There’s an interesting post by Brett Dioguardi entitled “How Green is Your Team.” But instead of ranking pro sports teams on their actual performance in various sustainability categories, he scores teams and leagues in terms of what they disclose about their policies in 16 categories, including waste and packaging. His study looked at the official web sites of teams and leagues to determine how much information is disclosed. 

As you might expect, there was a range of results:

 MLB teams provide the most information of any league about environmental initiatives, with a 31% disclosure rating. The NHL and NBA aren’t far behind, tying each other with a 28% rating. The NFL, meanwhile, scored only a 15% disclosure rating, meaning that 85% of the time, its teams provided no information on these issues.

The significance of this study lies in the fact that teams and leagues are still somewhat reluctant (and in some cases, very reluctant) to disclose information about their sustainability practices. We are pleased to note that many teams rank high in disclosing information about waste and recycling. However, more information should be available.  “Green” claims must be verifiable, and teams and leagues should be willing to share their best practices.

Harvard University recycles, reuses, or composts more than half its waste, but officials readily concede there is room to further reduce the more than 6,300 tons the University sends to landfills each year. According to the Harvard Gazette, improved composting will be one of the primary methods of reducing waste.

Although Harvard’s recycling and reuse rate stands at about 55 percent, a recent audit, in which 50 bags of trash collected in Harvard Yard were torn open and inspected, showed 41 percent could have been recycled, another 38 percent could have been composted, and 4 percent could have been reused. Just 18 percent should have been shipped to the landfill according to current policies.

According to Rob Gogan, associate manager of recycling services in Harvard’s University Operations Services, the biggest trend in recycling has been the increase of composting. Food, landscaping, and other organic waste is gathered, broken down, and trucked to nearby farms to be used as fertilizer. Harvard’s switch to single-stream recycling has aided the move to composting, Gogan said, by allowing recyclables to be gathered in one container instead of two, freeing up room for a composting container.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has included recycling as one of three “key areas of our PlaNYC environmental and infrastructure agenda.”  His recently unveiled plan calls for many residential, commercial and public space initiatives – all designed to increase recycling rates in New York.

Because CleanRiver Recycling Solutions is primarily concerned with public space recycling containers, we were curious about whether the city will have more of these.  The new plan does pledge to increase the number of recycling bins in public places from 600 to 1000.  While we applaud any increased opportunity to recycle in the streets, parks and subways of New York, 1,000 containers for a city of more than eight million people (not including commuters and tourists) can best be described as a starting point.

We understand budgetary restrictions. We also do not recommend deploying containers until the collection system is ready. As such, we offer a small suggestion. Concentrate the new recycling containers in high-value areas and conduct a pilot program to evaluate which containers, what types of graphic signage and how the units are deployed. The results of such a pilot study will be useful  as New York grows its recycling infrastructure in the future.

A more detailed look at the New York proposal is provided by Steven Cohen, Executive Director, Columbia University's Earth Institute, in this blog post.

CleanRiver is pleased to be involved in a very promising program to explore how to make food courts sustainable. Here’s an update from Zero Waste Zone on the Sustainable Food Court Initiative’s pilot program now being conducted at the Atlanta airport.

This pilot program was also recently covered by the National Restaurant Association.

As working members of the team, it’s exciting to see this project moving forward!

Thanks to Chaz Miller, state programs director for the National Solid Wastes Management Association, we offer this these EPA estimates on municipal solid waste for 2010.  The data shows there are major opportunities for recycling and even bigger opportunities for composting:

Generated:

·         249.9 million tons.

·         1,617 pounds per person per year.

·         4.43 pounds per person per day.

·         Food wastes, yard trimmings, corrugated boxes, plastic packaging and wood packaging are the largest items in MSW before recycling.

Recycled:

·         64.8 million tons, a 25.9% recycling rate for all MSW.

·         36% recycling rate for MSW not including food and yard waste.

·         419.3 pounds per person per year.

·         1.15 pounds per person per day.

·         Corrugated boxes, non-groundwood printed paper (office paper) newspapers/groundwood paper, glass bottles and lead acid batteries are the most recycled by weight.

·         Lead-acid batteries, corrugated boxes, newspapers/groundwood paper, steel cans and “major appliances” have the highest recycling rates.

Recycled Content:

·         Aluminum cans, recycled paperboard, corrugated medium and glass bottles have high levels of recycled content.

Composted:

·         20.2 million tons of yard and food waste.

·         8.1% composting rate for all MSW.

·         57.5% composting rate for yard waste.

·         2.8% composting rate for food waste.

·         130.7 pounds per person per year.

·         0.36 pounds per person per day.

Burned or Landfilled:

·         164.9 million tons or 66% of MSW.

·         29.3 million tons combusted with energy recovery.

·         135.7 million tons landfilled.

·         1,099.5 pounds per person per year.

·         3.01 pounds per person per day.

·         Food waste, yard waste and furniture are the largest components in the disposal stream.

Placement, configuration, and layout of recycling receptacles are significant factors in promoting recycling and achieving a high rate of diversion. Strategically locating bins to capture the greatest amount of recycling should be done in consultation with park staff and other applicable stakeholders. A useful tool to determine where to locate bins can be to start with identifying areas with high traffic flow or activities that generate the greatest concentration of waste and/or litter.

Recycling bins should be located within 3 to 14 metres apart to be the most effective. Providing this many bins in an open space may be cost prohibitive and unsightly. In this instance, use the above as a guideline and place bins using other principles identified in this section.

Commuter areas include those areas where people enter/exit public transit and busy streets/sidewalks. This type of area tends to generate a large amount of recyclables as beverages are consumed, newspapers are read, etc. as people wait for transit or walk. Open spaces located near densely populated areas capture more recyclables. Bins located on the exterior of the open space will capture a greater amount of material than those located in the interior.

Although it may seem logical to place bins in the vicinity of crowded areas, this may not always be the best choice. Bins located in areas of extreme crowding will be inaccessible and even difficult to locate. If a bin is not clearly visible, it significantly decreases the likelihood of its use.

Consideration should be given to accessibility for children and people with disabilities. Due to the complexity of issues involved with making open space recycling totally accessible, it is not the focus of this report.

Placing recycling bins in areas where people expect to find them will help increase diversion rates. Examples of these locations include near entrances and exits; near washrooms; in eating areas; and near walkways and intersections. Increased amounts of waste may also be generated near community centres, schools, and entertainment venues. Based on the experience of park staff, bins should be installed near areas that are known to generate increased amounts of waste.

Not only is location of the bins important, but so too is their juxtaposition. Bins should always be paired; a waste bin should always be placed with a recycling bin to avoid contamination. Bins should also be placed side-by-side and not back-to-back. If bins are placed back-to-back, users may not realize the recycling/waste bin is on the other side, possibly resulting in higher contamination rates and lower diversion rates. At least one recycling bin should be paired with the garbage bins. Additional recycling bins may be required depending on the amount of recyclable material generated. Effective monitoring of bin fullness and collection of materials to maintain capacity in the bins will be important to the effectiveness of the recycling program.

Best Practices for the placement of bins in open spaces for recycling programs include:

 ·         Identify areas with high traffic flow or activities and waste generation and locate bins in those areas;

 ·         Place bins near where people will expect them (e.g. near entrances/exits, washrooms, etc.);

 ·         Locate bins within 3 to 14 metres apart;

 ·         Pair recycling containers with garbage containers on at least a 1:1 ratio; and,

 ·         Place recycling containers beside garbage containers, not back at back.

Because we’re a relatively small company, we need to allocate our time and resources when it comes to supporting various initiatives that are aimed at environmental stewardship in general and increasing recycling in particular. We’re happy to play a part in the Sustainable Food Court Initiative, an Elemental Impact Task Force in partnership with the National Restaurant Association. For more information, please visit the Zero Waste Zone blog:

 http://zerowastezone.blogspot.com/2011/11/sfci-in-action-mode.html

CleanRiver is a firm believer in the impact and educational value of graphics and labels. A recycling container needs to depict visually as well as through labels, what is acceptable to put into each stream of the container. You have about 10-20 seconds to educate an individual as to where to put their waste and recycling. If they get confused or it seems too much work, most will put everything in the waste stream. It is also key to have the graphics coordinate with openings which will increase sight recognition with individuals. We support some level of standardized signage. Our standardization is typically done through the following:

Color – typically waste is black, cans/bottles is blue, compost is green, etc. Though a customer can request different if they wish.

Images – having common, easily recognized items as images on the posters helps in the quick-decision-making process. Water bottles and pop cans are typical for cans/bottles. Newspapers and white paper typical for mixed paper. For our customers, we go the next step and will actually depict their products and packaging as images on the posters.

Words – commonly used words, i.e. waste/trash, cans/bottles, compost, etc.

However, it is important to retain the flexibility to work with clients on the exact wording and graphics that make for the most effective signage in their particular situation. Here’s more information on CleanRiver’s graphics services: http://www.cleanriver.com/cleansort_graphics/design_and_print.aspx

In line with our commitment to innovate and expand industry standards, CleanRiver™ is proud to offer responsible and sustainable label and poster options.

Leading the way in sustainable printing practices, we have invested in state-of-the-art printing equipment and are able to print directly on long-lasting and completely recyclable, high density polyethylene (HDPE). As with our plastic lumber, any scrap we generate in-house is returned to our supplier completing a cradle-to-cradle (C2C) and virtually waste-free life-cycle.

Effective communication is key to clean streams and, ultimately, a clean planet. In recognition of this and the positive effect on ROI, CleanRiver™ offers full-service graphic design and print services.

This is one of the busiest times of the year for travel within the United States. We hope that folks who drive, take trains or buses, or fly will find recycling containers and will use them. Unfortunately, we know this is not necessarily the case. Despite signs of progress, such as Atlanta’s airport, recycling is still difficult because many facilities lack effective, easy-to-see and easy-to-use recycling containers and stations. While some people make it a point to bring empty water bottles and other recyclables with them, this should not have to be the case. It’s time that every traveler has access to recycling.