Waste Minimization-Redacted Version

A few minor cultural shifts may have a
significant impact on the environment and
our financial bottom line.
Waste
Minimization
for CLER
Impacting The Bottom Line and the
Environment
Jim Chambers
June 2015

i
All information in this document is FedEx Confidential
Table of Contents
Introduction.........................................................................................................................................................................1
FedEx Environmental Policy............................................................................................................................................1
Waste Audit..........................................................................................................................................................................1
Methodology...................................................................................................................................................................2
Findings............................................................................................................................................................................4
Recommendations ..............................................................................................................................................................5
Facility Changes..............................................................................................................................................................5
Compostable Wastes......................................................................................................................................................6
Plastics Recycling............................................................................................................................................................6
Cultural Changes ............................................................................................................................................................7
Financial Implications........................................................................................................................................................7
Cost Savings....................................................................................................................................................................7
Cost Outputs...................................................................................................................................................................8
Summary...............................................................................................................................................................................8
References............................................................................................................................................................................8

1
Introduction
Although there is currently a recycling program at CLER, it is underused. This report aims to determine
where our strengths and deficiencies are and improve upon them. By increasing the usage of our recycling
program we will not only improve our impact on the environment, but also our bottom line.
FedEx Environmental Policy
“FedEx recognizes that the long-term health of our business is directly connected to the health of the planet
and local communities. We remain focused on sourcing environmental solutions that will lessen our
footprint, while serving as an example to our peers. As part of our ongoing efforts, FedEx focuses on the
following initiatives:
 Commitment to a continual improvement process in environmental management.
 Evaluation of environmental impacts of FedEx packaging products, operations and facilities with a
commitment to minimize impacts and restore properties affected by our operations.
 Improvement of employee environmental performance through detailed policies and procedures,
training and recognition of excellence.
 Efficient use of natural resources to minimize waste generation through efforts that include recycling, innovation and
prevention of pollution.
 Measurement of environmental performance by use of a framework to set and review objectives and
targets, audit progress, sanction employee accountability and report to senior management and
external stakeholders.
 Integration of environmental responsibilities and considerations into daily operations and business decision-making
processes.
 Participation in the development of sound environmental policy within the transportation and
business sectors.
 Commitment to emergency preparedness and response in order to minimize any potential
environmental impacts resulting from day-to-day operations.
 Use of innovations and technologies to minimize atmospheric emissions and noise.
 Promotion of effective environmental management by our suppliers and contractors.
 Compliance with all applicable environmental laws and regulations.
 The promotion of awareness regarding environmental policies for employees and the public.” [1]1
Waste Audit
On Wednesday May 20th, 2015 I conducted a waste audit of CLER. A waste audit is a “physical analysis of
waste composition” to provide understanding of issues and opportunities for improvement with our waste
stream [2]. A total of 106lbs of waste was analyzed for this benchmark audit.
1 Emphasis is mine.

2
Methodology
All of the trash for the facility was collected by the janitorial services and brought to the scale near door B.
The trash bags were weighed before sorting to determine how much was going to landfill and how much was
being recycled.
Figure 1: Waste stream before audit
The bags were opened and contents dumped onto a tarp to be sorted into eight categories2:
 Plastic and aluminum drink bottles3
 Liquids4
 Compostable5
 Poly bags (spill bags)
 Miscellaneous Plastics
 Fibreboard (cardboard)
 Paper
 Landfill
2 There were two sorts- one for landfill and one for recyclables.
3 Our recycling vendor is single stream, so comingling drink bottles/ cans made sense.
4 Though not recyclable, the cost of dumping soda and water into sanitary sewers is much more economical than paying
for them to go to landfill. It’s also more environmentally sound.
5 Though we do not compost, this data may be valuable to determine whether or not a compost program has merit
towards increasing our diversion rate.

3
Figure 2: The first few landfill bags dumped onto the tarp.
After the contents of all the bags were sorted weights were measured to see what belonged in the landfill and
what could be recycled. The liquids were put into a poly spill bag with polypropylene mats as absorbent (the
Postal bin in Figure 2). After data was collected, the contents were put into the appropriate waste bags and
taken to the front loaders for disposal.
Figure 3: Landfill bags fully sorted.

4
85%
15%
0%0%
Before audit
Landfill Recycle Compost Liquids
Findings
The amount of waste finding its way to the landfill is a very stark contrast to what should be making it to the
landfill v. recycling. There was zero contamination of the recycling bags, which is outstanding.
Before the audit was conducted, 85% of the waste was going to the landfill and 15% of the waste was going
to recycling6. After the audit it was discovered that at least 47% of the waste should be recycled. This means
that 32% of the total waste stream can be recycled, but it is not making its way to the recycling bins. We
could further our diversion rates by removing liquid and organic wastes from our waste stream; this would
remove 19% of our current waste.
The largest component of our total
waste stream is landfill waste. The
primary culprits of this waste were
CONS tags, Styrofoam™ cups and
plates, and waxed paper backing from
ASTRA labels. Non-recyclable food
wrappers and plain debris from
vacuum cleaners also added to this
pile, but were negligible at best.
The second largest component of our
waste is compostable goods. This pile
was primarily paper towels from the
restrooms7 and coffee grounds.
Banana peels and apple cores were a
negligible amount of compostable
goods. Any meat or dairy products
were not accounted for as compostable, but they could be if commercially composted.
6 Note that recycling streams from Maintenance activities are not included in this figure.
7 Compostable so long as there are no biological contaminants.
34%
47%
13%
6%
After Audit
Landfill Recycle Compost Liquids
4%
7%
16%
7%
4%
40%
13%
9%
Waste Stream Composition
Bottles and Cans Liquids Compost
Poly Bags Fibreboard Landfill
Paper Misc. Plastic

5
The third largest component of our waste stream is paper. The bulk of the paper is from flight folders and
truck manifests. Though all of this paper is recyclable, some of it is confidential information and should be
shredded.
The final large component of the waste stream is miscellaneous plastics. Plastic banding (snakes), bag ties,
and lids for Styrofoam™ cups were the bulk of this set. Plastic cups from fast food restaurants were
negligible in this category.
There was one item that should have been destroyed as a hazardous waste. An aerosol can of spray paint was
in the rubbish. It was taken to Vehicle Maintenance to be properly destroyed.
Recommendations
There is plenty of room for continuous improvement with our current waste stream. Much of the change
will be with changing the cultural norms of this facility. Some smaller changes with big impacts will be
organizing the building to be more efficient when it comes to recycling.
Facility Changes
The smallest change we can make is adding more recycling bins to the building. Coincidentally this will
probably have the biggest impact on waste diversion. It is clear by the zero contamination of the recycling
bins we do have that the employees want to do right. However the number and location of bins is inadequate
and forces more effort in recycling.
4
65
21
3
Recycle Bins Small Landfill Large Landfill Shred Bins
Waste Receptacles Available at CLER
Recycle Bins
Small Landfill
Large Landfill
Shred Bins

6
Figure 4: A recycle bin next to a landfill bin.
As can be seen in the chart on the previous page, employees have
much more opportunity to simply throw into landfill bins than
recycling bins. Landfill bins outnumber recycling and shred bins
12.3:1.8 If we can improve this ratio to something much closer to 1:1,
we will improve our diversion rates. Putting a recycle bin next to a
landfill bin is the most effective way to increase employee buy-in.
A set-up like the one in figure 4 to the right is the optimal set-up- the
employee must take his refuse to this spot anyhow, there is no extra
step in recycling. Several spot audits on these two bins have shown
near 100% accuracy in deciding where the rubbish belongs. The set-up
in the check-in room is not optimal- the landfill bin is in the southwest
corner and the recycle bin is in the northeast corner under the desk.
Spot audits show recyclables making their way into the landfill bin.
This is either the lack of awareness that there is a recycling bin, or laziness/apathy.
Compostable Wastes
Compostable wastes account for 16% of our waste stream. The best way to handle this waste stream is
through composting it. The three options we have available are sending the waste off with a commercial
hauler, giving the waste to a local non-profit/ partnering with another entity, or starting a compost pile on-
site.
Commercial composting is quite difficult in Northeast Ohio. One of the largest, if not the largest, was Rosby
Resource Recycling. However numerous “not in my backyard” (NIMBY) complaints forced them to scale
back considerably. I will reach out to them and see if they will accept small volume customers.
Collaborating with a local non-profit or another company may be a great possibility. There are a number of
urban farms in the Cleveland area that compost as part of their community outreach. Many of the non-
profits like Groundz and Rid-All collect organic wastes and distribute them to local farms for composting.
This compost then gets used to grow local crops. Similarly, there are other companies that have composting
on-site that we may partner with. Baldwin Wallace College has a commercial composter on-site that they use
for their food services. This compost then gets used to fertilize the campus grounds. I have reached out to
their Director of Sustainability, David Krueger, PhD to see if they would be interested. Other possibilities in
this vein are other schools and hospitals.
The final option would be to start a compost pile on-site. So long as the compost pile is less than 300 square
feet, it would be unregulated by Ohio EPA [3]. However being a possible source of FOD, the airport may
have issue with it. Similar issues arise with the Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plan (SWP3). I have
reached out to Kim McGreal, the Environmental Services Manager for CLE airport for her input. Kim had
the same concerns. Kim recommended Groundz, but she is trying to site a location on the airport grounds
for composting. We are working together to get a consortium put together for creating a compost pile or
anaerobic digester that all the tenants of the airport can use.
Plastics Recycling
One area we can improve on is plastics recycling. I am currently gathering details from Eco USA for
recycling our poly bags and nylon zip ties. As these items are used in feedstock for other industries such as
carpets and other plastic materials, they are quite valuable. Eco USA would simply take them off our hands
8 One of the recycling bins counted isn’t put in by FedEx. It is a single employee that has two bins under her desk and
designated one for recycling.

7
and resell them to industries that can recycle them as feedstock. It is possible to sell directly to these
industries, but our volume is not significant enough to have a steady supply.
Cultural Changes
One of the biggest cultural changes we can make is utilizing both sides of the paper when printing. This
cannot happen with green screen programs, but we can make this happen with every other PC print job. This
will minimize the waste stream by up to 50%. Ensuring recycling receptacles are in the offices, dangerous
goods area, and anywhere else paper is used will significantly improve paper recycling.
The use of paper plates and cups instead of Styrofoam™ where possible will have impact. Styrofoam™ is
not easily recycled in the Cleveland area. Buckeye Industries will accept Styrofoam™ from companies for
free, but they do not pick-up. They also will not accept Styrofoam™ soiled with foodstuffs. [4] This leaves
the only option of switching from a landfill only waste stream of Styrofoam™ to recyclable/ compostable
paper goods.
Getting all employees to buy-in will start from the top. If management can show they are genuinely
enthusiastic about the changes, it will filter down. Signage can be made for near the waste bins with
illustrations of what belongs in each bin type. This will eliminate uncertainty and give a visual cue to recycle.
An individual employee can also be put in charge of a bin or area of bins; this will instill some pride for the
employee and they will be a champion of the program.
Financial Implications
Cost Savings
Recycling materials is cheaper than sending them to landfills. At CLER we pay we pay $545 for landfill costs
and $58 for recycling each month. This equates to $15 per pull for landfill loaders and $13 per pull for
recycling loaders. Though only a two dollar difference per pull, every dollar counts as we are constantly
tightening belts.
I have been attempting to contact our sales representative from Republic to get actual figures, but I have yet
to hear back from him. However, at the current rates of $1.75/yd for landfill and $1.68/yd for recycling,
simply shifting our recyclables to the correct stream would save $9 a month.9
Removing our polybags and other miscellaneous plastics from our waste stream can further our cost savings.
Using the Waste Minimization Calculator from New Pig [5], we can determine how much we can save by
eliminating sources of waste.
Figure 5: Waste Reduction Calculator
We currently generate 4,500lbs of plastic wastes, at 6.3¢ a pound, this would save $283 a year.
9 We dispose of 80 yards of waste a month. Using 40 yards of recycle and 40 yards of landfill would run $303 for landfill
and $291 for recycling. This total would be $594 for the month, compared to the current $603 we are paying.
*This sheet is completely autofilled
Office paper Every pound of source reduction saves $0.010 in direct disposal costs
Soda Bottles Every pound of source reduction saves $0.043 in direct disposal costs
Poly Doc Bags Every pound of source reduction saves $0.063 in direct disposal costs
Fibreboard Every pound of source reduction saves $0.030 in direct disposal costs
Mixed Plastics (Bag Ties) Every pound of source reduction saves $0.063 in direct disposal costs
What can source reduction alone save?

8
Cost Outputs
The costs of minimizing waste will be minimal. The biggest cost will be replacing/adding recycling bins to
CLER. The current cost of 3 gallon recycling bins is $6-7 and 23 gallon bins is $46-50 apiece [6]. There are
other options, but those two types and sizes would work best. Adding enough bins for a 1:1 ratio would be
$510-$1140 initially. The return on investment would be 2-4 years.
We can reduce the initial cost of changing bins in two ways. First- painting some of the current bins blue.
This will indicate it is a recycling bin. The other change is to use clear bags for the recycling bins. This is
already the case with the blue bins we have, but the clear bag will indicate recycling. This is a pretty standard
method in many companies and most janitorial services understand clear is recycle.
Changing our Styrofoam™ to paper goods will have a small initial cost associated with it. However this cost
will be negated by shifting the volume of waste from landfill to recycle or compost.
Summary
CLER has plenty of opportunity to minimize its amount of waste going to landfills. Not only does doing so
fulfill our obligations per FedEx Express policy, but it may save money to our budget. Increasing our
diversion rate can also position us to be ISO 1400110 certified. An ISO certification and movement towards a
zero-waste facility can be leveraged by our sales team as a selling point in our market. I firmly believe that
CLER can achieve a 50% diversion rate in FY16; a few minor changes in our culture and the way we do
things can have a significant impact on the environment and our long-term future goals.
References
1 FedEx. About FedEx: Environmental Policy Statement. [Internet]. 1995-2015 [cited 2015 June 3]. Available
from: http://about.van.fedex.com/social-responsibility/environment-efficiency/environmental-policy-
statement/.
2 Waste Audit and Consultancy Services. What is a Waste Audit. [Internet]. 2015 [cited 2015 June 3].
Available from: http://www.wasteaudit.com.au/wp_super_faq/what-is-a-waste-audit/.
3 Ohio EPA. Composting. [Internet]. 2015 [cited 2015 Jun 5]. Available from:
http://www.epa.ohio.gov/dmwm/Home/Composting.aspx#112612665-guidance-documents.
4 Buckeye Industries. Styrofoam™ Recycling. [Internet]. 2013 [cited 2015 Jun 16]. Available from:
http://www.buckeyeindustries.org/Services/Styrofoam%E2%84%A2Recycling.aspx.
5 James A. Waste Minimization Calculator. [Internet]. [cited 2015 May]. Available from:
http://www.wastemin.com/discuss/index.php?forums/the-waste-minimization-savings-calculator-
beta.28/.
6 U-Line. Office Recycling Containers. [Internet]. 2015 [cited 2015 Jun 9]. Available from:
http://www.uline.com/BL_8793/Office-Recycling-Containers?keywords=recycle%20bins.
10 ISO 14001 is Environmental Management

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