Sustainability Issues Course
Blog Presentation
Administration and Operation –
Innovative Policies for Reducing Waste and Consumption
Before we can discuss policies on reducing waste and consumption, let’s talk about what administration and operation means. Administration means the performance of business operations or the procedure of laws under a jurisdiction. Operation in business means the continuous activities of running a business for producing value for the stakeholders. When it comes to talking about administration of business operations, one must look at the various aspects of those operations. First, let’s look at a few aspects of business operations such as policies, which are defined as “a principle or rule to guide decisions and achieve rational outcomes.”1 Basically, policies aren’t laws, which carry heavy repercussions if not followed; they are simply guidelines for members of the public, a community, or a company to follow. For example, the government has certain policies when it comes to sustainability, such as the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, and Toxic Substances Control Act. However, energy consumption and massing amounts of produced waste is a very important topic and one that is often analyzed when it comes to sustainability. As of today, America’s throw away roughly 4.5 million tons of solid waste in one year! While re-purposing and recycling is on the rise, we are still reporting unfortunate lows for products recycled vs. thrown away. The graph below shows the ratio of disposal vs. other more sustainable methods of how Americans are disposing of their used goods.
As you can see, most people are still disposing of their goods instead of recycling. This could be due to the lack of education on sustainability, or a lack of concern for the environment all together. The story is a bit different when it comes to state and local businesses and their efforts reduce the amount of waste they produce. The government regulates what chemicals business can use in their operation, how they dispose of those chemicals, how they use them, and many more. Private companies have policies that keep their operations running smoothly and decrease risk and even protect profit margins in some cases. Governments and companies also have policies that are put in place to reduce waste and consumption in an effort to not only become more sustainable, but reduce risk, and decrease spending and expenses, keeping less waste out of the environment and more money in their pockets.
A private organization based out of California, but located across the country, called the Sierra Club has a zero waste policy that is quite interesting and successful. Who is the Sierra Club? “Since 1892, the Sierra Club has been working to protect communities, wild places, and the planet itself. We are the largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization in the United States.”2 The Sierra Club’s Zero Waste policy “addresses not only the quantity of waste we generate, but also its toxicity, its contribution to climate change, and the important links between waste reduction and corporate responsibility.”2 They achieve this goal in several various ways. They reduce the amount of materials and energy used and keep the use of toxic substances to a minimum to not only reducing the amount of waste they are producing, but the amount of toxic waste they are consuming. They repair certain products to the best of their ability instead of purchasing new products and equipment that sends old products and equipment to landfills which introduces toxins into our water and soil. They reuse as much as they can, either repairing or re-purposing materials. In their efforts to repair old materials, they boost the local economy by commissioning local businesses to repair their equipment vs. sending it off to be repaired else ware. Lastly, they recycle any materials that are unable to be repaired or reused. Being that they are extremely conscience of the chemicals used in their purchases products and materials, when they are unable to be repaired or re-purposed, they are safer to recycle when that time comes. The Sierra Club prides themselves in thinking and buying smarter from the beginning, thus achieving a higher success rate of zero waste by “design rather than trying to manage the waste consumption after the fact.”2 The Sierra Club also supports another educational resource called “The Story of Stuff” by Annie Leonard which highlights Ecological Limits. The video below demonstrates the life cycle of our “stuff” and shows how our stuff doesn’t go away after we are finished with it.
Other innovative waste reductions policies are being put into place by state and local agencies. The University of North Carolina has several policies put into place such as emailing all correspondences vs. printing them and sending them via inter-departmental mail. They are purchasing items that require the least amount of packaging and can be reused, refilled, recycled, or repaired. They are using a system of reusable dishes, glasses and flatware throughout the university vs. using disposable items such as plastic and Styrofoam. They have an extensive recycling program campus wide which includes “includes aluminum cans, batteries, cardboard, glass bottles, hard back books, microfiche, news blend, office blend, plastic bottles (#1 and #2 only), Styrofoam and peanuts, toner cartridges, transparencies, videotapes, and additional items as implemented.” Even the facilities management is responsible for recycling items such as “construction/demolition debris, fluorescent light bulbs, motor oil, oil filters, paint, pallets, refrigerants, scrap metal, solvents, tires, yard waste, and additional items as implemented.”3
The EPA, the Environmental Protection Agency, is a government agency that is charge of setting national regulations on waste disposal and management. They have policies in place that keep our waters as clean as possible, our air as pollution free as possible and keep hazardous wastes from our waters, air, and soil. They oversee several waste minimization strategies through communities, businesses, and consumers. KAB states:
Communities - The U.S. EPA estimates that over 4,000 communities have "pay-as-you-throw" programs. Residents pay for each bin or bag of trash they set out for disposal rather than a flat fee. When households reduce the amount of trash, they pay less.Businesses - Practicing source reduction helps industries decrease raw material use and cut manufacturing costs. Check out what this means for cans and bottles. Offices can shrink their waste stream, too. Get waste reduction strategies for large and small businesses.
Consumers - Buying in bulk, reusing products, buying products with less packaging, and refillable products all help to reduce consumer costs and the amount of waste going to disposal. Get a laundry list of tips from the National Recycling Coalition.
http://www.epa.gov/sustainability/basicinfo.htm
These are simple guidelines that are being implemented throughout the US today. The National Recycling Coalition sources several reduction strategies that can you started today! The KAB states:
The National Recycling Coalition – Reduction Strategies
1. Reduce product use.
2. Rent or lease products or equipment.
3. Purchase rebuilt, remanufactured or refurbished products.
4. Purchase more durable products.
5. Purchase products containing nonhazardous materials.
6. Purchase products that are reusable, refillable, or returnable.
7. Purchase products in bulk.
8. Purchase products with less packaging or reuse packaging.
9. Share or reuse resources.
2. Rent or lease products or equipment.
3. Purchase rebuilt, remanufactured or refurbished products.
4. Purchase more durable products.
5. Purchase products containing nonhazardous materials.
6. Purchase products that are reusable, refillable, or returnable.
7. Purchase products in bulk.
8. Purchase products with less packaging or reuse packaging.
9. Share or reuse resources.
As you can see, there are many recourse available to you and the rest of community that offer guidance and support for a greener earth. While some of these listed may be private policies that companies abide by, I think we can all learn from those efforts and apply them to not only our own business but our own lives as well. As of today, many of these are simply policies and “suggestions” but perhaps with our help and future sustainability efforts, we can turn those policies and suggestions into laws and provide our community with a stronger base of how to be green and enforce those efforts for a more sustainable world.
Resources for this Blog Entry
1. Wikipedia – Administration Law - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Administration_%28law%29
Wikipedia – Business operations - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_operations
EPA – Sustainability - http://www.epa.gov/sustainability/basicinfo.htm
Wikipedia – Waste Management - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waste_management
Wikipedia – Waste Hierarchy - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Waste_hierarchy.svg
2. The Sierra Club - http://www.sierraclub.org/
The Sierra Club – Zero Waste Policy - http://www.sierraclub.org/policy/conservation/ZeroWasteExtendedProducerResponsibilityPolicy.pdf
The Story of Stuff - http://www.storyofstuff.com/
Clean Air.Org - http://www.cleanair.org/Waste/wasteFacts.html
The Environment – Fact Finder - http://www.enotes.com/science-fact-finder/environment/how-much-solid-waste-generated-annually-united
3. The University of North Carolina – Waste Reduction and Recycling - http://legal.uncc.edu/policies/ps-110.html
4. Keep America Beautiful - http://www.kab.org/site/PageServer?pagename=index
The National Recycling Coalition - http://nrcrecycles.org/
Salinas Valley Solid Waste Authority - http://www.svswa.org/reduce_and_reuse.cfm
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