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

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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

6. DIAGRAM OF A CLASSROOM RECYCLING SYSTEM
Recycling Bin and Trash Placed Together
Right by the Door
Simple Signage Above Recycling Bin

7. RECYCLING SIGNAGE

8. 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

9. BASELINE INVENTORY

10. WASTE AUDIT

11. Additional materials: Food Waste, Polystyrene #6,
Other Plastics 3,4,5,7, Yard Waste, Textiles, Electronics, Other

12. MONITORING

13. 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

14. 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

15. 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

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

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

18. 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

19. Material Carbon Savings “Break-Even Point” (miles)
per ton recycled Truck Rail Freighter
Aluminum , , ,000
Corrugated , , ,000
Newspaper , , ,000
Steel , , ,000
LDPE , , ,000
PET , , ,000
HDPE , , ,000
Glass (to bottles) , , ,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

20. 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

21. 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

23. Applied Math

24. 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 liters CH4 under typical landfill conditions
Source: EPA WARM and
Brown,S Env. Benefits of Compost Use.BioCycle 48: 6

25. 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

26. 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