The Environmentally Responsible Construction and Renovation Handbook

Chapter 10 - Office Solid Waste Management

There are many opportunities to reduce the amount of waste disposed from office buildings through comprehensive recycling and composting programs. This approach not only saves resources, but also saves money. Environment Canada estimates that the federal government disposes some 95,000 tonnes of office waste costing $6.5 million for disposal (Auditor General's Report). Even though many Environment Canada buildings have good recycling and composting programs in place, there is always room for improvement. To meet GOBP requirements, buildings will need to demonstrate that they have done as much as possible to divert as much waste as possible. This section will outline the approaches to achieve this objective.

The activities required to achieve the diversion goal are dependent on local services, the support of senior management and the employee's willingness to participate in diversion programs. One area where there is a positive impact is where recycling and waste receptacles are built into counter tops and cabinetry for lunchrooms, coffee stations and cafeterias. Integrating waste management collection bins into new cabinetry helps to reduce floor space requirements. Some examples include:

• Build in recycling bins into counter space for cans, bottles and plastics in a lunchroom;
• Build in a smaller bin into the counter to collected organics such as coffee grounds at a coffee station;
• Include container recycling receptacles in renovated cafeteria.

These examples will improve the aesthetics and possibly convenience of the diversion activities, but they will not be key to meeting diversion objectives.

10.1 Existing Targets

There have been a number of regulatory drivers focussed on reducing solid waste disposal across Canada in the last 10 years. In 1989, the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment (CCME) challenged all government departments to reduce the amount of waste they produced by 50% by the year 2000, using 1988 as the base year.

Environment Canada (EC) has a stated waste diversion goal of 80% in their Sustainable Development Strategy (SDS) that was tabled with the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development in 1997. This aggressive goal has been developed based on results of implementing the NO WASTE program in many of its office buildings. EC's objective is to maintain or improve upon the standard of 38 kg/person/year of solid waste sent to landfill that was attained in 1997. This standard meets EC's SDS target for achieving an 80% diversion on an employee basis over a base year waste generation number of 190 kg/person/year.

Through Real Property Services (PRS) Branch, Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) provides working environments for 160,000 public servants in approximately 2,500 locations. As custodian of $6.8 billion worth of real property holdings and administrator of 2,000 leases RPS has been directly involved in all office building functions and management including establishing and managing recycling programs, conducting waste audits and management of waste related contracts. In their SDS, PWGSC commits to recycling all wastes where practical. However, no specific waste reduction targets are provided.

Local waste management requirements and bylaws vary across the country and need to be taken into consideration when planning waste diversion activities. Some local regulations take the form of landfill disposal bans such as cardboard disposal bans in Vancouver, Halifax and Toronto. Some provinces also have specific requirements. For example, in 1994, the Ontario Ministry of the Environment and Energy passed the 3Rs Regulations which require industrial, commercial and institutional office facilities with areas greater than 10,000 square metres to undertake waste audits and implement waste diversion workplans. When developing the GOBP, the local waste management authority, hauler or recycling contractor should be contacted for any specific local waste management requirements.

10.2 Typical Office Building Waste Composition

PWGSC have conducted annual waste audits at many of their properties in the National Capital Region (NCR). The average waste composition (by weight) from the five largest properties (DND HQ, Place du Portage, Phases III) is summarized below:

Federal Office Building Waste Composition

Text description of Federal Office Building Waste Composition is available on a separate page.

10.3 Elements of NO WASTE Program

In keeping with its responsibility to provide environmental leadership to the federal government, EC developed a solid waste reduction management plan called the NO WASTE program. The NO WASTE program was pilot tested on six floors at Les Terrasses de la Chaudiere (TLC) and Place Vincent Massey (PVM) in Hull, Quebec in 1994. The diversion impact of NO WASTE is summarized in table below:

Impacts of NO WASTE Program

	Before NO WASTE (1994)	After NO WASTE (1995)	Current Performance (1998)
Recycling Diversion	51%	72%	82%
Waste Landfilled	49%	28%	18%

The NO WASTE Program is based on the premise that employees need to participate in and take responsibility for managing the waste they generate. The key elements of the program include:

• Collection of recyclable wastepaper at individual workstations;
• Expanding recycling program to include metal cans, glass bottles, rigid plastic containers and polystyrene;
• Removing garbage cans from individual workstations and replacing them with small desk-top containers (Mini-Bins) for the temporary storage of waste material. Garbage removal service for individual workstations is cancelled and employees are required to transport waste to the central waste and recycling stations;
• Establishing new central recycling and waste stations on each floor.

Elements of the NO WASTE program are described in detail below, as this approach is appropriate for some office buildings and achieves very high diversion. PWGSC has a very successful system called the "National 5-Phase Non-Hazardous Solid Waste Management Protocol."

Step 1 - Recyclable Paper

Office buildings generate large volumes of recyclable wastepaper. In most federal buildings, recyclable paper typically represents 75-80% of all waste generated. As such, paper is and has been the focus of most office building waste diversion programs.

In 1976, the federal government implemented the PaperSave program. The program has distributed more than 104,000 blue baskets in over 200 federal government office buildings for the collection of office waste paper. Over 13,000 tonnes of various grades of wastepaper are collected each year.

The diversion of paper through the PaperSave program typically represents a significant portion of all material recycled from office buildings where the NO WASTE program is in place. The recovered paper includes computer printout, white and coloured ledger, newspaper, magazines, catalogues, telephone directories, boxboard and corrugated cardboard.

Step 2 - Expand Recycling Programs Beyond Paper

Successful waste diversion programs in office buildings go beyond diverting just wastepaper. Under the NO WASTE program in NCR buildings, the range of materials collected for recycling includes glass bottles, metal cans, rigid plastics and polystyrene. These recyclable items are collected at recycling centres established in convenient, high traffic areas and in food service areas (coffee station, lunchroom, cafeteria).

Step 3 - Remove Waste Receptacles from Workstations

Under the NO WASTE program, the traditional garbage can at each workstation is removed and replaced with a much smaller desk-top waste container (referred to as a Mini-bin). The smaller waste bin is intended to reflect that the majority of waste generated at an employee's workstation is either recyclable wastepaper (recycled for years through PaperSave program) or recyclable packaging (cans, bottles etc.).

A second key component is that the workstation garbage collection service provided by the contract cleaners is cancelled. The individual employee is given the responsibility of transporting the garbage they generate to a central waste collection station.

Step 4 - Establish Central Waste and Recycling Stations

Under the NO WASTE Program, central waste and recycling stations are established on each floor. The stations are placed in convenient, high traffic areas such as by the elevators, near coffee stations, photocopiers, lunchrooms or close to washroom facilities. It is important to ensure that the station does not block emergency routes or impede access to fire safety equipment.

The recycling station is a receptacle that has different compartments to handle the range of material collected. Typical configurations include a receptacle for non-recyclable waste, metal cans, glass bottles, rigid plastics and polystyrene (where feasible). This basic configuration can be expanded or reduced to meet the needs of the floor and can be complemented with external bins (e.g. for garbage).

10.4 Office Recycling Program Considerations

Federal office buildings should meet or exceed all local, provincial or federal waste management regulations.

Local waste management requirements and bylaws vary across the country and need to be taken into consideration when planning waste diversion activities. Some local regulations take the form of landfill disposal bans such as cardboard disposal bans in Vancouver, Halifax and Toronto. The local waste management authority, hauler or recycling contractor should be contacted for specific local source separation, recycling and other requirements.

Provincial regulations vary throughout the country. In Ontario, the 3Rs Regulations require industrial, commercial and institutional office facilities with areas greater than 10,000 square metres to undertake waste audits and implement waste diversion workplans. PWGSC likely strives to achieve the 50% diversion objective set out by CCME in 1989. Environment Canada's SDS commitments to 80% waste diversion exceed local or provincial requirements and are therefore the key requirement to achieve.

The following measures should be implemented in all office buildings where feasible:

• Recycling of paper, metal cans and glass bottles, rigid plastics, polystyrene and wooden pallets, and
• Organic waste diversion.

Recyclable Paper

With recyclable paper representing 60-70% of the total waste generated in a typical office building, an effective paper recycling program should be in place in all office buildings. While many federal office buildings have implemented paper recycling programs, a benefit of the NO WASTE program has been to increase the recovery of recyclable paper from 70-80% up to 90%+. This improved recovery not only reduces landfill disposal costs, but also improves the potential for revenues from the sale of the recovered paper.

Metal Cans and Glass Bottles

Glass and metal food and beverage containers together typically represent between 5-7% of waste generated within office buildings. These containers are generated at individual workstations and in lunchrooms, cafeterias and outdoor lunch areas.

A central recycling station should be placed at convenient locations on each floor for the collection of glass and metal containers. Recycling stations can be placed by elevators, coffee stations, lunchrooms or any other high traffic area.

Rigid Plastics

PET and HDPE are the most common rigid plastics recycled in Canada and are collected by many commercial recycling operators. However in some regions of the country, commercial recycling companies may not be able to accept this wide range of mixed plastics. The ability to collect and recycle polypropylene containers is limited to selected communities in Canada including the NCR. The viability of this measure needs to be established on a location by location basis.

The rigid plastics that have been collected in some office recycling programs include:

• PET (beverage containers)
• HDPE (beverage containers, cleaning products)
• Polypropylene (dairy food containers)

Collectively, these plastic containers represent approximately 1% by weight (much more when considering volume) of waste generated with an office building. Volume is an important consideration when compactors are not used

Polystyrene Recycling

Polystyrene (PS) food service packaging such as foam coffee cups, lids, plates, 'clamshell' trays represent between 1-3% by weight of office waste generation. The program could also accept expanded polystyrene (EPS) foam packaging that is used to protect products (e.g. computers, monitors etc.) during shipping.

PS needs to be kept separate from other plastics or containers due to market requirements. In the NO WASTE Programs in the NCR, PS is collected in a separate compartment of the recycling station.

PS recycling is not readily available across Canada, and is currently limited to southern Ontario. It is necessary to check with local commercial recyclers about availability of PS recycling and requirements in your area. The Canadian Polystyrene Recycling Association (CPRA) is a source of information on PS program development and material collection. They can be contacted at (905) 612-8290.

Plastic Film

Plastic film represents 1-2% of total waste generated in office buildings. Plastic film including pallet wrap and clean carryout bags (e.g. lunch bags, retail bags) is recyclable in a few communities across Canada. If collected by commercial recyclers, plastic film will either be collected separately or possibly combined with mixed rigid plastics. Ensuring that the plastic film is dry and free from food contamination is very important.

Organic Waste Diversion

Organic waste generated within office buildings includes food waste and compostable paper waste.

Compostable food waste represents approximately 11% of waste generation within an office building. Food waste is generated in three general areas. First is at the individual workstations where employees consume snacks and lunches at their desks. Typically, the quantity generated is small, consisting of apple cores, peelings, tea bags, and leftover or uneaten food. The second area of generation is in common eating areas on each floor such lunchrooms and coffee stations. Again lunches, snacks and coffee grounds typically are generated in larger, more concentrated quantities. The third area of food waste generation is in food preparation areas such as building cafeterias and food court that may or may not be within a building.

Paper towels generated in washroom facilities are also compostable. Paper towels comprise approximately 7-8% by weight of waste generated within office buildings. Paper towels are removed from the washrooms by cleaning staff. However, the paper towels need to be emptied from the plastic bags, and contamination such as metal cans or plastics needs to be removed. These additional handling tasks need to be factored in when considering this option. Also note that paper towels, like plastics, take up a lot of volume but do not have much weight. This also needs to be considered when determining storage requirements and costs.

Off-site organic waste management options are very dependent upon regional opportunities available. While composting is expanding across the country, not all facilities are permitted to handle food waste. Organic wastes are also being managed through aerobic and anaerobic digesters or in some cases, are used in animal feed operations (food waste used as animal feed). Each operation will have its own specifications about what is and is not acceptable. A thorough review of requirements and contamination issues of local organic diversion options needs to take place in reviewing the technical and cost feasibility of this option. It is important to note that a high percentage of food waste from office buildings is coffee grounds that are not suitable for animal feed operations.

On-site composting is also an option. Small commercial composting units are available from a number of suppliers and are being used in various offices and institutions around Canada. The benefits of on-site composting are the elimination of off-site collection costs and tipping fees. There are additional "internal" costs for collection, bulking, operating and maintenance (cleaning, etc.). On-site composting units also require accessible space, electrical hook-ups and possible ventilation changes.

Information on composting opportunities across the country can be obtained from the Composting Council of Canada.

Phone: 416-535-0240
Internet: The Composting Council of Canada 

Wood Pallets

Wooden shipping pallets are used for deliveries of large volume goods and materials and often discarded in the shipping and receiving areas. Over time, the accumulated pallets can become obstacles in vehicle traffic and a fire hazard.

Pallets are either recyclable or reusable and should not be landfilled. In the NCR, PWGSC (Roston Gordon at RPS - phone: 819-956-0623) can arrange for a collection service. In other parts of the country, contact the local recycling authority to identify diversion options.

10.5 Economic and Environmental Analysis of Diversion Options

The Life Cycle Costing (LCC) approach used for waste management is designed to address the less capital intensive, but more operational nature of waste diversion and disposal activities. There is a limited range of options available to meet high diversion targets. The economic analysis is therefore simplified to encompass a straight cost comparison between diverting waste or disposing of it, on a cost per tonne basis.

This section includes two tables that will guide the comparative analysis, and two checklists that will assist in covering the key items and points to remember.

To carry out the economic analysis of waste diversion options, the proponent should work through the simple cost calculations presented in Tables 10.2 and 10.3. Information required should be readily available from files, contractors, suppliers and waste audit reports. As long as the cost per tonne from Table 10.3 does not exceed the cost from Table 10.2, then the cost effectiveness goal will have been met.

The per tonne costs for recycling materials such as glass and metal containers, rigid plastics or polystyrene on an individual material basis will always be higher than disposal costs due to their inherent low weight to volume ratio. Also, paper will be the only significant material recycled from office buildings that has the potential to generate revenues. Typically, office paper recycling services are either revenue generating or revenue neutral, depending on market conditions for mixed office paper and volumes generated. Therefore it is important to consider recycling program costs as a "basket of goods" when assessing costs and benefits.

Capital costs for the recycling programs include desk-side wastepaper collections bins for the central waste and recycling centres, desk-top bins plus other handling and storage equipment (e.g. carts).

Multi-material recycling programs costs are dependent on the cost to collect and process (separate) and market the recyclable materials. Costs are typically priced as a fee for collecting one or a number of collection bins. The recycling contractor provides storage and collection bins and carts either as part of the service or on a rental basis. These arrangements and costs must be identified as part of the cost analysis as they vary significantly across the country and also from one building and contractor to another.

Waste disposal contracts are sometimes negotiated on a regional basis. Some offices have greater autonomy in contracting for waste collection. Waste disposal charges typically include a collection or service fee, plus a tipping fee for the disposal of the garbage on a per tonne or cubic yard basis. Waste haulers should also provide you with information about the final disposal location, including name, location and number for the facility, plus the current tipping fee structure.

To assist in working through the steps required for waste diversion and waste management planning, check lists are included as Tables 10.4 and 10.5.

In leased facilities where waste management may be the responsibility of the building owner/operator, recycling options available to tenants my be limited by a number of factors, including limited available material storage room, existing contracts in place etc. These issues can be discussed with the building owner/operatior, and practical options can be implemented over time.

Table 10.2 - Waste Disposal Cost Calculator

Annual Waste Disposal Cost Items	Description of Cost Item	$ per Year
Waste collection costs (cost/collection; collections/month or year)
Waste disposal tipping costs/charges
Equipment costs - lease, rental, amortized capital (list costs for each equipment item)
Maintenance and repair costs (scheduled and unscheduled)
Communication & education costs
Labour and administration cost (describe allocation of labour costs)
A	Total Annual Costs
B	Total tonnes of waste disposed in a year
C	Cost/tonne (A divided by B)

Table 10.3 - Waste Diversion Cost Calculator

Annual Waste Cost Items	Description of Cost Item	$ per Year
Recycling collection costs (all materials; cost/collection; collections/month or year)
Organic collection costs (cost/bin or collection; collections/month or year)
Equipment costs - lease, rental, amortized capital (list costs for each equipment item; bag costs)
Maintenance and repair costs (scheduled and unscheduled)
Communication & education costs
Labour and administration cost (describe allocation of labour costs)
A	Total Gross Costs
B	Revenue from sale of recyclables
C	* Net recycling costs (A - B)
D	Total tonnes recycled + composted/year
E	Cost/tonne (C divided by D)

* Note that reduced tipping fees at landfill are reflected in Table 10.2

Table 10.4 - Office Waste Diversion Checklist

Table 10.5 - Checklist for Waste Disposal Planning

10.6 Monitoring and Program Improvement

On-going monitoring of waste diversion performance is required to ensure that the program stays on track, take mitigative action where required or simply identify areas where improvement can be achieved. Waste disposal records should be assembled on a monthly basis (waste hauler invoices, reports) as should waste diversion tonnages from the PaperSave program and other multi-material recycling activities. From these records, a running monthly summary of materials diverted and recycled can be kept up to date.

The EC Departmental Solid Waste Management Working Group has adopted the following criteria for assessing building performance and to identify those buildings where further monitoring and evaluation are required:

• For any facility where the per capita waste production is greater than 60 kg/person/year, a waste reduction action plan is developed which documents the reduction and recycling activities;
• For any facility where the per capita waste production is greater than 80 kg/person/year, a waste reduction action plan is developed which documents the reduction and recycling activities. In addition, a follow-up waste audit is conducted upon the implementation of recommendations within the action plan.

Programs can always be improved through ongoing communication and education to staff. Keeping employees informed, providing reminders and addressing problems (e.g. contamination) quickly and directly have proven an effective enhancement to program performance. In addition, it is important to report successes to act as encouragement to continued participation in the program.

Modifications or changes to any diversion program (e.g. adding rigid plastics to recycling program) should be communicated to staff through notices, emails and face-to-face contact.

10.7 Additional Waste Reduction Opportunities

There are many cost-effective methods of reducing office waste generation. These include:

• Evaluating potential purchases with Treasury Board Material Management Environmental Guidelines;
• Use products from Environmental Choice Program where feasible;
• Reduce paper use through electronic distribution of files, reports, documents;
• Arrange for toner cartridges to be collected and returned to suppliers to be refilled;
• Make note pads from printed paper;
• Printing draft reports/letters on backside of printed paper;
• Double sided photocopying of reports;
• Investigate use of double sided printers.

Green procurement policies and guidelines are available from Environment Canada's Administration Directorate.

10.8 Hazardous Wastes Generated in Office Buildings

Very small quantities of potentially hazardous wastes are generated within office buildings on a periodic basis primarily for building maintenance operations. These include used fluorescent lamps, batteries, used paints and solvents.

Fluorescent lamps generated in office buildings includes small quantities resulting from daily maintenance or in large volumes during one-time lamp upgrades. The lamps are comprised of a glass tube, metal ends, plus small amounts of mercury. Recent technological developments in some regions of the country now allow building maintenance staff to store used lamps for collection and recycling. In the NCR, fluorescent lamps are collected and stored by building maintenance staff in the original shipping boxes. Once sufficient quantities have been stored, PWGSC is contacted and they collect the boxed lamps as part of their hazardous waste management service. The lamps are then accumulated and eventually shipped to lamp recyclers. In NCR, call Environmental Services at (xxx) 956-1541 (Brian Stevenson)

Other potentially hazardous wastes can also be collected and managed by PWGSC including batteries, paints and solvents.

In parts of the country where a systematic approach to management of hazardous wastes centrally is not in place, each building must develop their own system to address hazardous wastes. These are small quantities for office buildings, and should be stored, or combined with hazardous wastes from other buildings, and given to a licenced company to manage and dispose.

10.9 Case Studies of Office Waste Recycling

Maximum Green Program - The Green Workplace, Management Board Secretariat

Description: Maximum Green pilot programs were tested in three Ontario Government buildings in Toronto in 1992 and 1993. The three buildings included the Ministry of Environment, the Management Board Secretariat and the Attorney General. The objective of the pilot program was to divert 50% of the waste that was going to landfill.

Features: The program included the replacement of the traditional garbage bin with a small desk-top mini bin and the expansion of materials collected at central recycling stations. Food waste was collected for composting at the new Ontario Science Centre facility.

The program included a comprehensive communications program including a co-ordinating committee, building coordinator, volunteer floor representatives, staff meeting, and regular feedback, including baseline and follow-up waste audits.

Results: Each one of the three buildings achieved the objective. The Ministry of Environment building diverted 66% of waste that was going to landfill for an overall diversion rate of 88%. The Management Board building diverted 60% of waste that was going to landfill and achieved an 85% overall waste diversion. The employees at the Attorney General building reduced waste by 55% and achieved an overall diversion rate of 75%.

As of March 2000, the comprehensive program is in place in most of the provincial buildings in downtown Toronto and diverts over 70% of all office waste from disposal.

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