Millar Library Waste Sort 2013 Waste Reduction Task Force On Wednesday, December 11th, 2013, Portland State University s Waste Reduction Task Force sorted a half a day s worth of landfill-bound waste from the Brandford Price Millar Library. This report presents the Task Force s findings and recommendations. 0
Contents Section 1: Background... 2 Section 2: Methods... 4 Section 3: Findings... 5 Section 4: Observations... 7 Section 5: Comparison... 8 Section 6: Recommendations... 9 Section 7: Waste Sort Photos... 10 Section 8: Glossary of Material Categories... 13 1
Section 1: Background The Waste Reduction Task Force (WRTF) is a student-led initiative that seeks to redefine the way the Portland State University (PSU) campus community looks at trash. The task force is comprised of volunteers from various campus organizations including the Campus Sustainability Office (CSO), the Sustainability Leadership Center (SLC), EcoReps, Take Back the Tap, the environmental club, and PSU Dining/Aramark. The WRTF is committed to transforming Portland State s perception of trash to be recognized as a resource rather than waste. For the fall 2013 quarter, task force members included Peter Daeges, Anthony Hair, Val Holdahl, Thea Kindschuh, Emma Prichard, Kristen Purdy, and Kauri Voss. The WRTF determined that in order to examine the potential to provide post-consumer, public composting to students that the task force needed to perform a waste sort of a highly trafficked location on campus where public composting might be feasible. The WRTF selected the Brandford Price Millar Library as their waste sort site due to the location of the Branford's Bean Café on the library s first floor and the large volume of students who utilize the space during final s week, December 9 th through December 14 th, 2013. The Brandford Price Millar Library is the largest academic library in the Portland metropolitan area. The Millar Library is a five-story, 194,783 square foot, tan-bricked building that covers an entire city block of PSU s urban campus. The library acts as a hub for academic life on campus, housing over 1.4 million volumes in its collection as well as a computer lab, study rooms, archives, and offices. The library is operated by a staff of over 40 individuals and serves not only the PSU community, but is open to the general public as well. The Branford's Bean Café, located on the library s first floor, is operated by Aramark. Brandford s Bean serves coffee from Stumptown Coffee Roasters, Numi teas, and fresh pastries from Marsee Bakery, in addition to juices, sandwiches, and miscellaneous snacks. The material diversion services readily available to custodial staff emptying the library s internal containers are a single 95-gallon roll cart for glass bottle and jar recycling, a single 4-yard dumpster for commingled recycling (mixed papers, corrugated cardboard, plastic bottles and tubs, and metal containers) and a single 4-yard dumpster for landfill-bound materials all located on the south side of the library. In preparation of the sort, Trashco, the university s waste hauler, agreed to not service the trash dumpster for a 24-hour period and delivered out a 65-gallon roll cart for compostable fibers and food scraps. PSU currently employs a variety of material diversion practices depending on the building and its occupants. All buildings currently collect commingled and glass bottle and jar recycling. As of August 2013, all buildings have the option to collect post-consumer compost in break room areas to be serviced by custodial staff. Compost collection prior to August 2013 was under DIY systems, in which responsible parties emptied their own internal compost bins into the external compost containers provided by the commercial hauler because the custodial contracts did not include compost collection. Pre-consumer compost 2
on campus is collected in various locations such as the Aramark serviced kitchens and retail tenant kitchens. Post-consumer compost is collected in only three food vending locations: the student-run, sustainably-focused Food for Thought Café, Victor s dining hall, and a single station in the Smith Viking Food Court. The collection for recycling of rigid plastics, batteries, e-waste, film plastics, yard debris/landscape waste, expanded foams, media (including CDs), and other recoverable materials is accomplished through individual and independently generated work order requests on behalf of individual departments or units. Periodic collection recycling events are also held for Styrofoam, textbooks, and e-waste The objectives of the Millar Library waste sort are as follows: 1. Determine the composition of the landfill-bound waste stream by conducting a material assessment on the waste generated from the Millar Library during a disposal period of 24-hours. The material assessment included hand sorting the waste into material categories, weighing the sorted materials, recording the data, and making quantitative and qualitative observations. 2. Develop recommendations regarding material waste that could be diverted or reduced based on the findings from the material assessment. 3. Provide evidence for the implementation of a post-consumer, public composting option for students. 3
Section 2: Methods The material assessment was conducted on December 11th, 2013 by PSU s WRTF in the South Park Blocks in front of the Brandford Price Millar Library located at 1875 SW Park Avenue, Portland, Oregon, 97201. The library s 4-yard trash dumpster of landfill-bound waste is scheduled to be serviced five times a week. However, it typically tends to be picked up on an almost daily basis when school is in session. The last service day prior to the waste sort was on December 10th, 2013. The three-month average weight of the dumpster prior to the waste sort reveals the average weight of the dumpster as 585 pounds. A representative sample estimated to be 35% of the entire load was strategically extracted from multiple points in the load, assessed for material representation accuracy, and handsorted by the WRTF into the following 14 material categories: Recycle Compost Special Landfill Cardboard Compostable food scraps Special waste Non-recyclable Mixed paper Compostable fibers Plastic film Coffee cups Metals Rigid plastics Restroom waste Plastic bottles & tubs Liquid Glass bottles & jars The four groups of material categories refer to the existing diversion opportunities in the Portland Metro region and at PSU and are further defined below: The Recycle category represents materials that are collected by commercial haulers in the Portland Metro area and most of which are required by Metro regional government to be recycled by businesses. The Compost category represents materials that are collected by commercial haulers in the Portland Metro area and transported to compost processing facilities in the region. The Special category represents materials that PSU has targeted for diversion and created specific collection systems through their commercial hauler, Trashco, and programs like the ReUse Room. The Landfill category represents materials that cannot be diverted from the landfill through existing PSU s collection systems or in the Portland Metro region due to lack of markets or processing facilities in the region. See Section 8: Glossary of Material Categories for detailed descriptions of each material. 4
Section 3: Findings Findings and recommendations resulting from the landfill-bound material assessment are cited in terms of weight in pounds. Lighter materials such as coffee cups and plastic film can represent a large percentage of volume in the waste stream; however, when considered by weight alone, these materials may not appear as a significant component of the load. Please refer to the photos in Section 7: Waste Assessment Photos for visual representation. Table 3.1 and Figure 3.1 present the weight according to the different types of material categories outlined in Section 2: Methods. MATERIAL WEIGHT % Corrugated cardboard 5.1 2.5% Mixed paper 6.2 3.0% Recycle Metals 2.5 1.2% Plastic bottles & tubs 7.7 3.7% Glass 5.4 2.6% Compost Compostable food scraps 65.8 31.6% Compostable fibers 43.5 20.9% Special Waste 1.2 0.6% Special Plastic film 5.4 2.6% Rigid plastics 11.2 5.4% Non-recyclable 15.0 7.2% Landfill Coffee cups 19.0 9.1% Restroom waste 0.8 0.4% Liquid 19.5 9.4% TOTAL 208.3 100.0% Table 3.1 Materials and Weights According to the data, 52% of the materials in the landfill-bound load could have been composted through PSU s existing composting systems. 12.9% Recyclable 9% Special 52% Compostable 26.1% Landfill Figure 3.1 Breakdown of material weights Additionally, a total of approximately 22% of the materials could have been recycled in either the commingled recycling on campus or as part of the expanded specialty recycling program for plastics and e-waste. 5
Removing the compostable and recyclable materials which consisted of 74% of the sample, only roughly 26% or 54.4 lbs. of the load was non-recyclable and considered true waste. Of these 54.4 lbs., 19 lbs. were coffee cups and 19.5 lbs. was liquid, leaving the other 15.9 lbs. to consist of items such as chip bags, wrappers, thermal receipt paper, and some restroom waste. The most surprising finding from the waste sort of the Millar Library was that so much of the waste that is generated there is compostable. From the 208.3 lbs. of sample, 109.3 lbs. is compostable, 54.4 lbs. is non-recoverable, and 44.6 lbs. is recyclable. Figure 3.2 provides a stacked bar graph of the entire sample by category and highlights the large percentage of compostable food and fibers in green. Figure 3.2 Stacked bar graph of the materials from the entire sample by each category 6
Section 4: Observations The following qualitative observations were made in addition to the quantitative data gathered from the hand-sorted materials assessment. 1. There was a large amount of food being consumed in the library. Observational evidence of food both being brought from home by students as well as purchased at nearby food carts and vendors was strong. 2. A significant amount of heavy, moist coffee grounds from the Branford's Bean Café contributed to the weight of the food scrap. Nitrogen-rich coffee grounds make an excellent addition to compost. 3. As would be anticipated in a college library during final s week, disposable, singleuse coffee cups took up a large volume of the sorted sample. Increased promotion of durable coffee mugs might help reduce the amount of landfill-bound waste from the library. 4. Many of the materials in the recycle category (cardboard, paper, and plastic bottles) are common items in Portland s commingled recycling system for both homes and businesses. Their presence in the waste stream may indicate a need for additional educational outreach to students and/or possible inefficiencies in the library s internal waste collection and recycling systems. 5. Examples of green washing of eco-friendly packaging that was misleading as to whether it was recyclable or compostable were found in the waste stream. These labels could cause confusion for students attempting to properly dispose of the item. Image 4.1: Example of green washing 7
Section 5: Comparison In order to put the waste sort of the Millar Library completed by the WRTF into perspective, the results were compared to other waste sorts that were completed for the university by Community Environmental Services (CES), a research and service unit within the Center for Urban Studies at Portland State University, in 2013. The methodology, language, and material categories used during the sort and to create this report originated with CES, so the results should be comparable. The waste sort results from the library were compared to sorts conducted by CES both campus-wide and for the Urban Studies building. Table 5.1 shows the library s results next to the results from the two CES waste sorts. The percentage of recyclable materials found in the landfillbound waste was consistent across the board, ranging from 11% to 13%. The percentage of compostable materials at 52% was higher in the WRTF library sort than in the other two sorts. The percentage of nonrecyclable or true waste at 7% was much lower for the library than for the Urban Studies building or campuswide. Recycle Compost Special Landfill MATERIAL Corrugated cardboard 2% 1% 1% Mixed paper 3% 6% 5% Metals 1% 1% 2% Plastic bottles & tubs 4% 2% 2% Glass 3% 1% 3% Compostable food scraps 32% 45% 25% Compostable fibers 21% 1% 11% Special Waste 1% 1% 5% Plastic film 3% 2% 6% Rigid plastics 5% 2% 6% Non-recyclable 7% 26% 18% Coffee cups 9% 5% 4% Restroom waste 0% 4% 10% Liquid 9% 3% 2% TOTAL 100% 100% 100% Recycle 13% 11% 13% Compost 52% 46% 36% Special 9% 5% 17% Landfill 26% 38% 34% 100% 100% 100% Lib rary 2013 Urb an Cen ter 2013 Cam p u s-w id e 2013 Figure 5.1 Comparison of PSU s 2013 waste sort results 8
Section 6: Recommendations After analysis of the data, the WRTF recommends the following: Compost The amount of compostable food scraps and fibers warrants a post-consumer, public compost pilot in PSU s Millar Library. The WRTF has determined that in order for this pilot to be successful that feedback from key stakeholders (library staff, Aramark employees, and students) at the library will be necessary. In order to achieve this, the task force recommends hosting a focus group for stakeholders so that their recommendations can be incorporated into the pilot prior to launching it. Crucial areas to consider in the focus group is the size and style of compost container, effective signage and messaging, placement of the containers, and length of the pilot. In addition, the WRTF recommends that the approach of compost pilot be structured in three distinct phases. 1. The compost container(s) are placed along with signage and perhaps a display about composting. Volunteers from the WRTF will person the compost containers to intercept and educate users. 2. As the compost pilot continues, the volunteers will monitor the usage of the compost container(s) and make observational notes. They will not actively instruct users, but allow the system and signage to act as guide. 3. The final phase of the pilot will not involve WRTF volunteers directing or observing users. The system will be left to succeed or fail on its own merits. Throughout all three phases, the WRTF volunteers will be sorting the compost container(s) on a regular basis and weighing both the amount of compost and contaminants in order to establish the ratio of compost to contamination with a contamination rate less than 10% considered a success. Recycle In order to help the compost pilot be as successful as possible, the WRTF recommends that current waste and recycling systems be updated prior to the compost pilot. This would involve removing standalone trash bins or pairing them with recycling, improving recycling signage, and striving for more consistency in the style and placement of trash and recycling containers. 9
Section 7: Waste Sort Photos Image 7.1: Setting up for the sort Image 7.2: Library s 4-yard dumpster Image 7.3: Coffee cups and compost Image 7.4: Special waste Image 7.5: Non-recyclable Image 7.6: Coffee cups Image 7.7: Mixed recycling Image 7.8: Various plastics Image 7.9: Compostable items 10
Image 7.10: Cardboard Image 7.11: Metals Image 7.12: Liquid bucket Image 7.13: Sandwich board Image 7.14: Sorting food scraps Image 7.15: Compost and liquid Image 7.16: Glass Image 7.17: Rigid plastics/bottles Image 7.18: Weighing plastic bottles 11
Image 7.19: Waste sort in progress, sorting the materials into categories Image 7.20: Sort completed, 208.3 lbs. of waste sorted into 14 categories 12
Section 8: Glossary of Material Categories Compostable Food Scraps Vegetable, fruit, grain-based food scraps, meat, fish, fat, bones, eggshells, and coffee grinds. Compostable Fibers Paper fibers contaminated with food including coffee filters, soiled napkins, soiled paper bags, pizza boxes, waxed corrugated cardboard, and compostable food-wear service products. Cardboard Corrugated boxes or sheets used for shipping and packaging materials. Coffee Cups Single use cups used to serve coffee or other hot beverages. Glass bottles and jars Containers made of glass. This category excludes light bulbs, flat glass, flower vases, drinking glasses, and tempered glass such as baking dishes. Metals Containers made of aluminum, steel or tin, including containers for beverages, food, and other materials. Empty aerosol cans, scrap metal, and clean aluminum foil are included in this category. Mixed Paper Includes office paper, newspaper, magazines, phonebooks, paper board/soft cardboard, folders, scrap paper, sticky notes, shredded paper, paper bags, egg cartons, cereal boxes, and all other non-corrugated cardboards. This category also includes aseptic such as gable-top milk and juice cartons and square-shaped cartons often used for soups or soymilk. Non-recyclable Materials that cannot currently be diverted. These materials are also known as true waste because there are currently no recycling markets for the materials, the materials are not compostable at local composting facilities or the materials are not readily reused or fit for donation. Plastic Bottles and Tubs Plastic containers with a neck, including containers for beverages, other fluids; plastic tubs of primarily food grade plastic often used for yogurt, margarine, and other food or non-food materials, rigid plant pots larger than four inches, and plastic buckets smaller than five gallons. Plastic Film All clean plastic film bags including grocery and sandwich bags. Also includes shrink wrap, pallet wrap, bubble wrap, and plastic films. Restroom Waste Bathroom paper towels and other related items. Rigid Plastic Plastics that are accepted through an expanded plastic recycling program. Special Waste - This category included items that were particularly noteworthy, that didn t fit into existing categories, and were not abundant enough to create a category specifically 13
for them. The types of items found in this category were unopened food items, items deemed reusable, and small amounts of e-waste. 14