WasteWise

Presidio Trust Awarded Honorable Mention for U.S. EPA Resource Conservation Competition

News Release: Presidio Trust Awarded Honorable Mention for U.S. EPA Resource Conservation Competition
08/26/2013

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:  August 26, 2013

MEDIA CONTACT:  David Yogi, yogi.david@epa.gov, (415) 972-3350

SAN FRANCISCO – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today announces the Presidio Trust as its 2012 WasteWise “Federal Government Partner of the Year” Honorable Mention recipient. The Presidio Trust is recognized for its efforts to reduce and compost food waste, and recycle and reclaim demolition materials for use in new construction projects.

“Presidio Trust’s efforts alone will save the organization over $215,000 and remove the equivalent of 334 households’ annual CO2 emissions from the air,” said Jared Blumenfeld, EPA’s Regional Administrator for the Pacific Southwest.  “EPA is proud to recognize the efforts of the Presidio Trust to ensure their operation’s environmental impact is as small as possible.”

As part of its efforts, the Presidio Trust:

  • reused wood from re-foresting and deconstruction projects in the Presidio—part of the federal Golden Gate National Recreation Area—to create park benches and new elements for building renovations;
  • reused material onsite (such as gravel, top soil, sand, architectural elements, hardware, lighting, furnishings, etc.) that was collected from construction, renovation and demolition projects.
  • diverted 100% of green waste generated from Presidio gardening, landscaping, and forestry projects;
  • increased the amount of food waste it diverted from landfills by 47 percent from 2010 to 2011, bringing its total diversion rate to 69 percent;
  • reduced its total waste by 24 percent in 2011; and
  • recycled a total of 4,447 tons of materials (equivalent to avoiding the annual CO2 output of 1356 automobiles) and made 626 tons of compost in 2012.

The Presidio Trust has been an EPA WasteWise partner since 2000, and has won sustainability awards in 2001 and 2007.

EPA’s WasteWise program was launched in 1994 to help organizations and businesses reduce municipal and industrial wastes. Organizations can join WasteWise as a partner, endorser, or both. Partners demonstrate how they reduce waste, practice environmental stewardship, and incorporate sustainable materials management into their waste-handling processes. Endorsers promote enrollment in WasteWise as part of a comprehensive approach to help their stakeholders realize the economic benefits to reducing waste.

WasteWise is something that I mention at all of my Training Seminars.  It is a good tool to use when reducing the waste (including but not necessarily exclusive to hazardous waste) at your facility.

For more information on EPA’s WasteWise program, please visit:  http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/conserve/smm/wastewise/index.htm

What is the US EPA Program WasteWise?

(Boston, Mass. – Dec. 14, 2011) – Three WasteWise partners in New England were recognized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for outstanding achievements as 2011 WasteWise award winners. Nationally, there were 29 winners, with awards in categories including business, government, and educational sectors.  You can read the full news release here, but I think I’d be remiss if I didn’t send a shout-out to those three New England companies:

  • Raytheon Company, Mass.
  • Cannon Grange #152 Inc., Conn.
  • Genzyme Corporation (Mass.)

So just what exactly is WasteWise?  You can learn much more about it from its website, or check out this factsheet, but WasteWise – founded in 1994 and with more than 2,700 members – is a US EPA program that encourages a variety of different organizations and businesses to voluntarily commit to waste reduction and recycling goals.  By becoming a member of WasteWise, you obtain access to a variety of tools to help you reach those waste goals and to promote your efforts to your customers, your community, and the world.

Organizations may join WasteWise as either a Partner or an Endorser.  A Partner commits to reduce their own waste production whereas an Endorser is a branch of government or other organization that uses the tools available through WasteWise to convince its members of the benefits of waste reduction and recycling.  Eligible members include but are not limited to all sizes of:  US businesses, State & local governments, non-profit organizations, and trade associations.

As a member, you have access to all of the following:

It’s the third bullet point of the above that you see on display at the top of this article, and on the US EPA website of the 2011 WasteWise Award Winners.  As a member, you have the opportunity to promote your company – and be promoted – as a company that cares about the environment and is doing something about it; this alone might be reason enough to join up.  An additional incentive is having access to the WasteWise Re-TRAC System.  This new data management and reporting system allows you to collect, organize, analyze, and report your waste reduction activities and to generate reports such as the WasteWise Climate Profile report.

If you are considering becoming a member, but don’t know if WasteWise has the resources to assist your specific interests, check out their Targeted Initiatives and see if there is a Challenge or Campaign that directly addresses your waste generation.  And why not involve the office personnel as well?  WasteWise has a tool for determining the carbon footprint of office operations including:  company-owned vehicle transportation; purchased electricity; waste disposal; and leased assets, franchises, and outsourced activities.

Take a look at the information available, determine if WasteWise is a good fit for your operations, and then take it to management and see what they think.  Let me know how it works for you, I’ve never been able to convince a company to voluntarily commit to any US EPA program.  Perhaps you’ll have better luck.