SUSTAINABILITY AND THE SCHOOL WASTE STREAM Sustainable Waste Stream Management Implementation Challenges Curriculum Tools for Engaging Students

THE SCHOOL WASTE STREAM Landfill School Campus Waste bin Tons per year Recycling Bin Material Recovery Facility Tons per year Food Waste Cart Tons per year Compost Facility Source Reduction Distance Cost Cost

GREEN SCHOOLS- A SYSTEMS PERSPECTIVE Transportation of Students and Staff Food Campus ecosystem Materials Purchasing Use Behaviors Campus water use Educational and administrative materials Disposal decisions Monitoring Campus energy use 3

THE SCHOOL WASTE STREAM Landfill School Campus Waste bin Tons per year Recycling Bin Material Recovery Facility Tons per year Food Waste Cart Tons per year Compost Facility Source Reduction Distance Cost Cost

LIFE CYCLE OF A STUDENT WORKBOOK Energy Energy Energy Energy Energy Final Deposition Landfill Combustion Recycle or Reuse Raw materials acquisition Materials Manufacture Product Manufacture Product Consumption Wastes and Pollution Wastes and Pollution Wastes and Pollution Wastes and Pollution Wastes and Pollution Open-loop recycling- one or limited number of return cycles into product that is then disposed Closed loop recycling- repeated recycling into same or similar product keeping material from disposal Reuse Product recycling 5

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 SCHOOL Bin in every classroom Administrative offices Copy room Faculty lounge Cafeteria Playground Bottom line: give people the chance to do the right thing wherever there’s a waste bin, place a recycling bin

BASELINE INVENTORY

WASTE AUDIT

Additional materials: Food Waste, Polystyrene #6, Other Plastics 3,4,5,7, Yard Waste, Textiles, Electronics, Other http://www.recycleworks.org/schools/s_audits.html

MONITORING

THE SCHOOL WASTE STREAM Landfill School Campus Waste bin Tons per year Recycling Bin Material Recovery Facility Tons per year Food Waste Cart Tons per year Compost Facility Source Reduction Distance Cost Cost

SOURCE REDUCTION Food 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 BENEFIT Waste Service Cost Structure for two Districts in Alameda County Waste: $80/cubicyard/week Food Waste: $40/cubicyard/week Mixed Recyclables: $20/cubicyard/week 3,800 students 46,500 students 50% diversion is getting all recyclables out of waste stream 75% diversion requires successful implementation of food waste recycling

LABOR COST BENEFIT MIXED RECYCLING Waste bin Recycling Bin Food Waste Cart

LABOR COST BENEFIT FOOD SCRAPS Waste bin Recycling Bin Food Waste Cart

ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFIT Emerson Elementary in Oakland, CA. 264 students diverted 62% of their waste reducing 231 TONS CO2 emissions 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. 264 students enrolled 62% diversion 231 tons

Material Carbon Savings “Break-Even Point” (miles) per ton recycled Truck Rail Freighter Aluminum 3.44 116,000 451,000 524,000 Corrugated 0.79 27,000 104,000 120,000 Newspaper 0.68 23,000 90,000 104,000 Steel 0.48 16,000 63,000 73,000 LDPE 0.36 12,000 47,000 55,000 PET 0.33 11,000 43,000 50,000 HDPE 0.30 10,000 39,000 45,000 Glass (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 19

Human Health Cost ($/ton of material) Production Disposal Total Virgin Corrugated Box $95 $2 $97 Recycled Content Corrugated Box $86 $88 Virgin Aluminum ~$923 $5 ~$925 Recycled Content Aluminum ~$71 ~$76 Virgin Glass $69 $1 $70 Recycled Content Glass $47 $48 Virgin HDPE $124 $4 $128 Virgin PET $327 $331 Virgin PVC $1,710 $1714 20 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 Based on impact of resource extraction and GHG emissions Need to include the recyclability of the materials, their toxicity, the biodiversity of the raw material extraction site, and the working conditions along the supply chain Material intensity (g) Number of uses

Applied Math

CH4 23X more potent GHG than CO2 Environmental Impact Analyses CH4 23X more potent GHG than CO2 4.4 tons waste/year 19.5 pounds CO2 /gallon 25 miles/gallon 3,200-4,600 miles of driving ~12% foodwaste US EPA- family of four generates 4.4 tons of waste per year ~1000 pounds foodwaste Converts to 300-435 liters CH4 under typical landfill conditions Source: EPA WARM and Brown,S. 2007 Env. Benefits of Compost Use.BioCycle 48: 6

ECOLITERACY Sustainability THE SCHOOL WASTE STREAM Source Reduction School Campus Source Reduction Landfill Material Recovery Facility Compost Waste bin Recycling Bin Food Waste Cart Tons per year Distance Cost

Using the EPA WARM Model to Compare Emissions Reductions Measures 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 Recycling is the lowest cost alternative and uses existing infrastructure Source: EPA WARM model calculations run by Kelly Runyan ESA