2019 Recycling and Waste Management Awards

BUILD 2019 Recycling and Waste Management Awards 8 Sep19487 t the San Francisco campus of the University of California (UCSF), Facilities Services is one of the largest and most diverse operational divisions and is committed to creating an exceptional physical environment to support the research, teaching, healthcare, and community service mission of the University. The department employs more than 460 professional staff and stewards approximately $90 million in operating funds to achieve its goals in operating and maintaining the UCSF campus environment. It is also organised into five distinct units, these being: 1) Mission Bay/East Campus Facilities Operations, 2) Parnassus/West Campus Facilities Operations, 3) Infrastructure & Renewal Programmes, 4) Customer Service & Technology, and 5) Engineering & Utilities Services. “UCSF aspires to be on the cutting edge of energy efficiency, waste reduction, infrastructure renewal, dedicated lab/research services, and other innovative services to best meet the needs of our top-ranked research University,” explains Sean Aloise, Communications Manager of Facilities Services at UCSF. “The overall mission is reaching “Zero Waste” and reducing landfill,” he continues. Whilst this may sound drastic, “Zero Waste” does not mean ‘no garbage’ for campus. Instead, it means that UCSF will recycle and compost any item that is able to be recycled or composted. Essentially it means not wasting any resources or anything that can be recovered. “We are currently at a 78% diversion rate and reaching 90% is defined as “Zero Waste” for all the University of California schools.” As one of a few leaders in this regard in the University of California system, UCSF is currently just 12% away from its goal and is focused on educating the population on campus to realise that waste can be separated appropriately and that each community A member has a vital role to play in reaching Zero Waste. UCSF are also researching new markets for items that currently go to landfill, with its most current challenge beings finding recycling streams for lab and research plastics. “The educational component is important but ultimately every- thing in waste reduction is tied together,” embellishes Sean. “From our experience, people are generally sceptical and question if items truly are recycled. With this sentiment, little effort is given to participate or sort correctly. We discuss how the recycling process works and are transparent with our process and its strengths and weaknesses. Our waste hauler offers recycling tours of their facility and staff are encouraged to attend to actually see the process once waste leaves the UCSF environment. We also offer specialised training to all custodians since they play such a vital role in the waste management chain. “In addition to those tours, we have various statistics readily on hand to help others understand why recycling is important. For ex- ample, if someone relates more to financial incentives, we speak to how it saves the University money when they participate and by reducing overall costs and that money can be shifted to areas that require more attention, such as research.” Educating campus residents to reduce their waste and recycle accordingly also has a financial gain associated with it, as well as the strive to become environmentally friendly. This came about due to a recent new ordinance that was passed by the City of San Francisco which has proven to be quite challenging for the university. “The Refuse Separation Ordinance (RSO) targets large waste generators and audits all the waste streams,” Sean says. “If the audits find contamination rates for any of the streams beyond the allowable limit (Landfill - 25%, Recycling - 10%, Compost - 5%), they can levy heavy fines or mandate the organisation to hire a waste sorter for two years. The contamination rates are very strict but it is related to what is happening in the industry as a whole. University of California, San Francisco: Recognized Leaders in Education Waste Management – California & Innovation Award for Landfill Reduction Initiatives 2019 Sean Aloise, Communications Manager of Facilities Services at UCSF, tells us more about the organisation’s waste management scheme, the challenges faced, and how education is key to reaching its zero waste goal.