The Development of a high quality waste management process

As part of the ongoing work being done to develop a high quality waste management process on campus, it was decided to pilot a fully thought out waste management process in the Kemmy Business School Building and the adjoining Schuman Building. The aim of this pilot was to ensure that all steps of the waste process are addressed, starting from waste points of entry into bins on public corridors and in staff offices, and UL cleaning staff removing internal bin waste out into external bin compounds. It was envisaged that once a full strategy was developed and agreed on this self-contained and manageable pilot site, this process would then in turn be rolled out in all buildings across campus.

Kemmy Business School & Schuman Building: Pilot Location

Step 1: General Public Bins

The first item the waste management team focused on was the waste ‘source of entry’ points: the internal and external public bins. Following an audit, it was highlighted that while there was appropriate waste segregation occurring externally through the use of separate colour coded bins (general waste and recycling) there was no segregation occurring internally, with only single general waste bins available in almost all locations.

Figure 1: External Bins Figure 2 & 3: Images of Internal Bins

Further to this, there appeared to be inconsistencies with the type of bins being used on different corridors, with various different bin styles found. Upon review the team decided this only added confusion to the general public user in terms of what bin held which function. It was agreed that one bin type would be chosen to be used in all public areas, with the appropriate quantity of bins provided to allow for recycling waste and composting waste where necessary.

Figure 4 & 5: Bin Variations

The waste management team decided that all segregation bin options should be clearly distinguished from one another and ideally would have instructions for use on them for clarity. A consideration was to purchase a brand new collection of bins which have this distinction incorporated into their design. However after some brief research into such new bins it was evident that this would be a very expensive option. Further to this, it seemed counter intuitive to consider disposing all of the perfectly good bins in a project aimed at recycling. Therefore it was agreed that the ‘wall hugger’ bin type, the most commonly used bin internally across campus, would be reused as part of this project and enhanced. The few examples of inconsistent bins found would be replaced by the enhanced ‘wall hugger’ to ensure consistency.

Figure 6: Wall Hugger Bin Type

In order to enhance the standard grey ‘wall hugger’ bin, a number of tests where done to explore how the bins could be distinguishable from one another easily and cheaply, and also indicate what rubbish type the bin would accommodate. The first test was done using off the shelf spray paint to differentiate the bin lid and also include an icon on the bin base. Stickers were designed to be applied to the bin lid top and bin lid flap to easily describe what rubbish was accommodated and also not accommodated.

Figure 7: Test 1 - Spray Painting Sample Bin

While this was a time and cost effective option, the finish of the spray on the plastic was quite porous meaning it may easily stain if any liquids were spilled on it. In order to investigate what a professional lacquered option might look like, three of the bin lids were given to a local car body works shop who sprayed on the nearest RAL number colour options; red for general waste, green for recycling and brown beige for compost waste. In addition to the initial basic bin design plus lid logos, sample wall mounted boards were designed to accompany the bins to help clearly illustrate the different bin types and their uses. While an extremely attractive and high quality finish was attained on the painted bin lids, the quote given to spray all of the bins and lids was unfortunately much too high for the scope of this project.

Figure 8: Test 2 - Sprayed Bins with Wall Mounted Displays

What worked well throughout the design process thus far was the use, simplicity and cost effectiveness of high quality stickers. It was proposed to do a revision of the bin design using stickers only. It was agreed that while the wall mounted display options were excellent additions to the bins, that unfortunately there would be very few areas that would have the wall space to facilitate the hanging panels. To maintain this visible clarity and identity of these panels in the bin design, it was decided to incorporate the wall panel layout into the bin base as a sticker, and that the wall panels themselves be used in the main food halls only, highlighting a Waste Management Station, visible to all who use it and to people sitting nearby. The UL Green Campus Logo was incorporated on the bin base stickers and the wall mounted panels. It was decided that the composting bins were only necessary in food halls and not on the public corridors so as to avoid smells occurring in confined corridor spaces.

Figure 9: Test 3 - Stickers Only

Through the use of high quality stickers, the team arrived at a clear, distinct and cost effective final design solution. This solution was presented to our waste removal providers, Mr Binman, and they approved that the signage developed was accurate and corresponded to their waste removal program.

Figure 10: Test 4 - Final Overall Revision

The installation of the updated bins occurred over the course of a single day. All bins were gathered by the building Porter and collected by the sticker provider early in the morning, and returned later that afternoon completed. All bins were assembled and moved into place within an hour.

Figure 11: Bin Assembly

Figure 12: Bins Installed

Step 2: Staff Office Bins

In addition to the internal and external public bins, all staff offices are allocated private bins which forms another ‘source of entry’ point. The general rule of thumb for office bins is that they are blue bins for recycling waste only, with all other forms of waste to be removed by staff users to the public bins on the public corridors. This is mostly due to hygiene reasons as staff offices are cleaned only twice a week. Following an audit, it was highlighted there appeared to be inconsistencies with the type of bin being used in offices, with various different bin styles found. Some offices contained more than one bin to collect general waste, which is not allowed.

Figure 13 - 17: Bin Inconsistencies

Using the same template created for the internal public corridor bins, recycling themed stickers were created to be affixed to all of the blue office bins. Installation of these updated bins occurred on the same day as the public bins. They were returned to all of the offices by the end of the day.

Figure 18 - 20: Bin Installation

Figure 21: Final Bin Design

Step 3: Bin Bags

One of the key main stakeholders in the waste process that ensures it works successfully is the internal and external cleaning staff. Following a survey of their respective cleaning methods, it was highlighted that as all bin bags on campus are generally of the same colour, sometimes general waste and recycling can get mixed up by accident. This in turn can result in recycling bin bags being thrown into general waste skips to avoid recycling contamination, which in turn leads to a poor recycling process.

Figure 22: Internal Cleaning Staff Mobile Figure 23: External Cleaning Staff Mobile

In order to maintain perfect clarity for the cleaning staff internally and externally moving all waste to the external bin compound, colour coded bin bags were sourced to be placed in all bins, with colours consistent to the updated bin colours themselves. All cleaning staff welcomed this change as it helped to clear up any confusion.

Figure 24: Bin Bags Being Installed Internally & Externally

Step 4: External Bin Compound

The final step of the waste management process looks at the external bin compounds where all waste is removed out to. Following an inspection of the compound it did not appear that there were any key issues to be resolved here.

Figure 25: External Bin Compound

To complete the final step in the waste process and for clarity for all users, the bins were fitted with simple stickers to illustrate what coloured bin bags went into which appropriate bin.

Figure 24: Stickers Installed

Summary

The following diagram is a breakdown of our waste management strategy:

Education

The next step in the process is to install the same consistent logic described above campus wide. The education of all users on how to use them appropriately is key to ensuring the process is successful. A number of initiatives are planned to ensure this works.

Orientation Induction Stall

At the beginning of every semester all new students are given a guided tour around campus stopping at various informational stalls. It is planned to include details about the bin usage details at an already existent UL Green Campus stall.

Online Leaflet

To reach the whole campus community an e-leaflet is currently being developed which will be distributed via email to all staff and students.

Staff Induction

As part of induction to the campus new staff will have information provided about correct bin usage in public spaces and staff offices, as well as other UL Green Campus initiatives.