve 32% and beyond.

District cost of trash and recycling disposal for your site in February, 2010 6: Trash, Trash, actual Mixed Recycling Organics Recycling had you not recycled Monthly haul charge $1.90/yd $380 $46 $15.20 $380 Processing fee rate $/ton $40 $12 $15 $40 Processing fee based on weight $112 $5 $8 $112 MN State tax 17% $19.04 exempt exempt $25.50 Hennepin Co. tax 14.5% $16.24 exempt exempt $21.75 Total Cost $527 $51 $23 577

In February alone, your school diverted 1,900 lb of waste towards recycling/composting; saving the district $50 in disposal fees that would have incurred from adding that weight to the trash instead of recycling it. These savings allow the district to enhance its resource management strategy and offer programs like organics recycling and improved mixed recycling. Increasing your recycling rates would yield even higher savings throughout the school year.

ON-SITE AUDIT RESULTS & DISCUSSION Included below are findings and recommendations based on the audit of your building’s waste management practices.7 Organics Recycling: You were recycling organics in addition to mixed recycling. Congratulations for being among the first MPS schools to launch this important program. Hopefully you have all the tools you need to make it successful. If you need to change your hauling schedule or request additional supplies, please contact your Plant Operations supervisor. If you have questions about the program overall, including associated education materials, please visit: http://mpsgoesgreen.mpls.k12.mn.us/Organics_Recycling.html OR email: [email protected]

You were recycling organics during breakfast. Congratulations for implementing a robust organics program that seeks to capture as much of the organic waste generated throughout your building as possible. Keep up the good work.

You were collecting restroom (paper towel) waste as organics. Congratulations for implementing a robust organics program that seeks to capture as much of the organic waste generated throughout your building as possible. Keep up the good work.

You had educational materials displayed in cafeteria to help during sorting. Congratulations for making every effort to educate and encourage proper sorting of waste. Proper sorting will maximize recycling rates and decrease trash to fully experience the financial and environmental benefits of recycling. Remember that MPS has informational signage in English, Spanish, Hmong, and Somali on the website

Your lunchroom sort stations were monitored. Congratulations for having dedicated individuals to actively assist students with sorting as necessary. Proper sorting will maximize recycling rates and decrease trash to fully experience the financial and environmental benefits of recycling. The shortage of monitors to assist with sorting has been linked to unsuccessful organics recycling programs. Keep up the good work. Remember that volunteers must go through an application process through the district. Keep in mind that the intent of monitoring is to help students learn to sort properly as opposed to doing the actual sorting for students.

Your head building engineer suggests there has been significant decrease in the amount of trash since organics recycling was introduced. Congratulations on successfully diverting organic material away from the trash and into recycling. This success is critical to the financial sustainability of organics recycling. Keep up the good work!

Recycling and waste reduction practices: You were stacking trays prior to disposal. Congratulations on efficiently using resources. Trays take up massive volume and fill up bags quickly, requiring them to be changed out frequently. Stacking trays to be disposed of separately will allow much more room in waste containers for other waste items. This practice, in turn, can save space in the dumpster(s) as well. Continue this practice with the new compostable trays.

You were collecting liquid waste in a separate container. Congratulations. A great way to minimize the weight of your waste is to divert liquid waste down the drain. Weight is one key basis that MPS’ hauler uses to charge the district for trash and recycling. In addition, because MPS sends its trash to the incinerator, dry waste results in a more efficient burn which is better for the environment.

You were using MPS Goes Green signage. Congratulations on helping standardize the district-wide MPS Goes Green message. Remember that there are informational signs in English, Spanish, Hmong and Somali available on the MPS website. Also, there are fun ‘What to Collect’ signs on the website that are appropriate for a K-8 audience.

You were using custom-made educational materials as well. Congratulations on taking ownership for making your building green. Signs and educational materials made by staff and students in addition to those provided by MPS will help make the program successful in your building.

Few of the surveyed classrooms displayed posters and labels to aid in sorting. Posters and labels help students and staff comply with the recycling program. Teachers, take as little as a minute of your time to post up signage by recycling containers to encourage recycling in the classroom. Labeling containers and displaying recycling information reduces contamination in the recycling containers. Minimal effort is required to post up educational materials yet has major positive effects. Please check the MPS website for a variety of informational signs you can use in classrooms. Another step you can take is to incorporate environmental sustainability information into coursework. The MPS Goes Green website provides curriculum materials you may find useful.

You often used color coding to promote sorting. Congratulations on using the MPS-designated colors (blue = mixed recycling, green = organics recycling, red/gray = trash) to promoting recycling and proper sorting. Make sure to cover up any recycling labels on containers that do not correspond with its designated use. (i.e. recycling sign on a red barrel). Contact your Plant Operations Supervisor for stickers that can be used for this purpose. Maintain consistent use of color coding—do not use colored bins for uses other than its designated use.

Interior containers: All classrooms sampled had recycling containers. MPS will make every effort to provide every (class) room with recycling containers, please contact Plant Operations Supervisor for extra containers. Paper makes up a tremendous portion of classroom waste, yet an astounding amount of recyclable paper is still making its way into trash bins. The labor required to throw paper into the trash or recycling bin are equal. Give students the opportunity to recycle in the classroom by providing recycling bins in all classrooms. Promote proper use of recycling bins through signage and classroom activities. See the MPS Goes Green website for ideas, http://mpsgoesgreen.mpls.k12.mn.us/

You rarely provided both trash and recycling containers at the same location (in classrooms). Due to the large amount of recyclable material generated at a typical school building, placing recycling containers wherever there are trash containers is an easy way to ensure that the right items go in the right bins. If there is not a recycling container close-by, individuals are likely to toss their recyclables in the trash. Making recycling convenient is important to increasing recycling rates. The waste hauler’s single stream, no- sort recycling makes it even easier and requires only one container for all recycling.

You were not bagging mixed recycling containers. Congratulations on further reducing your school’s environmental impact by minimizing plastic bag use. MPS’ waste hauler prefers recyclables un-bagged because the bags become a problem at the materials recovery facility (MRF) where the recyclables are sorted and processed. At the MRF, in order to keep the plastic bags from getting wrapped around the sorting equipment, they must be separated and disposed. The plastic bags do not get recycled. Furthermore, the recyclables can easily be contained and transported through the use of bins, dumpsters, and trucks. Keep up this environmentally friendly, cost effective practice.

Contamination assessment: Number of sampled bags of trash: 2 Both samples of trash had no contamination. It is great to see that your school is successfully diverting recyclables away from trash. Less recyclables in the trash means less weight, thus reducing disposal fees for the district. Proper sorting also saves energy as more recycling leads to less energy and resources required to make products from recycled materials.

Number of sampled bags of recycling: 2 Sample 1 had minimal contamination (tissues and pipe cleaners). Tissues and paper towels belong in organics recycling stream. Otherwise, your mixed recycling stream was essentially free of trash! This means that the contents of your recycling dumpster will be used to make quality recycled products. When you have excessive contamination in your recycling it could mean that the hauler will reject your entire load to the trash. It is very important that your school community continues to keep the recycling stream as good of quality as possible. If you would like clarification on whether or not certain items are recyclable, please contact me.

Number of sampled bags of organics: 2 Both samples of trash had no contamination. Congratulations on providing a nearly-contaminant stream of organics recycling. This means that your food and food-soiled paper items will ultimately be converted to quality compost.

Exterior dumpsters: Your dumpsters were labeled. Congratulations for labeling the different dumpsters to distinguish what waste type goes in them, ensuring that trash and recyclables are disposed of properly.

Waste [ were/were not ] correctly disposed of in their corresponding dumpster. *not sufficient data* Trash dumpster was empty from recent servicing. Note: Disposing of your waste streams in the proper dumpsters is the crucial final step your waste takes before it leaves your school property. If you end up putting sorted materials (mixed recycling and/or organics) in the trash dumpster, -- or contaminate sorted materials with trash, it undermines the entire recycling effort and can be very discouraging for all of the staff, students, and parents who participate in the recycling program.

Your dumpsters were not effectively arranged to encourage recycling. It is a best practice to place recycling dumpsters in a convenient location. Placing the recycling dumpster(s) closer than trash dumpster discourages recyclables from ending up in the trash dumpster. If your school is participating in organics, it is especially important to put that dumpster close due to the heavy weight of those bags. If you would like to move your dumpster location or arrangement, please contact your Plant Operations supervisor.

Your trash dumpsters [ one at 6 yd3 and the second at 4 yd3, picked up 5x weekly ] are typically ¾ full at pick- up. Two dumpsters for a total capacity of 10 yd3 is large for a school of this size; also, organics recycling should significantly reduce trash production. As waste reduction improves at your school, make note of reduced trash production and request a smaller dumpster or less service as necessary.

Your mixed recycling dumpster [ 6 yd3, picked up 1x weekly ] is typically full at pick-up. Congratulations for filling your mixed recycling dumpster to its capacity. Dumpster disposal fees are charged based on size and service frequency, so an underutilized dumpster costs the district extra money. Increasing to a bigger recycling dumpster is perfectly fine if your school’s recycling efforts have improved that much.

Your organics dumpster [ 2 yd3, picked up 1x weekly ] is typically full at pick-up. Congratulations for filling your organics dumpster to its capacity. Dumpster disposal fees are charged based on size so underutilized dumpsters cost the district extra. Therefore, upgrade to a larger capacity only when your school is consistently and successfully diverting large amounts of organic waste.

Summary of Recommendations -Improve trash reduction enough to get rid of one of the two dumpsters. -Ensure that the trash dumpster is not so close and convenient that recycling ends up being disposed in it. -Establish a school-wide set-up that best promotes recycling in classrooms: -Post up signs/posters by containers to differentiate recycling from trash. -Position trash and recycling containers together to promote sorting. -Place containers in prominent locations, such as by doors or teachers’ desks, rather than scattered around. -Limit the amount of containers in class rooms—one recycling and one trash should suffice.

If your school needs to modify its hauling schedule / dumpster size or access additional materials to make your waste management/recycling program successful, please contact your Plant Operations Supervisor. For questions regarding the audit and audit report, please contact Andre Xiong.

Andre Xiong MN GreenCorps School Waste Prevention Specialist phone: 612-543-1316 Hennepin County Dept. of Environmental Services email: [email protected] 417 N. 5th Street, Minneapolis, MN 55401 Appendix / Sources 1 Monthly waste generation data was provided by MPS contract hauler, Allied Waste Services. Data on dumpster sizes and hauling schedules were also obtained from Allied. 2 Student enrollment numbers were obtained through MPS student account, available to the public online. Staff enrollment numbers were obtained through payroll. 3 Allied Waste estimates one cubic yard of trash weighs approximately 100 lbs. 4 Ginny Black, from MN Pollution Control Agency, estimates approximately 50% of organic waste remains as finished compost after decomposition. 5 It was decided upon to use 32% as the figure for organic waste composition of total waste generated at schools. The study was conducted in southern California by California Integrated Waste Management Board for 2002. 6 Calculations: Monthly haul charge = [ $1.90 X dumpster size (yd3) X frequency of pickup in a week ] X 4 weeks (month) Processing fee = processing rate X weight (tons) Total cost = monthly haul charge + processing fee + tax Savings incurred from recycling = total cost (gross weight) ▬ total cost (trash weight) 7 Audit procedures: o Audits were scheduled for 1 hour and included: 1. Interview with head building engineer 2. Interior walkthrough 3. Contamination assessment 4. Exterior walkthrough o Audits were conducted by Hennepin County Environmental Services’ GreenCorps member; alongside an Allied Waste representative and the Plant Ops supervisor for that site. o Questions during audit were answered based on head engineers’ observations and perceptions. o Walk-through portion of audit consisted of observing (as needed): 2 hallways (or other common areas) 3 classrooms 1 bathroom Cafeteria Dumpsters o Contamination assessment portion of audit consisted of visually assessing: 2 bags of trash 2 bags of mixed recycling 2 bags of organic waste 8 Not all schools were able to supply samples for contamination assessment due to various reasons. In such cases, samples were attained in these other manners (where possible): Observing bags already disposed of in dumpsters Observing un-bagged waste in dumpsters equivalent to bag Observing active containers on the floor

Clarification on contaminants: Non-recyclable paper include: food-soiled paper, napkins, paperware, milk cartons. Non-recyclable plastics include: shrinkwrap, plasticware, food containers. Cardboard is allowed in single stream collection, so it is categorized with ‘paper’ for our purposes. Food waste is only considered a contaminant in trash where organics recycling is in place.