Venues and Events: Reducing Waste

Eight Reasons Why Smart Venue Facility and Special Event Managers Provide Funding for Waste Reduction and Recycling Programs

1. No Additional Cleanup Costs. A review of post-event recycling programs at large stadiums, conducted by a plastic bottlers association, showed that a separate ground pick-up of beverage containers prior to the general sweep-up can almost always be done at no additional net cost.
2. Reduced Purchasing and Materials Handling Costs. Buying products in bulk usually lowers purchase costs and reduces the amount of packaging material to be disposed. This reduces your trash bill, but the greatest savings may come from increased productivity. A study (Adobe PDF, size unknown) by an Alameda County service agency found that although their pilot waste reduction programs provided a significant reduction in disposal fees, the total savings from reduced staff handling of materials, labor, and storage was ten times as large.
3. Reduced Disposal Costs. Light, bulky items like cardboard and empty beverage containers take up valuable disposal bin space. If you contract for waste hauling service by the cubic yard or bin pick-up and don't recycle these bulky items, you are paying your service provider to haul air. By purchasing products with minimal packaging and recycling bulky items, you can maximize disposal space, reduce the number of pick-ups needed, and lower your overall fees. If you already recycle these materials, but are not flattening or compacting them, you may be able to reduce your recycling costs or increase the revenue you receive from your recycler by doing so. Also, some compost facilities will accept your landscape green waste and kitchen scraps for less than landfills charge, or will trade finished landscape compost for your clean usable materials. Composting food scraps rather than sink grinding them may lower sewer fees. Switching to nontoxic cleaners and recycling engine oil reduces hazardous waste disposal fees and you may get paid for your used oil.
4. Revenue from Recyclables. If you haul your own trash, you can usually derive some income from the sale of deposit bottles, cardboard, and aluminum. If you contract for waste service, you can often find a hauler who will also remove your recyclables for free or credit a percentage of their worth against your disposal fees.
5. Tax Deductions. Donations of surplus food, equipment, construction materials, recyclables, and other items to qualified charities may be tax deductible.
6. Publicity. Formally announcing your waste reduction and recycling success to visitors and the press will improve your business' public image as an asset to the community at no additional costs. Recycling can also be used to extend the event publicity cycle for an extra day; e.g. some Fourth of July and county fair post-event cleanup activities are now covered annually by local news media.
7. Marketing. Waste reduction and recycling could be the basis for different and fun event marketing promotions, such as offering reduced entry fees for people who bring in a bag of deposit-value aluminum drink cans to recycle. "Zero waste" catering and events attract environmentally oriented clientele. "Green" organizations stand out in competitive bidding for leases of public facilities, as all California jurisdictions are now required by law to reduce their landfilled waste.
8. Environmental Mitigation. Actions like recycling construction and demolition waste, purchasing recycled-content materials, and lowering disposal from ongoing facility operations may be used as proof of solid waste mitigation for building permit applications, environmental impact documents, and community planning meetings.

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