Recommended Strategy for Waste Reduction in School Districts Statewide

One of the primary objectives of this project is for the CIWMB to apply what was learned from the project to other school districts statewide. The CIWMB can accomplish this by developing a plan that includes a clear understanding of desired outcomes, organizational coordination, focused outreach, partnering with local jurisdictions, training, information management, and technical support. The following inseparable components comprise a strategy to realize this objective. Failure to implement one of the components jeopardizes the entire strategy. It is recommended that all components discussed below be given equal importance and implemented as a program package.

Component 1: Develop a Comprehensive Plan for School Districts

The CIWMB should prepare a comprehensive plan that describes clear goals and desired outcomes in school districts. The plan should address both waste reduction and educational curriculum goals and be linked through the CIWMB’s Office of Integrated Education to relevant school programs internal and external to the CIWMB..

The plan will provide an appropriate context within which to set policy and work with other boards and departments of California Environmental Protection Agency (Cal/EPA) and other organizations of State government. The plan will assist the CIWMB in establishing priorities, allocating resources, and evaluating program performance. The planning process will serve to identify those CIWMB programs, units, and functions that should be coordinated for maximum effectiveness in achieving strategic plan goals.

A planning group consisting of the Assistant Director of the Office of Integrated Education and branch managers of the CIWMB’s Diversion, Planning, and Local Assistance Division, Waste Prevention and Market Development Division, and Special Waste Division should convene to prepare the plan. The Assistant Director of the Office of Integrated Education should chair the planning group.

The resource committee created for the project should be formalized and expanded with additional membership from the other boards, departments, and offices of Cal/EPA and from other State agencies as applicable. The committee’s role is to serve as a resource to the planning group, provide communication between program units, and offer technical expertise in all aspects of waste reduction and curriculum programs.

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Component 2: Partner With Local Jurisdictions to Achieve Waste Reduction Objectives in School Districts

The CIWMB does not have the resources to work directly with all schools districts, let alone the entirety of the nonresidential sector throughout the state. The CIWMB can extend its resources significantly by creating an effective partnership with cities and counties by providing them with resources to assist school districts in increasing waste reduction and recycling program implementation. As the agencies responsible for implementing the Integrated Waste Management Act (IWMA), local jurisdictions have a vested interest in the implementation of successful waste reduction programs in their school districts along with other institutions and businesses. The waste management practices of school districts can, in smaller communities, have a significant impact on a local jurisdiction’s ability to meet these mandates.

This is not to say that the staff from the Office of Local Assistance or other CIWMB program areas should not work directly with school districts, but that such work should always be done in the context of support to the respective local jurisdictions.

To prepare local jurisdictions for carrying the primary responsibility of increasing waste reduction in school districts, the Office of Local Assistance should provide the training, technical support, and informational tools and resources necessary to do the job.

The Office of Local Assistance should:

1. Conduct a comprehensive training program for local jurisdiction recycling coordinators and other local jurisdiction staff engaged in waste reduction activities related to schools.

The training for local jurisdictions should include who, when and how to initiate contact with school officials, as well as who should do it and when, insight into school organization structure and decision processes, the language of schools, information and financial sources, and model methods for assessing and institutionalizing waste reduction opportunities.

2. Conduct a training program for CIWMB staff.

The training should include the same elements noted above as well as training in the informational and technical resources available to provide support to local jurisdictions.

3. Conduct training for school district personnel in partnership with local jurisdictions.

To the extent that local jurisdictions need or want assistance in training school personnel in the techniques of waste stream analysis and design of waste reduction programs, the Office of Local Assistance should assist in the conduct of such training. It is important to recognize that the primary objective of the Office of Local Assistance in such activities is to "train the trainer" in order to leverage its presence in the field through local jurisdictions.

4. Appoint a full-time staff to design and conduct training of applicable CIWMB and local jurisdiction personnel and to conduct the outreach program described in Component 3.

Training of applicable CIWMB staff and local jurisdictions is critical to extending the reach of the CIWMB into the field. Well-trained local recycling coordinators and CIWMB support staff provide an opportunity for engaging every school district and other institutions in the state on a continuous basis. A training program must be designed and conducted to reach every jurisdiction in the state and relevant CIWMB staff. To accomplish this, a full-time staff must be dedicated to carry out the program (22). The same staff could conduct both the training and outreach programs.

5. Increase its presence in the field.

Staff should build networks in their assigned regions to maintain a good understanding of all aspects of the assets and constraints of the assigned community with which to meet IWMA mandates. Maintaining consistent field presence facilitates Office of Local Assistance staff members’ ability to identify and promote waste reduction opportunities within the jurisdiction to which they are assigned. Staff need to have an in-depth understanding of available diversion facilities, local haulers, regional RCP vendors and resources, opportunities for cooperative purchasing, and other devices by which school districts can increase purchasing power or influence waste service levels.

6. Continue to develop, improve, and maintain informational and technical support tools for use by local jurisdictions, CIWMB staff, other State agencies, school districts, business and the public.

During the course of the pilot project, it was determined that there is a tremendous amount of information available about school waste reduction and diversion programs and other school-related environmental information on the Internet, in libraries within the CIWMB, and other California State agencies.

The project team with the resource committee to create a School Waste Reduction web site to provide tools and resources for school waste reduction. The web site contains a waste reduction strategies section organized by school district function (for example, administration, food services, purchasing). Linked to each of these functions are a variety of waste reduction strategies with information and references to learn about implementation benefits, model programs, funding opportunities, and other resources available for education and assistance.

It will be the role of the Office of Local Assistance to maintain and improve this resource for use by staff, local jurisdictions, waste management professionals, school districts, other institutions, and the public at large. The web site will be used for training and will be an invaluable tool for local jurisdictions in their consultation with school districts.

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Component 3: Conduct a Comprehensive Outreach Program to Educate School District Decision-Makers

To "open the doors" of school districts to local jurisdictions, school officials should be pre-conditioned to receive the assistance local jurisdictions can offer them. The Office of Local Assistance should educate school boards, superintendents, principals, and other school district decision-makers about the value of waste reduction and steps they can take to initiate programs.

The outreach plan developed by the project team is essentially a "marketing" strategy (23). It is designed to educate the customer (e.g., school district officials) utilizing forums offered by regional and statewide school-related organizations. Once the benefits of waste reduction and diversion are communicated, the "educated" customer is open to receive assistance from the well-trained and equipped local jurisdiction. If school districts are aware of the apparent benefits of waste reduction to the bottom line and that local jurisdiction consulting services are provided at no cost, they should be more open to a dialogue with their local jurisdiction.

The outreach plan identifies the following school-related associations as primary target audiences for outreach:

California School Boards Association
Association of California School Administrators
California Association of School Business Officials
California Parent Teacher Association

The plan applies a top-down approach, communicating with school officials that have the authority to adopt, implement, and advocate waste reduction policies and operating procedures. Many of the associations have regional or local chapters or work groups. Opportunities should be created to work with these groups as well as the statewide membership.

Presentations made to each of the school related associations should be tailored for that particular membership. For example, an outreach presentation to the California School Boards Association should have the primary objective of educating the audience on the value of adopting district-wide policies for waste reduction and environmentally preferable purchasing. The model waste reduction resolution and environmental purchasing policy in the appendices might be the focus of the presentation. Likewise, a presentation to the Association of California School Administrators or the California Association of School Business Officials might focus on how to develop operating procedures for waste reduction.

A model waste reduction and procurement policies should be included in the policy publication of the California School Boards Association. Articles should be placed in newsletters and other publications directed at school officials about model programs in schools, feature articles about projects, and articles about suppliers of products that contribute to waste reduction and cost savings.

In addition to the primary target associations listed above, other organization and professional associations have been identified in the outreach plan, and outreach efforts toward these additional target audiences are recommended as personnel, resources, and budget permit. For example, a presentation to the California School Food Service Association might focus on how to initiate a food composting program, how to reduce food-packaging waste, or reuse and recycling alternatives for serving trays.

The outreach strategy outlined above is comprehensive and complex. It is a critical element in the strategy to improve waste reduction performance in school districts, institutions, and businesses. The Office of Local Assistance should provide the leadership for the outreach plan.

To be successful, the CIWMB must develop long-term working relationships with the target associations, learning more about the education industry and developing and shaping opportunities. This effort will require the full attention of at least one mid-level manager or technical specialist to lead the program and adequate staff to conduct the outreach program in addition to the training assignments noted above in Component 2. The outreach and training programs should also include participation of other CIWMB specialist staff in the execution of the outreach program on a subject matter basis. Adequate staffing will be even more critical if, as recommended below, the strategy developed by the project is to be applied to other institutions in addition to school districts statewide.

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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