Guide To Developing An In-house Waste Reduction Program Tom Rhodes, NC DPPEA Waste Analyst

What Is DPPEA? The North Carolina Division of Pollution Prevention and Environmental Assistance is the NON-REGULATORY branch of the NC Department of Environment and Natural Resources. DPPEA provides FREE assistance to local governments and businesses for the purpose of reducing waste and protecting our environment.

Determining Your “Fence line” Determine the physical boundaries or “fence line” that your environmental program is to cover. Every operation and action within those areas will be examined for its impact on the environment.

Where Do We Start? Start by gathering information about requirements to which your office is subject. Are there any written or understood environmental rules governing your operation? For instance: Does the Town of Kernersville have a cardboard ban or ordinance. How about Forsyth County? How do state and federal environmental guidelines affect your operations? Recycling your cans?

Legal Obligations? Local governments may be subject to any number of Federal, State and local environmental rulings, ordinances or internal policies. Put together a team to research environmental requirements and laws that govern your operations. Check out solid waste rulings and hazardous waste laws. DPPEA can provide assistance with this.

Identify Environmental Aspects of Operations and Activities Environmental Aspects are the actions and operations that have either a positive or negative effect on the environment. Assess how your department interacts with the environment. Examine your day-to-day operations to see how each activity may affect it……

…..For Instance Look at your paper usage. Are you double- siding copies? Are you printing down s unnecessarily? Using three paper towels when one will do? Are you using compact fluorescent bulbs in office lighting instead of incandescent bulbs? Do you use re-chargeable batteries instead of disposables? Leaving the lights on in the restroom?

Environmental Impacts Impacts are the ways in which each of your Aspects affect the environment. Ask yourself, “How does each action or operation affect the environment?”. For Example: If one of your Aspects is paper use, the Impacts could include the following………….

Impacts of Paper Use More trees have to be cut down. More air pollution from transporting trees and finished goods. Air pollution and greenhouse gas production from manufacturing paper. More energy use. More packaging to dispose of. Higher disposal costs for town. Landfill fills up sooner.

Define Views of Each Department Each department will have its own set of environmental issues to consider. Each department will determine its own aspects and impacts. Each department should select a group leader or department head to meet with your “environmental coach” to discuss and rate each aspect.

Developing a Policy One of the most important tasks is that of developing an environmental policy. First determine who should be involved in the writing of the policy and the best process for writing it. The policy can be composed of very simple language that is easily understood and should include the following…….

Elements of an Environmental Policy Compliance with legal requirements and voluntary commitments Pollution Prevention Continuous improvement in environmental performance, including areas not subject to regulation Sharing information on environmental performance with the community.

Principles Using a systems approach, the North Carolina Division of Pollution Prevention and Environmental Assistance (DPPEA) is committed to protect the environment and conserve natural resources by providing technical assistance on the elimination, reduction, reuse and recycling of wastes and pollutants, both within the confines of the DPPEA offices and to our customers. Furthermore, DPPEA shall identify and promote best management practices through an integrated multimedia approach while maintaining a high level of operational efficiency, and shall strive for excellence internally and to the citizens of North Carolina. Compliance DPPEA shall comply with all environmental rules and policies and regularly conduct internal assessments to ensure compliance through cooperation with governing bodies, environmental organizations and the public. Continuous Improvement DPPEA strongly supports environmental management systems (EMS) through upper management support and employee involvement. Through its implementation of an internal EMS program, DPPEA will continually seek to improve its environmental and operational performance by identifying and implementing methods to improve its operations, increasing pollution prevention efforts and encouraging the implementation of effective EMSs by other organizations. Communication DPPEA shall continually and openly communicate its commitment to environmental excellence and support of the EMS program to its employees and to the public. Sample Environmental Policy

Who’s On First??? I don’t know!……No, I Don’t Know’s on third base. What? No, What plays Second base….. Abbot and Costello. Define Key Roles and Responsibilities (K.R.R.) so there is no duplication of efforts. Assign those roles to the most appropriate staff so everyone will understand “Who’s on First”.

K.R.R. Focus on the higher responsibilities of senior management, key functional leaders and environmental staff. Responsibilities for other specific jobs and functions will be identified later. Once the K.R.R. has been defined, determine the Objectives and Targets.

Objectives Objectives are the actions that you would like to put into effect that will help you reach certain goals or targets to make a more positive impact on the environment.

Targets Each objective should have a goal that you would like to achieve. This is your target. It may be expressed in percentages or quantified in other ways.

Objectives and Targets Your Objectives should consistent with your environmental policy and reflect the analyses you carried out on legal and other requirements, environmental aspects and impacts as well as the views of each department. Defining the Key Roles and Responsibilities will help you to determine the relevant levels and functions for achieving objectives and targets.

Examples of Objectives and Targets……. Decrease paper usage by 15%. Reduce hazardous waste output by 5% Conserve 3% on fuel for vehicles. Convert all overhead light fixtures to T-8, low- mercury fluorescent tubes in offices. Partially de-lamp 50% office light fixtures. Purchase and use 10% more recycled- content office supplies.

Designing Your Program Now that you have laid out your tools, you are ready to begin designing your program. 1. Establish Operational Controls 2. Identify Monitoring and Measurement needs. 3. Develop Environmental Programs.

Getting Your Ducks In A Row: Operational Controls Simply put, this means to develop control mechanisms for your significant aspects. Here is an example: Aspect: Your aspect is Styrofoam cups in the break room. Control: Provide re-usable cups for guests and employees.

Your Turn…. Let’s brainstorm! What are some aspects of your daily operation that affect the environment? Consider everything that may possibly affect the environment. Which of those aspects are most significant?

Monitoring and Measuring In order to make sure you are “on target” with your environmental program, you need to develop a system to monitor each activity and measure your successes. Each method of monitoring and measuring may differ from aspect to aspect.

Your Turn….. Consider some of the aspects we discussed. How can each of these be monitored and measured? Remember to think in both the short-term and the long-term. Remember: At this stage you are just compiling your list of operational control and monitoring needs. You’ll use this list to develop your program…..

Questions To Ask How do we control each operation or activity now? Are these controls adequate to meet our objectives? What type of monitoring and measurement is needed to track our progress?

System Maintenance Establish Corrective Action for each aspect as necessary. Establish Document Control to set standards for corrective actions. Establish a method for Records Management.

Firming Up Your Operational Controls Using the template you created earlier in pairing your aspects, impacts and operational controls, now you can craft your Work Instructions for each operation or activity to conform to the goals you established in your Policy Statement and control significant environmental aspects.

Typical Work Instruction

Define Job-Specific Roles and Responsibilities Assign responsibilities for corrective actions to the appropriate staff member. For instance: Oil filter management could be assigned to the motor pool supervisor. Environmentally preferable purchasing would be the responsibility of the purchasing manager.

Employee Awareness Once the Roles and Responsibilities are established, conduct periodic meetings to help staff members understand the environmental program and keep them up to date on progress.

Develop System Level Procedures Some system level procedures could include such things as Employee Training, Internal and External Communications, Emergency Preparedness and Response, Management Review, etc.

Employee Training Now it’s time to conduct specific staff training. This may be as simple or as complicated as you wish to make it. Each staff member should be trained to conduct specific duties as are written in the Work Instructions.

Assess Your Environmental Program Periodically review your program to make sure you are on target. Some organizations find it is easier to review parts of the program over time until the whole program is examined. Others do a complete assessment at one time. At this point, you can use the corrective and preventive action process you used earlier to address any gaps in the program.

Management Review Management should review the results of the program assessment to assure that the program fulfills the true nature of the Environmental Policy Statement. Management should make assignments for any changes needed. Such assignments should be consistent with the roles and responsibilities previously established.

Now Start Over….. Developing a comprehensive environmental program is a continuing process. You will learn as you go and apply what you have learned previously to explore new territory…….. Good Luck!

Useful Tools Develop an Environmentally Preferable Procurement Policy. Join P2Assist Listserv. Visit DPPEA’s Web page at: Use DPPEA’s document search at Call DENR Customer Service Center for permitting and regulation information at:

North Carolina Division of Pollution Prevention and Environmental Assistance Tom Rhodes, Waste Analyst (919)