SUSTAINABILITY AND THE SCHOOL WASTE STREAM

Sustainable Waste Stream Management

Implementation Challenges

Curriculum Tools for Engaging Students

THE SCHOOL WASTE STREAMS

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Source Reduction

Landfill

Material Recovery Facility

Compost Facility

Waste bin

Recycling Bin

Food Waste Cart

Tons per year

Tons per year

Tons per year

Distance

Cost Cost

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Campus energy use

Campus water use

Transportation of Students and Staff Food

Materials Purchasing

Use Behaviors

Disposal decisions

Monitoring

GREEN SCHOOLS- A SYSTEMS PERSPECTIVE

Campus ecosystem

Educational and administrative materials

THE SCHOOL WASTE STREAMS

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Source Reduction

Landfill

Material Recovery Facility

Compost Facility

Waste bin

Recycling Bin

Food Waste Cart

Tons per year

Tons per year

Tons per year

Distance

Cost Cost

LIFE CYCLE OF A STUDENT WORKBOOK

Raw materials acquisition

Materials Manufacture

ProductManufacture

ProductConsumption

Final DepositionLandfill

CombustionRecycle or

Reuse

Energy Energy Energy Energy

Energy

Wastes and Pollution

Wastes and Pollution

Wastes and Pollution

Wastes and Pollution

Wastes and Pollution

Reuse

Product recycling5

DIAGRAM OF A CLASSROOM RECYCLING SYSTEM

Recycling Bin and Trash Placed Together

Right by the Door

Simple Signage Above Recycling Bin

RECYCLING SIGNAGE

BINS AROUND THE SCHOOLBin in every classroom

Administrative offices

Copy room

Faculty lounge

Cafeteria

Playground

Bottom line: give people the chance to do the right thingwherever there’s a waste bin, place a recycling bin

BASELINE INVENTORY

WASTE AUDIT

http://www.recycleworks.org/schools/s_audits.html

Additional materials: Food Waste, Polystyrene #6,

Other Plastics 3,4,5,7, Yard Waste, Textiles, Electronics, Other

MONITORING

THE SCHOOL WASTE STREAMS

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Source Reduction

Landfill

Material Recovery Facility

Compost Facility

Waste bin

Recycling Bin

Food Waste Cart

Tons per year

Tons per year

Tons per year

Distance

Cost Cost

SOURCE REDUCTIONFood Service:• Washable trays, silverware, etc.• Reduced use of individual packaging• Waste Free Lunch Events• Unwanted food table• Buy local

Curriculum Materials:• Double sided copies• Encouraged use of“Back paper”• Reuse of textbooks

Administration:• Double sided copies• Regulation of copier use• Electronic Messaging• Electronic record keeping• Purchase of recycled content materials• Bulk purchasing

FINANCIAL COST BENEFITWaste Service Cost Structure for two Districts in Alameda County• Waste: $80/cubicyard/week• Food Waste: $40/cubicyard/week• Mixed Recyclables: $20/cubicyard/week

LABOR COST BENEFITMIXED RECYCLING

Waste bin

Recycling Bin

Food Waste Cart

LABOR COST BENEFITFOOD SCRAPS

Waste bin

Recycling Bin

Food Waste Cart

ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFIT

the equivalent GHG emissions from 42.4 passenger vehicles each year.

the GHG emissions from 26,261 gallons of gasoline consumed.

the GHG emissions from 538 barrels of oil consumed.

the GHG emissions from 9,640 propane cylinders used for home barbeques.

the GHG emissions from burning 1.2 railcars’ worth of coal.

the GHG emissions from the electricity use of 30.6 average American homes for one year.

Emerson Elementary in Oakland, CA.

264 students diverted 62% of their waste

reducing 231 TONS CO2 emissions

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Material Carbon Savings “Break-Even Point” (miles) per ton recycled Truck Rail Freighter Aluminum 3.44 116,000 451,000 524,000Corrugated 0.79 27,000 104,000 120,000Newspaper 0.68 23,000 90,000 104,000 Steel 0.48 16,000 63,000 73,000LDPE 0.36 12,000 47,000 55,000PET 0.33 11,000 43,000 50,000HDPE 0.30 10,000 39,000 45,000Glass (to bottles) 0.07 2,000 9,000 11,000

• “Break-Even Point” is where GHG emissions transporting the recyclables equals GHG emissions (MTCE) avoided when the recyclables displace virgin feedstocks.

• Carbon emissions “Break-Even” point for long-haul truck driving 30 tons of food waste [6 dry tons] to a compost facility is ~21,000 miles

• Distance across the Continental US: 3,000 miles around the equator: 24,783 miles

Source: David Allaway, Oregon DEQ

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Human Health Cost ($/ton of material)

Material Production Disposal TotalVirgin Corrugated Box

$95 $2 $97

Recycled Content Corrugated Box

$86 $2 $88

Virgin Aluminum ~$923 $5 ~$925Recycled Content Aluminum

~$71 $5 ~$76

Virgin Glass $69 $1 $70Recycled Content Glass

$47 $1 $48

Virgin HDPE $124 $4 $128Virgin PET $327 $4 $331Virgin PVC $1,710 $4 $1714

1992 Tellus Institute Packaging Study for Council of State Governments,EPA, and State of New Jersey

OPPORTUNITIES FOR STUDENT INVESTIGATION

Life Cycle Analyses: • Paper vs. plastic• disposable mugs vs. ceramic • hand dryer vs.towels• Reading on-line vs. paper

Number of uses

Mat

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Applied Math

4.4 tons waste/year

~12% foodwaste

~1000 pounds foodwaste

Converts to 300-435 liters CH4 under typical landfill conditions

19.5 pounds CO2 /gallon

25 miles/gallon

3,200-4,600 miles of driving

CH4 23X more potent GHG than CO2

Source: EPA WARM and

Brown,S. 2007 Env. Benefits of Compost Use.BioCycle 48: 6

Environmental Impact Analyses

Sustainability

ECOLITERACY

THE SCHOOL WASTE STREAM

Sch

ool C

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Source Reduction

Landfill

Material Recovery Facility

Compost Facility

Waste bin

Recycling Bin

Food Waste Cart

Tons per year

Tons per year

Tons per year

DistanceCost Cost

For a Hypothetical District with 800 Students per Grade Level Examine Three Different Measures:

Convert bus fleet (143 buses) to biodiesel: saves 582 tons MTCO2

Add 32,000 square feet of photovoltaics: saves 441 MTCO2

Increase recycling rate from 30% to 35%: saves 461 MTCO2

Using the EPA WARM Model to Compare Emissions Reductions Measures

Recycling is the lowest cost alternative and uses existing infrastructureSource: EPA WARM model calculations run by Kelly Runyan ESA