ACHIEVING ZERO WASTEHow to Get Started and

Case Studies from The Field

Ohio EPA Sustainability SummitOctober 3, 2017

Agenda

Participant Introductions

Key Concepts

Reuse presentation

Recycling presentation

Composting presentation

Audience Q&A

Participants

Moderator

Joseph Klatt | Ohio EPA

Presenters

MaryEllen Etienne | Reuse International

Doreen Schreiber | Cuyahoga County Solid Waste Management District

Angle Arroyo-Rodriguez | Ohio EPA

Key

Concepts

Zero Waste

Zero Waste means designing and managing products and processes to systematically avoid and eliminate the volume and toxicity of waste and materials, conserve and recover all resources, and not burn or bury them.

Zero Waste International Alliance

Waste Reduction

Waste Reduction/Prevention means using source reduction, reuse, recycling, or composting to prevent or reduce waste generation.

US Environmental Protection Agency

Reuse

Reuse means to extend the life of a product, package or resource by either using it more than once with little to no processing (same or new function), repairing it so it can be used longer, and/or sharing, renting, selling or donating it to/with another party.

Reuse International

Recycling is a series of activities by which material that has reached the end of its current use is processed into material utilized in the production of new products.

National Recycling Coalition

Recycling

Compost is the product resulting from the controlled biological decomposition of organic material that has been sanitized through the generation of heat and stabilized to the point that it is beneficial to plant growth.

US Composting Council

Composting

Making the Business Case for

Waste Reduction and Reuse

MaryEllen Etienne

ABOUT US

Reuse International is dedicated to

increasing awareness of reuse a

central tenet of sustainability through

educational events, training services

and research projects.

ABOUT US

USGBC transforms the way buildings and

communities are designed, built and

operated, enabling an environmentally

and socially responsible, healthy and

prosperous environment that improves

the quality of life.

Zero Waste Drivers:

The Challenges &

Opportunities

Climate Change

Resource Consumption

Municipal Solid Waste

Unemployment

Lack of Awareness

A Shift to SMM

Circular Economy & Zero Waste

Legislation

115TH CONGRESS

H. R. 3444

To decrease the incidence of food waste, and for other purposes.

_________________________________

115TH CONGRESS

H. R. 1034

To authorize the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency

to award grants for municipal solid waste preventions, reuse, and recycling

program development, and for other purposes.

_________________________________

Other Drivers

A few additional drivers to consider:

Lifecycle / Systems Thinking Research

Design for the Environment / Redesign

Empowered Green Consumers

Investments in Recovery Infrastructure

Extended Producer Responsibility

What is the

Reuse Industry?

Conventional Reuse

Thrift Shops and Consignment Stores

Conventional Reuse

Building Materials Reuse Centers and Furniture Banks

Conventional Reuse

Resale Websites and Virtual Materials Exchanges

Conventional Reuse

Last Chance Reuse Sheds

at Municipal Landfills/MRFs

Conventional Reuse

Food Rescue Organizations

and Food Pantries

Conventional Reuse

Flea Markets, Yard Sales and

Private/Public Swap Events

Creative Reuse

Creative Reuse Centers and Upcycling Designers

Reclamation & Salvage

Deconstructed structures transformed into building materials

Adaptive Reuse

Defunct buildings are transformed into residential and/or commercial properties

Refillables & Reusables

Consumer and/or commercial applications of durable, reusable products

Rental & Sharing

The intense use and reuse of products

Repair

Professional repair and self-repair options

Refurbish & Remanufacture

Refurbish is generally low-tech, and remanufacturing is high-tech

What are the

Benefits of Reuse?

People, Planet, Profit

People

Reuse is Socially Responsible

Low-cost, high-quality materials to

individuals and organizations with

limited means

Meaningful, living-wage employment

Planet

Reuse is Environmental Friendly

Serves consumers who want options for

environmentally preferable purchasing

Diverts valuable resources from landfill

Promotes resource conservation

Reduces need for energy & raw

materials, thus mitigates GHG

Reduces plastic pollution by eliminating

single-use materials

Profit

Reuse is Economically Beneficial

Provides savings to donors (tax benefits,

avoided/reduced disposal & purchase)

Provides savings to recipients / green

procurement (reduced and/or avoided

purchase costs)

Generates revenues for individuals,

entrepreneurs and nonprofits

Creates green collar jobs

Reuse is the Original

Green Collar Job

Quote: MaryEllen Etienne | Stats: Institute for Local Self Reliance

Source: Minnesota Pollution Control Agency

Economic Impact of Reuse

Economics of MNs Reuse Industrys

Reuse (used, rental, repair) directly

employs ~46k people in the state

Creates 4.6k jobs in supporting sectors

It generates at least $4 billion in gross

sales annually

Companies are mostly locally-owned &

operated - increases capital retention

Examples of Applied

Best Practice

Business Leaders

Toyota Manufacturing NA (Erlanger,

Kentucky)

Piazza Produce (Indianapolis, Indiana)

Cintas (Mason, Ohio)

All maintain Zero Waste facilities

TRUE certification, verified by GBCI (USGBCs certification entity)

Leading by Example

Goal: Determine if replacing wooden &

cardboard packaging with reusables

saves money & lessens footprint.

Facilitates a network of 65,000 reusable

containers for over 2000

dealers/suppliers

Saved 308 million pounds of wood, 185

millions pounds of cardboard

Saved $445 million dollars in packaging

Toyota Manufacturing N.A.

Goal: Implement a sustainability strategy

that greens both procurement and waste

management aspects of the business

99% products delivered on wood pallets

1 yr reused ~50K standard pallets (16)

Resulted in revenue of ~$165K (16)

Purchased used pallet jacks/forklifts

Realized at least 50% savings versus new

Piazza Produce

Goal: Implement a system-wide sustainability effort to change how they do business.

Facilitates a network reusable uniforms that clothe 5M ppl a day (most w/recycled fiber)

Their industrial laundry provides 20% of waste savings, 12% energy savings & 75% soap savings as compared to home laundry.

Cintas

How Can Your Business

Apply These Strategies?

Reduce & Reuse Strategies

Kitchen / Cafeteria

OfficePaperless office,

Duplex printing

Reduce portion size

to reduce food waste

Internal/External

materials exchange

Reusable service ware,

Donate excess food

Shipping / Logistics

Refuse to work with non-

recyclable packagingRequire vendors to

use reusable pallets

Find Your Reuse Resources

Take the time to figure out WHO makes

up your local reuse network

Surplus Food

Unused Office Equipment & Supplies

Salvaged Building Materials

Repair Services

Logistics Solutions (reusable uniforms,

packaging materials, etc.)

City & County Partners

Go Full Circle

NOT just end-of-pipe solutions, must look

to purchasing & maintenance

Logistics durable/reusable packaging

Furniture refurbished workstations

Office remanufactured toner

cartridges, refillable pens/pencils

Kitchen/Cafeteria: reusable service

ware, reusable to-go boxes, divert food

Share/Repair online exchange &

repair cafes

Assess the Situation

Determine the waste stream baseline

Manufacturing process by-products

Transport packaging / logistics

General packaging waste

Paper & other office supplies

Service ware

Food

Bathroom products

Other areas/products

Track Your Efforts

Figure out how to measure diversion

# of tons diverted from the landfill

$ avoided disposal costs (donor/seller)

$ avoided purchase costs

recipient/buyer)

$ value of materials donated (donor)

$ revenues earned (donor/seller)

# of job created or retained

# of families/individuals/organizations

assisted

Resources

Join us at ReuseConex, Cincinnati,

mid-Oct, 2018

Check out our online Reuse Library

Background Material (The Reuse

Primer), Reports, Articles, Research

Inquire about GBCIs new Zero Waste

certification process called TRUE

(Total Resource Use & Efficiency)

References

Links referenced in this session

EPA LifeCycle Study: bit.ly/EPALCStudy

MPCAs Study: bit.ly/MPCAStudy

ISLR Job Stats: bit.ly/ILSRReuseStats

Reuse Library: bit.ly/ReuseLibrary

ReuseConex: reuseconex.org

GBCIs TRUE: true.gbci.org

bit.ly/EPALCStudyhttp://bit.ly/MPCAStudyhttp://bit.ly/ILSRReuseStatshttp://bit.ly/ReuseLibraryhttp://reuseconex.org/http://true.gbci.org/

Thank You!

Reuse International

http:// reuseinternational.org

USGBC Ohio

http://usgbc.org/usgbc-ohio