Are time, water, and air keeping you from reaching your diversion goals?
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.” – Albert Einstein
If your portfolio is like most portfolios, when the property was developed, at some point - most likely very late in the process - someone asked, “uh, where are we going to put the trash?” A scramble resulted, likely a phone call to someone in your network in the trash business, followed by a frantic call to the architect telling him you need about 5 foot more than what they had set aside for a trash enclosure. That is followed by an email to your ancillary services team and telling them - set up trash for a start date of X. Potentially, another call is made, a contact is set up for the lowest cost bid received, and we walk away from the issue of trash.
If the subject comes up again, it is likely in the context of either procurement and trying to drive the cost down by rebidding it, or a complaint has been received because of service, or you received unexpected contamination or overage fees.
Sound familiar? Let’s face it; trash is typically the very last thing that anyone wants to pay attention to. We want the waste to go away. But that is the catch…. there is no such place as away. So away becomes most likely a landfill, and if you are required to have recycling or to compost, perhaps another container for the required service.
If you notice a pattern of reaction, we tend to react to waste instead of planning for and optimizing waste. Yet, interestingly enough, when tenants are surveyed, one of the most common amenities requested is recycling. In fact, your recycling program is the most visible evidence of your commitment to environmental responsibility. While your tenants see the light provided by your light fixtures, they often fail to recognize the energy savings an LED fixture provides compared to a non-LED fixture. Yet, the recycling program sits front and center and is the most visible evidence of your sustainability program in most cases.
With clear evidence that tenants want recycling available, why do we have so many issues with recycling in multifamily properties? It may not be them; it might be us…
That last-minute inclusion of waste enclosures in the development process tends to lead to bad decisions. The locations tend not to be convenient, and often the containers can be confusing. Four critical elements impact the effectiveness of recycling (the four C’s)
Convenience
Clarity
Capacity
Color
The following articles dive more deeply into the Four C’s as well as some particular strategies that might help improve your diversion rate:
If you set up the program with intention and keep in mind the four C’s, you’ll be a long way towards having a more effective recycling program. Unfortunately, to truly get the diversion rate increased significantly, it will take more than just a good setup, however.
Understanding what is actually happening with the waste stream is probably the best place to start. Just like with energy and water, that means we have to measure what is going on. This likely means we are dumpster diving! What is in the container?
Contamination points towards a need for increased engagement with end-users and again verifying the four C’s are in place. Especially in residential waste streams, the percentage of food can be particularly high. Along with food comes water. Not only is 24% of all global water use directed to agriculture, but with water comes weight, and with weight comes a cost, especially if using compactors. Also, with food comes pests and odors, two prime complaints regarding the waste enclosure area.
Where available composting can be a viable strategy to remove the food waste from the waste stream, in California this is arriving in the form of mandates that go into effect in 2022, requiring that local governments and generators will be required to compost, anaerobically digest, or otherwise recycle food scraps. There the California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) has been directed to reduce organic waste by 75% and recover 20% of edible food by 2025.
Composting is not just a California thing, however, and just as ordinances that start in California tend to start migrating east, we can expect Composting to also begin to expand eastward. If you are curious if composting is available in areas of your portfolio, CompostNow has a handy may that provides insight into where composting is available: CompostNow Find Services.
If water is a cost issue for landlords, the other element costing landlords money is air. Air as in the presence of unbroken-down boxes and large items placed in dumpsters. As the pandemic took hold last year, apartments saw an increase in the number of home deliveries. When something arrives in a box, the tenant opens the package often with high expectations for what is enclosed. According to the EPA, around 80% of all products sold are packaged in cardboard. When those products are delivered via Amazon or other online retailers, those boxes are placed in another box. Despite most communities having rules that boxes be broken down before being deposited in one of the containers in your waste container area, the reality is many are not. In fact, nearly two-thirds of the material in the dumpster is uncollapsed cardboard (or air). When your dumpster fills up to quickly, it can lead to overflows resulting in tenant complaints, it is time-consuming for your maintenance staff to remedy, and if the hauler picks up the dumpster and it is overflowing, you may be charged with overage fees.
This is sometimes a difficult concept to understand, at least initially. I have had more than one property manager reach out to understand why they are being charged a fee for the overage. But, if you stop and consider the logistics, the waste hauling company has maximized its routes based on the capacity of each dumpster being serviced. If you have an 8-yard container, they are expecting 8 yards of material.
Let’s say, for easy math’s sake, the hauler’s vehicle can pull 800 yards of waste before it is full. This means the truck can service 100 locations; however, once it is at 800 yards, there is no room for another container. The vehicle must take the load to an MRF (Materials Recovery Facility - aka Recycling) or a Landfill.
But what happens if every container is overfilled by 1 yard? On stop number 88, the 800-yard capacity truck only has 8 yards of space left. That means the truck has to stop before reaching property number 89 through 100. 11 angry customers. Another truck has to be sent out to service the remaining 11 locations. The expenses related to those overages get passed back to the customers whose containers were overfilled.
There is a pretty good chance a significant number of those overfilled containers resulted not because they had over 8 yards of waste in them, but as pointed out above, they likely have unbroken down boxes which makes them appear to be overfilled. But those unbroken-down boxes take up space - space occupied by air.
That means we have to identify the boxes and get them broken down. A good place to start - you guessed it, the Four C’s. How convenient are the proper containers? Are they marked clearly? Are they the correct capacity? Do you have them identified by a distinct color to help tenants understand what goes where? You can add engagement to the four C’s - are you making sure everyone understands to break down boxes and why? Does the equipment encourage breaking down boxes, such as slots, instead of open tops? Finally, are you using technology to help identify the issue before the pickup?
Wait, what? Technology in an article about waste? The short answer is yes. Through some innovative technology applications, we can attach cameras to the container that can identify unbroken-down boxes and other contaminants in the containers through the use of AI.
While it still requires someone to respond to the signal that contamination is present (such as unbroken down boxes), automated notifications to the right people can take corrective action before the overage or contamination fees occur.
Further, the technology can also provide insight into the weight, material type, and capacity of the container - including noting if it is serviced or not.
You can help reduce the impact of the built environment by sharing this blog with your peers. Together we can impact the 39% of greenhouse gasses attributed to the built environment. It starts with awareness, and we succeed with teamwork.
Stay well!
Chris Laughman is the ThirtyNine Blog author, a blog dedicated to reducing the built environment's impact. When not blogging, Chris is helping the real estate industry reduce energy and water impact as the Vice President of Sustainability for Conservice, the Utility Experts. Whether Multifamily, Single Family, Student Housing, Commercial, or Military, we simplify utility billing and expense management by doing it for you. Our insight into your utility consumption provides an opportunity to identify risks. Leveraging innovation and experience we ignite solutions that have real impacts and track performance to ensure the trendline stays laser-focused on the goal. To get there, we must build relationships within our organizations and outside of our organizations building the critical mass needed to truly make a difference. We have before us a tremendous opportunity. Standing shoulder to shoulder, we will get this done. Contact me at claughman@conservice.com for more information.