"Rose Quarter Public Recycling Improvement" Portland State University Solid Waste Reduction and Recycling Capstone Fall 2010

Final Report Background Current Systems and Conditions Overview of Capstone Activities Report Out o Data Collection o Conclusions o Suggested Improvements Questions & Answers

Background PSU Solid Waste Reduction and Recycling Capstone - Fall 2010 Partnering with the Rose Garden Arena and its contracted food services vendor, Ovations Goal of improving recycling and composting by guests in the largest public areas of the Rose Garden during Portland Trailblazers basketball games Pursued that goal through hands on work in the facility o Observing existing systems and operations o Interacting with the guests and staff o Identifying possible new activities and system changes o Piloting selected improvements

Current Systems and Conditions LEED Gold certification of arena in Spring 2010 o First sports venue in the U.S to be awarded this recognition Dedication aimed towards: o Energy o Water o Transportation o Waste Ultimate Goal becoming zero waste facility o Entire facility introduced public composting in Spring 2010 o Switched majority of service ware to compostables Compostable service ware examples, excluding gray decorative collector Blazers cup.

Current Systems and Conditions Three main areas of high public traffic and waste disposal o 100 level o 200 level (Club level)  with restaurant style seating and serving staff o 300 level Guests dispose waste into newly designed and introduced four part containers Majority of waste being generated:  Compostable:  Food  Food containers  Drink cups  Landfill:  Many candy wrappers  Various printed handouts  Snow cones and cotton candy

Overview of Capstone Activities Teamed up with the Rose Garden to interface with Trailblazer fans about waste reduction and recycling, observe the facility's existing systems and make suggested improvements

Overview of Capstone Activities Observing Existing Systems & Operations o Identified waste reduction and recycling efforts that would be beneficial for us to focus on during the Trailblazers games o Each game we performed different activities  Recycling and composting education to guests  Interacting with guests & employees throughout facility  Data collection about disposal in four part containers

Identified new physical system changes: o Removal of "old" recycling and trash areas o Repositioning containers during different parts of the game o New signage for public containers Developed activities that would fit in well with the current atmosphere of the Rose Garden to help increase awareness about the facility’s recycling and composting programs Overview of Capstone Activities

Data Collection

Data Collection Survey Sheet

Data Data Entry Excel Spreadsheet

Data Analysis Observed disposals over time

Data Analysis Observed disposals over time

Data Analysis Observed disposals over time

Data Collected Thursdays: Old Signs vs. New Signs 11/18/2010 P(mistake)= 31% Distribution of mistakes: P(compost in landfill)= 50% P(compost in recycling)= 13.7% 11/4/2010 P(mistake)= 51% Distribution of mistakes: P(compost in landfill)= 62% P(compost in recycling)= 13.9%

Data Collected Thursdays: Sign Comparison Among the mistakes made during Thursday games, the majority of the mistakes were compostables going into landfill bin Percentage of mistakes decreased after adapting new signs However, 24% of the mistakes went into bins with new signs (from 11/18/2010)

Data Collected Break rooms 11/4/2010 P(mistake)= 27% Major issue: P(compost into landfill)= 87%

Data Collected Distribution by Employee 11/4/ % of the mistakes were made by the red vest guest services 33% were made by Ovation employees

Data Collected Mistakes per Employee Group 11/4/ % of the Ovation staff are making a mistake 41% for red vests 54% for gray jackets 11/18/2010 Not enough information to compare.

Data Collected Saturdays: Old Signs vs. New Signs 11/6/2010 P(mistake)= 53% Distribution: P(compost in landfill)= 75% P(compost in recycling)= 17% 11/20/2010 P(mistake)= 37% Distribution: P(compost in landfill)= 41% P(compost in recycle)= 26%

Data Collected Saturdays: Signs Comparison Accuracy of disposal choice improved after adapting new signs 51% of the mistakes made on 11/20 went into bins with new signs, while both were monitored Major problem of compostables going into landfill container improved after introducing the new signs

Data Collected Break rooms 11/6/2010 P(mistake)= 41% Major issue: P(compost into landfill)= 77% 11/20/2010 P(mistake)= 28% Major issue: P(compost into landfill)= 76%

Data Collected Distribution by Employee 11/6/ % of the mistakes were made by the red vest guest services 43% were by the Ovation employees 11/20/ % were made by the red vest guest services 37% were made by the Ovation employees

Data Collected Mistakes per Employee Group 11/6/ % of the Ovation staff are making a mistake 44% for red vests 61% for gray jackets 11/20/ % for Ovation staff 30% for red vests 50% for gray jackets

Data Collected Tuesday: First Prototype and without break room information 11/9/2010 P(mistakes)= 44% Distribution: P(compost into landfill)= 72% P(compost into recycling)= 17%

Data Collected Break rooms 11/9/2010 P(mistakes)= 33% Major issue: P(compost waste into landfill)= 74% Not enough information or data on employee type Number of gray jackets employees was low, but the majority of these employees did not sort correctly across all the collection days

Data Collected Possible Errors in the Data Analysis Bias due to the structure of the data collection process Irregularities due to coding errors Some portions of the collected data were not included in this analysis due to coding errors and incorrect coding

Concluding Remarks We have a few simple, yet urgent, suggested improvements to increase disposal accuracy and total waste diversion rates.

Passive Guest Opportunities: o Improved containers signage o Video messaging o Compost table toppers o Point of sale composting advertisements o Composting program information on tickets and literature Benefits of This Approach: o Major focus on new compostable products that are most confusing for public o Minimal staff and resources needed after implementation o Full facility coverage Suggested Improvements based on Capstone Activities: We Compost!

Suggested Improvements based on Capstone Activities: Half-time compost education skit Compost educational cheers Introduce new face painting stencils Material sorting games Compost stickers Point of disposal intercepts

Suggested Improvements based on Capstone Activities: Employee Education o Waste contests o Pre-shift meetings o Sustainable purchasing guidelines Disposal Point Improvements o Removal of old, poorly labeled trash and recycling stations o Repositioning of new containers Education at Point of Purchase o Club level entry table o Entry into building

Questions or Comments? Thank you from the Fall 2010 PSU Solid Waste Reduction and Recycling Capstone Class