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Reducing
waste is a critical component of EPA's and other federal agencies' commitment to reducing their environmental footprint. Each agency is required to participate in waste prevention and recycling and has goals to reduce waste across all operations and facilities.
- Executive Order (EO) 13423 (7 pp, 110KB About PDF) requires agencies to reduce the quantity of toxic and hazardous chemicals and materials acquired, used, or disposed of, to increase the diversion of solid waste as appropriate, and to maintain cost effective waste prevention and recycling programs in their facilities. This executive order subsumes EO 13101, (11pp,73KB About
PDF) Greening the Government Through Waste Prevention, Recycling and Federal Acquisition.
- The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act and the Resource Conservation Challenge aim to conserve natural resources and energy by managing materials more efficiently. RCRA Section 6002 also requires certain products purchased to contain a percentage of recovered materials.
- Your agency's environmental management system has goals to increase recycling and reduce materials entering the waste stream, and otherwise improve environmental practices. EPA's recycling and waste prevention objectives include performing waste audits, improving recycling, and identifying opportunities to improve its individual facilities’ EMSs.
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There are many actions you can take to reduce, reuse and recyle. Below are just some of the examples of ongoing activities in federal agencies.
Assess current practices:
- Conduct a waste assessment of your waste stream and practices.
There are several approaches for you to consider.
- Take and inventory of what green practices and policies are already in place, especially relating to procurement, contracts, buildings, etc.
- Is the effectiveness of the practices and policies measured? If not, establish a measurement system. Assess your programs to determine:
- Are they effectively run?
- Is there room for improvement?
- Based on these assessments and measurements, determine your issues and needs so you can take your program to the next level.
Establish goals in areas such as:
- Awareness/engagement/participation
- Waste prevention and reuse
- Recycling
- Buying recycled products
- Measurement
Undertake specific actions relating to your goals, such as:
- Awareness/Engagement/Participation
- Institute a “Techno Trash” collection program to promote the recycling of electronic waste.
- Participate in and help promote a “clean your files day” event at least once a year.
- Waste Prevention and Reuse
- Continually expand the number and quantity of materials recycled in your facility.
- Prevent waste whenever possible: reuse packaging materials, office supplies, and furniture.
- Choose products that have less packaging.
- Set up an office supply exchange program that allows supplies to be redistributed for reuse.
- Donate items that are still in good shape to organizations that will give them a second life.
- Reduce, through reuse, the amount of office supplies ordered.
- Hold green meetings, parties, and paperless briefings.
- Reduce waste at office luncheons through a “bring your own” utensils, napkin, and plate policy.
- Promote the use of refillable pens.
- Implement the use of rechargeable batteries if you have wireless computer mice and keyboards.
- Start a “Green Team.”
- Recycling
- Make recycling available at your meetings and events.
- Contract with suppliers to lease electronics.
- Recycle toner cartridges for all printers and copiers.
- Collect and recycle fluorescent bulbs.
- Recycle electronics equipment and participate in the Federal Electronics Challenge.
- Increase the recycling of cans, bottles,plastics, paper, and newspapers.
- Recycle binders, file folders and binder clips.
- Prevent waste and recycle in your workspace every day.
- Set your printer to double-sided printing and copying; printing only when necessary.
- Pack a waste-free lunch.
- Reuse envelopes for sending inter-office mail.
- Practice industrial materials recycling.
- Use recycled materials and recycle your building materials when constructing and remodeling.
- Buy products such as furniture, carpet, and other building furnishings with recycled content.
- Practice environmentally friendly landscaping.
- Develop a composting program.
- Buying Recycled Products
- Reduce the amount of paper purchased.
- Buy remanufactured equipment.
- Increase purchase of office supplies made with recycled content.
- Buy paper that is made with 100% recycled material – for all offices.
- Buy recycled-content building furnishings.
- Measurement
- Refine measurement capacity and set baselines statistics.
- Record quarterly numbers for recycling commodities and calculate waste diversion rates.
- Measure your progress with several available measurement tools.
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Waste Prevention and Reuse
- EPA’s WasteWise program is a voluntary partnership program that focuses on reducing municipal solid waste. WasteWise offers resources specific to federal agencies, as well as:
- EPA’s GreenScapes Web site provides information on GreenScaping and the GreenScapes Partnership program.
- Resource Conservation Challenge Web site, a national effort to conserve natural resources and energy by managing materials more efficiently.
- OFEE Waste Prevention and Recycling Web site gives an overview of concepts and terms.
- Business Guide to Reducing Waste is a comprehensive guide to all aspects of waste reduction including prevention, recycling, composting, and the purchase and manufacture of goods that have recycled content or produce less waste. Chapter 2 will help you conduct your waste assessment.
Waste Prevention and Climate Change
Recycling and Buying Recycled
Measurement
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EPA
Headquarters, regional offices, and laboratories have implemented extensive
waste reduction and recycling programs to make it easy and convenient
for employees to reduce waste.
- Headquarters Recycling Program Intranet: Bin There, Done That.
- EPA’s goals under Executive Order 13423 include expanding and promoting recycling in EPA facilities and reducing materials entering EPA's waste stream through 2010.
- Greening EPA facilities. EPA seeks to improve the environmental performance of all its 204 offices and laboratories nationwide through energy and water efficiency and resource conservation.
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Agency-Specific Information
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Continue to Program and Resource Managers
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