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Waste Reduction and Recycling
In This Section
Waste reduction and recycling are two ways to reduce the amount or toxicity of trash created. Both generate a host of environmental, financial, and social benefits, including conserving energy, saving money, and providing valuable products. EPA Regional offices, some laboratories, and Headquarters Offices have implemented recycling programs to make it easy and convenient for employees to recycle.
Regional Best Practices
Below are best practice highlights from the following Regions’ recycling efforts:
- Region 1 - Boston, Massachusetts
- Region 2 - New York, New York
- Region 3 - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Region 4 - Atlanta, Georgia
- Region 5 - Chicago, Illinois
- Region 6 - Dallas, Texas
- Region 7 - Kansas City, Kansas
- Region 8 - Denver, Colorado
- Region 9 - San Francisco, California
- Region 10 - Seattle, Washington
Region 1 - Boston, Massachusetts
Display promoting Region 1's "Clean-Up Day."
- Holds an annual office "Clean-Up Day", where paper recycling and reuse of office supplies are encouraged. A large, centrally located display promotes the campaign with colorful signage and photos of the messiest offices before and after the clean-up.
- Uses a computer program to convert hard copy faxes into e-mail attachments. This allows employees to receive, view, and send faxes as electronic files on their computers instead of a traditional fax machine, thus saving paper.
- Purchased "eCopy" copy machines that allow employees to scan paper documents and distribute electronic copies via e-mail.
- Hosts an all-day Green Expo each year to coincide with Earth Day where a variety of green vendors set up booths to display and increase awareness of their environmentally preferable products and services.
- Organized an internal "Green Team" to reduce the environmental impact of office operations and educate employees about ways to further reduce their impact on the environment outside of the office.
For more information on Region 1's recycling efforts, contact:
Bill Holbrook (holbrook.bill@epa.gov)
(617) 918-1127
Region 2 - New York, New York
Recycled materials from the library in Region 2's Edison, New Jersey, laboratory.
- Received in its library all of the materials from another EPA Region 2 library that closed earlier in the year, preventing a significant amount of potential waste from being landfilled. Conducts a monthly "clean out" of its collection, donating its unwanted materials to other libraries.
- Collects used and unwanted office supplies and redistributes them for reuse.
- Utilizes a local Recycling Electronics and Asset Disposition (READ) contractor to assist with the recycling of excess office equipment. In October 2005, the Region 2 Office recycled 668 computers, 330 monitors, 3 pallets of printers, 2 bins of keyboards, and other assorted office electronic equipment.
For more information on Region 2's recycling efforts, contact:
Rodney Dorwin (dorwin.rodney@epa.gov)
(212) 637-3390
Collection bag in Region 3 Office for recycling Tyvek FedEx envelopes.
Region 3 - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Collects Tyvek FedEx envelopes and returns them to FedEx for recycling and reuse since they can’t be recycled in-house. For more information, visit the Fed Ex recycling page
. - Maintains a closed-loop toner cartridge recycling system, which allows employees to receive a new toner cartridge by returning the used one.
- Employs a centralized green purchasing system to ensure that only green office supplies are purchased.
For more information on Region 3's recycling efforts, contact:
Jeff Alper (alper.jeffrey@epa.gov)
(215) 814-3374
or
Steve Donohue (donohue.steven@epa.gov)
(215) 814-3215
Region 4 - Atlanta, Georgia
Region 4's magazine exchange rack allows employees to swap periodicals.
- Hosts a magazine exchange rack where periodicals over three years old are placed in the rack and offered to employees, then recycled. The rack also serves as a swap point for employees’ personal magazines.
- Collects and recycles oil, refrigerant, and antifreeze from building equipment through Prime Power, Inc.
- Uses an Air Cycle Bulb Eater®, a machine that removes the mercury from fluorescent bulbs and tubes. When a sufficient number of tubes have been collected, building management feeds them through the Air Cycle Bulb Eater®. The crushed material is stored in large barrels, and shipped back to the company when the container is full. Mercury filters are removed from the machine when full and shipped back to the company.
For more information on Region 4's Recycling efforts, contact:
Walter Dipietro (dipietro.walter@epa.gov)
(404) 562-8166
Region 5 - Chicago, Illinois
Recycled-content carpet tiles installed in Region 5 Office.
- Recycled 426,000 square feet of carpet by returning the carpet to the original manufacturer; researched environmental attributes of new carpet; and made its selection based on recycled content, low volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and the modularity of the carpet tiles, which can be replaced individually as needed.
- Collects a wide range of materials—from cell phones to hotel soaps—for reuse and recycling.
- Maintains ongoing communication with the janitorial contractor and the GSA property manager regarding waste reduction efforts.
- Shares waste reduction information with other building tenants through regular e-mails and tenant board meetings in an effort to improve the recycling practices of the entire federal facility.
- Practices "closed loop" recycling by having its recycling hauler return the office's recycled paper to the toilet paper manufacturer for producing recycled-content toilet paper, which is subsequently purchased by Region 5's janitorial contractor for use in the building.
- Initiated a vermicomposting program in April 2004, in which the office collects approximately 70 pounds of organic food waste each year, yielding approximately 20 pounds of worm casings—a nutrient-rich organic material. The casings are used in demonstration plant pots, and are auctioned off at an annual fundraiser.
For more information on Region 5's recycling efforts, contact:
Rich Hoffman (hoffman.rich@epa.gov )
(312) 886-6116
or
Hedrick Partee (partee.hedrick@epa.gov)
(312) 353-4190
Region 6's Bulb Crusher machine removes mercury from fluorescent light bulbs and crushes the glass. The glass is then collected and recycled.
Region 6 - Dallas, Texas
- Works with the building owner to collect fluorescent bulbs, which are crushed with a bulb crusher, the “Bulb Eater”, into a 55-gallon barrel. Drums are stored on the loading dock until picked up by a company located in Fort Worth that sends the barrels of glass to a recycler in Florida.
- Collects magazines in two designated break rooms, one with two boxes and one with two magazine racks for magazine swaps.
- Coordinates with the regional library to send unused materials to other libraries whenever possible, and when not possible, the librarian recycles the outdated materials.
For more information on Region 6's recycling efforts, contact:
Lisa Bokun (bokun.lisa@epa.gov)
(214) 665-8576
Region 7's Green Room serves as a centralized location for surplus office supplies, available for all employees to reuse.
Region 7 - Kansas City, Kansas
- Established a Green Room adjacent to the supply area in the warehouse. Employees deposit any unwanted office supplies in designated boxes in recycling rooms. These materials are transported to the Green Room where they are made available for all employees to reuse.
- Holds quarterly EMS awareness trainings for new employees. One session covers the office’s recycling program and includes instructions on how to set printers and photocopiers to duplex output mode to save paper.
- Uses almost 100 percent green cleaning supplies, as specified in its lease.
For more information on Region 7's recycling efforts, contact:
John Begley (begley.john@epa.gov)
(913) 551-7597
Region 8 - Denver, Colorado
Recycling bin for bound publications in the Region 8 Office.
- Maintains a recycling system for bound publications, which are collected separately from mixed paper in large green bins. Books are de-binded to separate the binding from the publication, enabling the paper to be salvaged and recycled.
- Holds routine office-wide cleanup campaigns, in which the recycling coordinator and other volunteers set up multiple collection locations on each floor for employees to recycle a variety of materials, including phone books, mixed paper, used office supplies, and unwanted personal and household items.
- Limits the number of new phone books delivered to the office each year to reduce unnecessary waste.
For more information on Region 8's recycling efforts, contact:
Kim Bartels (bartels.kim@epa.gov)
(303) 312-6346
Region 9 - San Francisco, California
Region 9's aggressive recycling program also includes battery recycling. Batteries are collected in the bins pictured.
- Holds the highest recycling rate (92.8 percent) of any EPA regional office. In addition to its own aggressive recycling program, the facility's waste hauler recovers 70 percent of the trash generated by the facility through a subsequent waste sort at its processing facility.
- Piloted the use of FinePrint© Software, which uses a number of features that help reduce paper use by 30-60 percent.
- Purchases biodegradable plates and utensils for use at office functions and green meetings.
For more information on Region 9's recycling efforts, contact:
Timonie Hood (hood.timonie@epa.gov)
(415) 972-3282
Region 10 - Seattle, Washington
Region 10 employees collect party supplies for reuse.
- Has one to four volunteers on each floor who serve as recycling monitors with a sign posted outside their cubicle to identify themselves.
- Collects several materials for reuse, including used plastic utensils that are cleaned and restocked, reusable party supplies, and old magazines and books that can be reused and exchanged.
- Reuses paper that has print on only one side. The paper, called “Good On One Side” (GOOS), is collected at all printers and copiers, then assembled into note pads, which are distributed and stocked in supply areas. A volunteer records the amount of paper reused. GOOS paper is also being testing in a printer for draft documents.
For more information on Region 10's recycling efforts, contact:
Vaughn Blethen (blethen.vaughn@epa.gov)(206) 553-0483
EPA's Recycling Progress
EPA achieved an Agencywide recycling rate of 39 percent during FY 2006. In response to Executive Order 13423, EPA has set a waste diversion (recycling rate) goal of 45 percent by 2010. EPA Headquarters is working with all facilities to improve recycling performance and data collection as the Agency works toward this goal.