CBP : UBC SEEDS

The University of British Columbia (UBC) has been one of the leaders in sustainable
\npractices on university campuses across Canada. Over the past few years, UBC has been working
\ntowards becoming a zero waste campus. One of the most limiting factors that is working against
\nthe overarching goal of becoming zero waste, is the fee structure that is currently in use for
\nancillary buildings hosted on campus. The fee structure charges ancillary buildings less for
\ndisposing of their garbage waste stream, than their organics waste stream. This provides an internal
\nincentive for buildings to dispose of more garbage than organics to minimize their bottom line. In
\norder to eliminate this disincentive program, the fee structure needs to be reevaluated. It is essential
\nto focus on industry best practices before introducing a new fee structure on UBC campus, because
\nancillary buildings are able to opt out of UBC waste management in order to use a private waste
\ndisposal company.
\nThere are a number of cities and university campuses who have set applicable precedent
\nwhen it comes to waste management practices, including the fee structures used in specific
\njurisdictions. San Francisco, Seattle, City of Vancouver, University of Western Ontario and the
\nUniversity of Victoria were all investigated in order to establish some industry best practices for
\nachieving zero waste. Within the municipalities, residential waste collection rates were analyzed
\nfor trends that would incentivize zero waste practices. San Francisco has in place a discounting
\nmodel that offers a decrease in rates for customers with a higher waste diversion rate, which has
\nproven to be effective. Seattle offers discounts for bulk waste disposal of each of their waste
\nstreams, with the exception of recycling which is free pickups for residents. The City of Vancouver
\n– including Burnaby – has limited garbage disposal to a biweekly pickup schedule, while
\nmaintaining their weekly organics and recycling pickups. Universities have introduced a number
\nof educational programs on campuses to encourage students to take an active role in waste
\nmanagement on campus.
\nThe new model proposes offering a discount to buildings that have higher waste diversion
\nrates, based on the size of the bins of different streams of waste. In order to effectively introduce
\nthis strategy, more metrics should be measured in monthly waste audits. The introduction of
\nbarcodes on waste disposal bins should allow for measures of each waste stream to be simple and
\ninexpensive, as only scanning and tracking technology would need to be purchased. As well, there
\nwill be an immediate decrease in garbage pickups, inspired by Vancouver and Burnaby reducing
\nthe garbage pickups to a biweekly manner. Thirdly, fines for high rates of contamination should
\nbe introduced, especially for that of contaminated organics bins. The combination of the above
\nthree processes should advance the movement of UBC campus towards zero waste.
\nMoving forwards, it is essential to recognize that the industrial composting machinery is
\nreaching the end of its life. In order to replace the machine, research must be conducted to ensure
\nthat UBC purchases the most efficient industrial composter. As well, more educational
\nprogramming should be rolled out to the primary waste sorters on campus – the students – in order to increase the waste diversion rate and decrease the contamination in all the waste streams. Disclaimer: “UBC SEEDS provides students with the opportunity to share the findings of their studies, as well as their opinions, conclusions and recommendations with the UBC community. The reader should bear in mind that this is a student project/report and is not an official document of UBC. Furthermore readers should bear in mind that these reports may not reflect the current status of activities at UBC. We urge you to contact the research persons mentioned in a report or the SEEDS Coordinator about the current status of the subject matter of a project/report.”

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