Project Description

A more organized and focused approach to institutional materials and waste management practices is needed to fully make use of the institutional segment of the waste stream in meeting the Integrated Waste Management Act (IWMA) goals. To this end, the project envisions that California school districts can reduce waste, lower operating costs, and improve and sustain waste reduction programs over time, and by doing so can serve as a business model for other institutions and businesses statewide.

Project Vision

At the start of the project, the project team developed a vision statement (5). The vision of the project was to discover how waste reduction policies and practices in the educational and institutional sectors can be institutionalized and the support to the nonresidential sector from local jurisdictions and the CIWMB strengthened. While the vision statement is crafted specifically for school districts, its components are applicable to other institutional settings as well.

Project Objectives

The project has the following principle objectives that will contribute to the accomplishment of the vision:

Secure participation of six school districts representatives as pilots to aid in the design of a model waste management system assessment methodology that evaluates the entire materials management and waste practices of the districts.
Identify factors and benefits essential to institutionalizing waste reduction programs.
Develop an implementation guide for school districts and other institutions.
Develop and conduct a training program for CIWMB personnel to partner with local jurisdictions to implement the model developed by the project statewide.
Develop a strategic outreach plan to educate and motivate educational professionals and elected officials throughout the state.
Develop a strategy to strengthen the relationships and support provided to school districts by local jurisdictions and the CIWMB.

Project Team

The project team consisted of CIWMB’s Office of Local Assistance staff and consultants (6). In addition, a resource committee consisting of personnel from other CIWMB program areas and staff from the Departments of Conservation, Pesticide Regulation, Toxic Substances Control, and Education was created to provide expertise and assistance to the project team on school-related programs (7).

This approach provided several advantages:

OLA staff provided a broad knowledge of CIWMB school-related programs and resources.
The resource committee provided an extended understanding of other programs that are applicable to school districts and expertise in those program areas.
The consultant provided school administration and waste industry expertise.
The knowledge gained from the pilot project can be seamlessly carried forward by project staff and transferred to other CIWMB staff, resource committee members, local jurisdictions, and school district officials and personnel in the form of training and outreach activities.

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Methodology

Six pilot school districts of differing size, geographic location, type, and demographics were selected to be the subject of waste assessment analyses focusing on current practices and opportunities for waste prevention, reuse, and recycling.

Among the business elements included in the analysis were:

Procurement practices including environmentally preferable product selection and cooperative purchasing.
Waste prevention, reuse, recycling, and composting opportunities.
Waste handling processes.
Waste hauling, recycling, and disposal services.
Cafeteria and noncafeteria waste materials management.
"Green building" design opportunities (8).
Reduction of hazardous waste.

Upon completion of the school district waste assessments, each pilot district received a report outlining recommendations for increased waste reduction opportunities. The project team also conducted a follow-up meeting with each pilot school district to verify the waste assessment findings and to discuss the project team’s recommendations for waste reduction (9) program implementation. The OLA staff continue to provide technical assistance to the local jurisdiction recycling coordinators and school district officials in their collaborative efforts to implement the recommended waste reduction programs.

Selection of the Pilot Districts

The six pilot school districts selected to participate as pilots in the project were:

Visalia Unified School District, Visalia, California
Long Beach Unified School District, Long Beach, California
Santee School District, Santee, California
Barstow Unified School District, Barstow, California
Ravenswood City Elementary School District, East Palo Alto, California
Placer Union High School District, Auburn, California

The pilot school districts were selected from an initial list of 21 candidate districts derived from recommendations of OLA staff, resource committee members, and local jurisdiction recycling coordinators. Selection was made pursuant to criteria designed to reasonably reflect a cross-section of school districts across the state as a whole. The result was the selection of one high school district, two elementary school districts, and three unified school districts. The table below lists the selection criteria and the weights given for each criterion.

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Table of Pilot School District Selection Criteria

Criteria	Evaluation Ranking
Willingness to participate	1
Geographical location	2
Political (local) considerations	3
Jurisdiction not meeting IWMA mandates	1
Good relationship with employee unions	3
District serving multiple jurisdictions	2
Abundant community resources (haulers, facilities)	2
Rural, suburban, urban	1
High, middle, elementary	1
Large, medium, small	1
Potential for JPA	3
Some experience vs. no experience	2
Status and influence in the community	1
Demographics	1

Table Illustrating the Six Pilot District Demographic Profiles (10)

District	Type	No. of Schools	Enroll- ment	Amer. Indian	Asian	Pacific Islander	Filipino	Hisp.	Afr. Amer.	White	Other	Free & Reduced Meals*	AFDC**
State Averages				0.9%	8.1%	0.6%	2.4%	41.3%	8.7%	37.8%	0.3%	47.6%	16.1%
Ravenswood	Elem.	11	5,370	0.0%	0.5%	9.9%	0.5%	64.5%	23.7%	0.7%	0.2%	81.1%	19.6%
Visalia	Unified	33	24,273	1.0%	7.0%	0.1%	0.4%	44.2%	2.2%	45.0%	0.1%	51.8%	22.7%
Placer Union	High	6	4,687	1.9%	1.9%	0.2%	0.3%	4.9%	0.4%	90.3%	0.1%	13.4%	3.4%
Long Beach	Unified	87	89,214	0.4%	13.2%	2.1%	3.1%	42.0%	20.3%	18.9%	0.0%	68.1%	31.6%
Barstow	Unified	12	6825	2.3%	1.1%	0.5%	0.8%	38.5%	12.6%	44.2%	0.0%	50.7%	20.7%
Santee	Elem.	11	8,432	0.3%	1.5%	0.3%	0.8%	9.8%	1.9%	85.4%	0.0%	23.0%	6.4%
Project Averages				0.6%	9.9%	1.8%	2.2%	37.9%	14.5%	27.9%	0.1%	62.7%	25.5%

Table Definitions:

*Free and Reduced Meals--U.S. Department of Agriculture nutritional meal subsidy program
**AFDC--Aid to Families with Dependent Children

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Pilot District Waste Assessments

Waste assessments were conducted at each pilot district between November 2000 and February 2001. Teams consisting of OLA staff, the local jurisdiction recycling coordinator, consultant personnel, and, in four of the six districts, the contract waste hauler conducted the assessments. The waste assessments consisted of two parts, interviews and "walk-through" tours of school district facilities. The interviews were conducted with superintendents, chief business officials, and department heads representing the various business functions of each school district. The interviews were followed by walk-throughs of the various school campuses, including kitchens, cafeterias, maintenance, custodial service, and transportation facilities, food and supply warehouses, print shops, and administrative offices. Walk-throughs of the offices and grounds of each school type-high school, middle school, and elementary school-were also conducted. The management interviews and tours of facilities and activities that generate waste were conducted in one day in four of the pilot school districts and two days in the largest two school districts.

The focus of the interviews and walk-throughs was to identify, document, and evaluate each component of the pilot school districts’ waste management system and develop cost-effective recommendations for improvement. A separate but related area of interest in the waste assessments was to identify and document opportunities to incorporate environmentally preferable products and waste reduction practices into the pilot school districts’ purchasing process.

The project team prepared waste assessment reports (11) for each of the pilot school districts that:

Explained the purpose of the waste assessment.
Detailed the waste assessment methodology.
Described the pilot school district’s existing waste management system.
Provided estimated waste characterization data.
Identified opportunities for waste reduction.
Recommended the adoption of waste reduction policies and operating procedures.
Recommended implementation of an initial set of waste reduction strategies.
Described other opportunities for implementation as time and resources permit.
Provided contact information regarding local and State resources.

A draft copy of the waste assessment report was reviewed by each pilot school district and a final report submitted to each district superintendent for implementation consideration. The project team also conducted a follow-up meeting with each pilot school district and its local jurisdiction recycling coordinator to discuss the proposed recommendations and implementation of the recommendations. The OLA staff continues to provide technical assistance to each pilot school district and its local jurisdiction's recycling coordinator in the district’s efforts to implement the recommended waste reduction programs.

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Last updated: September 18, 2008

School District Waste Reduction http://www.ciwmb.ca.gov/Schools/WasteReduce/
Contact: k12edu@ciwmb.ca.gov (916) 341-6199