Talking Trash

Landfills are a controversial issue in every community in which they are sited.  No one wants to live near a landfill.  Few people support their expansion, and only grudgingly accept the need.  So why do we recycle less than half of what we could?  Why isn’t recycling universally available for homes and businesses?  Maybe recycling is too expensive or too much trouble.  Or maybe we think it all goes to the landfill anyway, so why bother.  In the spirit of the season, bah humbug!

Recycling costs less and returns more

It costs about $50 a ton to have solid waste disposed of in a landfill.  Recycling a ton of materials otherwise destined for a landfill costs $30, or 40% less.  Waste haulers are increasing their profits by sorting and selling recyclables.  Prices fluctuate, but over time it is a profitable business.  In Cincinnati, my home town, the municipal trash hauling contract covers expenses; the profits flow from recycling.

Using recycled materials uses less energy

Even when you include the energy required to collect recyclables and ship them to manufacturers, energy savings are dramatic:

• Using recycled aluminum cans uses 95% less energy than new inputs


• Recycling plastic bottles uses 90% less


• Copper: 85%


• Steel: 70%


• Paper: 60%


• Glass: 33%

It’s too much trouble to separate recyclables

Mixed-stream recycling processes require no separation at curbside. Recycling containers filled with a mix of materials are separated by employed people and optical scanning technology as they travel on conveyors at the material recycling facility at 95% accuracy.

Sending less to landfills produces jobs, investment in plant and equipment, lower costs for manufacturers, enhanced profits for all in the supply chain, and higher value land use.  Next blog I’ll suggest several concrete actions you can take to support solid waste reduction and recycling at home and at work.

3E Summit Offers an Encouraging Look at Sustainability

I spoke at Cincinnati’s second annual 3E Summit on September 28.  The 3Es are energy, economics and environment, and the focus is solidly on sustainability.  This is a city organized event, with the help of corporate sponsors.  My breakout session was Sustainability 101, and I shared the stage with the EPA and Procter & Gamble.  Here’s what I learned at the Summit:

PNC Financial Services, headquartered in Pittsburgh, owns more LEED rated buildings than any company on earth.  These range from super-size structures like PNC FirstSide, a 650,000 square foot operations facility in their home town, to over 100 LEED Silver bank branches.  PNC is now the fifth largest bank in the country, so they are doing something right.  Their next sustainability goal is to develop a net zero branch prototype in 2011.

Why is PNC so green?  First, they say it’s the right thing to do.  Other reasons: their LEED facilities yield higher satisfaction and productivity among associates, and building operating costs and total cost of ownership are more competitive.

I also met Fifth Third Bank’s first ever director of sustainability at the Summit.  He’d just started a few days earlier.  Scott Hassell is a bright and engaging young professional with experience at think tank Rand Corporation to recommend him.  I hope this reflects a growing trend among retail banks to commit to greener operations.

Procter & Gamble announced the day of the 3E Summit that they would pursue sustainability even more aggressively in their operations and products.  Zero waste and 100% renewable power at their plants, and clean water for consumers around the world are major components of their vision.

Water was a recurring theme, even here in the Midwest, where we seem awash in fresh water.  GE is targeting water savings and water quality management in their plants, second only in importance to energy savings.

The 3E Summit offered me encouragement and confidence that sustainability is gaining traction in the heart of the country.  As the economy improves and lenders free up capital, look for increased investment and innovation from businesses of all types and sizes.

The Prime Green Business Driver

Today there are four main reasons companies decide to go green.  These drivers are operating costs, customer compliance requirements, market opportunity and one more that is the most important: the leader has decided it’s the right thing for the company to do.

The right thing to do isn’t easily quantified, it’s not market driven or imposed by regulatory authorities.  Instead, it’s a values-based decision that connects with the mission of the enterprise and resonates with the strategic perspective of the person in charge.  Executives who have led their companies to embrace sustainability usually frame it in terms of responsibility.  Sure, they also talk about the payback and efficiencies they enjoy as a result of the new approach, but they just as often comment that they didn’t expect so great a return when they launched their strategy.  They just knew it was right.

For these leaders, responsibility is often linked to the good of future generations.  They reference their children or grandchildren as the reason they began to think about a different and more sustainable approach.  Not that children or grandkids actively lobbied for a greener company – just being here in the world seems to be enough to catalyze new ways of thinking among company leaders.

Don’t underestimate the power of leadership commitment to sustainability.  Successful implementation requires the personal enlistment and passion of the person at the top.  And depth of commitment is more likely to be based on values than next quarter’s results.

You Won’t Save What You Don’t Measure

The most effective approach to making your business more sustainable starts with an assessment.  Take the time to answer quantitative questions that apply to your situation:  How many kilowatt hours have we used per month over the past two years?  What is our estimated carbon footprint in tons?  What do our products consume in packaging?  There may be a temptation or pressure to jump right into implementation.  Don’t give in.  Develop the data you need for an assessment to assure the long term success of your sustainability transformation.

Why is specific data so important to have at hand?  If you don’t begin with a baseline, anticipated savings remain invisible, or very difficult to calculate in a rear view mirror.  Most programs lose steam without a grounding in hard data. Demonstrable savings and benefits help drive new behaviors.  People are less likely to apply themselves over time without metrics.  Opposition to change will gain ground without readily measurable evidence of progress.

Always start by nailing down how much is at stake. It takes more work up front to implement a strategic commitment to sustainability, but it gives you the yardstick you must have to not only gauge performance, but to assure it.  If you don’t measure it, you won’t save it.

$8 Million in New State Grants Available for Energy Efficiency Projects

Application deadline April 23, 2010

On March 17, the Ohio Department of Development announced $8 million in new grants for energy efficiency upgrades to commercial, institutional and multi-family buildings. The grants may be used for a wide range of energy saving projects:

• Lighting improvements
• HVAC upgrades
• Geothermal heat pumps
• Daylighting strategies
• Windows and doors
• ENERGY STAR appliances
• Commissioning of building systems
• Energy audits leading to upgrades
• Other energy efficiency strategies

The grants range from $125,000 to $1 million. Eligibility requires a matching investment of at least 50% of total project costs -- I'm checking on applicability of Duke Energy and DP&L rebates to the match -- project completion within 12 months, and job creation or retention.

Application for these competitively awarded grants is a two-step process:

1. An online project summary must be submitted by 3:00 PM April 23.
2. A complete application addressing all requirements outlined in the RFP is due to Ohio Energy Resources Division by 3:00 PM April 30.

The first deadline is almost here, so please contact us right away if you need help applying for a grant.

The ABCs of CFLs

First, a replay of what most of us know.  The Compact Fluorescent Light has improved significantly in performance, dropped in price and been boosted by utility company rebates and discount coupons in the past three years.  These miserly spirals use about 25% of the electricity of comparable incandescents, saving $50 or more over the life of the lamps.  How many incandescent bulbs are lighting your business right now?

Now, the more arcane.  Some CFLs are EPA Energy Star qualified, and these are the ones to buy.  They start and warm up faster than non-qualified CFLs, and meet higher Energy Star standards for life span, color rendering, and mercury content.

Since CFLs contain about one to five milligrams of mercury, strictly speaking, they should be recycled.  Ask if your recycling provider will take them.  If not, you can take them by the batch to Home Depot or IKEA, or visit www.earth911.com to find a recycling center near your business.

Here's a tip I just learned.  To get the full hours of promised life, you need to burn a CFL in for 24 hours.  Plug in a lamp base or wire up a line of sockets you can leave on for a day.  It's well worth the extra step:  a burned-in CFL can last 8,000 hours, compared with 2,000 for a long-life incandescent.

Walmart Drives Sustainability Upstream

Walmart is taking action to extend its commitment to sustainability to its supply chain.  The retailing and distribution giant is itself walking the walk with new High-Efficiency stores and corporate goals of 100% renewable energy use, zero waste and products that sustain resources and the environment.  Now many small and mid-size companies that supply the international retailer will need to think hard about making their organizations greener, too.

In July, Walmart president and CEO Mike Duke announced a Supplier Sustainability Assessment, to be implemented by October 1, 2009.  The Sustainability Assessment poses 15 questions for Walmart suppliers under four headings: Energy & Climate, Material Efficiency, Natural Resources, and People & Community.  Walmart wants to know what their supply chain members are doing to measure and reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, solid waste and water use.  The Assessment pushes sustainability beyond just an efficiency play by probing into sustainable purchasing, safe materials and social compliance.  The questionnaire doesn’t stop at the supplier’s business.  Walmart wants to know how its suppliers’ own direct vendors perform on a number of the criteria, too.

We’re beginning to see more scrutiny by large customers on their supply chain partners.  The owner of a mid-size company with a long term contract with Duke Energy told me he’d received a sustainability questionnaire recently.  If you have key accounts of significant size, market forces like energy costs and public opinion are driving them to adopt more sustainable policies.  Get a jump on planning to make your business more sustainable, too, so you’re ready to respond positively to an assessment questionnaire.

Link to the announcement and download a PDF of the the Walmart Supplier Sustainability Assessment