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The Banff Centre Waste Audit – November 2005 WASTE AUDIT REPORT The Banff Centre Banff National Park, AB. Prepared for: Prepared by: IRIS Environmental Systems Inc. Banff, Alberta November 2005

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Page 1: WASTE AUDIT REPORT - Banff Centre Centre... · The Banff Centre Waste Audit – November 2005 WASTE AUDIT REPORT The Banff Centre Banff National Park, AB. ... Banff High School was

The Banff Centre Waste Audit – November 2005

WASTE AUDIT REPORT

The Banff Centre

Banff National Park, AB.

Prepared for:

Prepared by:

IRIS Environmental Systems Inc.

Banff, Alberta

November 2005

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The Banff Centre Waste Audit – November 2005

IRIS Environmental Systems Inc 2

Table of Contents

Table of Contents 1

Introduction 3

1.0 Staff Housing Waste Audit 3

2.0 Housekeeping Waste Audit 6

3.0 Food and Beverage Waste Audit 8

4.0 Theatre Waste Audit 11

5.0 Campus-wide Waste Assessment 15

6.0 Conclusions and Recommendations 15

References 16

Table of Figures

Figure 1 - Staff housing waste stream composition (%mass) 4

Figure 2 - Staff housing waste stream composition (%volume) 4

Figure 3 - Staff Housing waste composition patterns: 2001 to 2005 5

Figure 4 - Housekeeping waste stream composition (%mass) 6

Figure 5 - Housekeeping waste stream composition (%volume) 7

Figure 6 - Food & Beverage waste stream composition (%mass) 9

Figure 7 - Food & Beverage waste stream composition (%volume) 9

Figure 8 - Food & Beverage recycle stream composition (%mass) 10

Figure 9 - Food & Beverage recycle stream composition (%volume) 11

Figure 10 - Food & Beverage waste composition patterns: 2003 to 2005 11

Figure 11 - Theatre waste stream composition (excluding engineered wood) (%mass) 13

Figure 12 - Theatre waste stream composition (excluding engineered wood) (%volume) 13

Figure 13 - Theatre recycle stream composition (%mass) 14

Figure 14 - Theatre recycle stream composition (%volume) 15

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The Banff Centre Waste Audit – November 2005

IRIS Environmental Systems Inc 3

Introduction

In developing their Environmental Management System (EMS), The Banff Centre has

been conducting regular waste audits in order to quantify the various components of its

waste stream. On November 15th and 16th, Iris Environmental Systems Inc. (IRIS)

completed the fall 2005 waste audit on behalf of The Banff Centre. This waste audit

contributes to the growing data set comprising information obtained from August 2001 to

present. Audits were conducted for four key Banff Centre departments, namely Staff

Housing, Housekeeping, Food and Beverage and the Theatre. For the first time the

Banff High School was involved in the waste audits, in order for the students to gain an

understanding of waste management principles, with the possibility of applying them to

the operation of their school.

1.0 Staff Housing Waste Audit

The staff housing waste audit was conducted on November 15th, 2005, and considered

the waste produced within a 24-hour period. At this time the occupancy levels of the staff

housing were relatively low, reflected by the small amount of waste collected for this

audit. The waste collected did not contain evidence of move-out waste. The totals for

mass and volume for the waste and recycle streams are presented in Table 1. The

recycle stream consisted entirely of refundable beverage containers, while the waste

stream consisted of a variety of materials.

Table 1 - Staff Housing audit mass and volume totals

Waste stream Recycle stream Total mass (kg) 5.82 2.40 Total volume (m3) 0.17 0.03 Density (kg/m3) 35.27 96.00

The composition of the waste stream is presented in Figure 1 and Figure 2, respectively.

Cardboard constitutes the greatest percentage of both mass and volume for this audit.

Food waste made up a large percentage of the mass, but only a small percentage of the

volume, indicating the high density of this waste category. The other paper and other

plastics categories take up relatively more volume in relation to their weight than the

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The Banff Centre Waste Audit – November 2005

IRIS Environmental Systems Inc 4

other major waste categories, suggesting that compaction may considerably reduce the

overall waste volume.

Office Paper2%

Magazines2%

Glass2%

Metal1%

Other plastics10%

Cardboard34%

Plastic tubs5%

Food w aste26%

Foil2%

Textiles1%

Other Paper15%

Figure 1 - Staff housing waste stream composition (%mass)

Other Paper21%

Cardboard31%

Glass0%

Office Paper0%

Magazines0%

Metal0%

Food waste3%

Plastic tubs3%

Other plastics30%

Textiles6%

Foil6%

Figure 2 - Staff housing waste stream composition (%volume)

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The Banff Centre Waste Audit – November 2005

IRIS Environmental Systems Inc 5

Note: Percentages displayed on the charts as 0% actually represent percentages of greater than 0% but

less than 1%.

Refundable beverage containers were subject to 100 percent source separation

for recycling, which is very encouraging. This is consistent with a high recycling

rate of this waste category from the last audit. This suggests that if separation of

other recyclable materials (i.e. cardboard) was encouraged, a high separation

rate could be achieved.

Figure 3 shows a comparison of the waste composition from 2001 to 2005 for selected

materials in terms of percentage of total mass. Notable results include a steady drop in

the percentage of refundable beverage containers to 0% in Nov 2005, and a large

increase in the percentage of cardboard for the November 2005 audit.

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Ref. be

verag

eGlas

s

Cardbo

ard

Newsp

aper

Office p

aper

Other P

lastic

Other P

aper

Recyc

le Plas

ticFoo

dMeta

l

% m

ass

Aug, 2001 Mar, 7 2005 Apr, 1 2005 Jul, 26 2005 Nov, 15 2005

Figure 3 - Staff Housing waste composition patterns: 2001 to 2005

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The Banff Centre Waste Audit – November 2005

IRIS Environmental Systems Inc 6

2.0 Housekeeping Waste Audit The housekeeping waste audit was conducted on November 15th, 2005, and considered

waste generated within a 24-hour period. The total mass of waste produced in this

period was 72.35kg, with a volume of 1.02m3. This equates to a waste density of

71.28kg/m3. The composition of the waste stream is presented in Figure 4 and Figure 5.

Newspaper4%

Magazines2%

Cardboard8%

Foil1%Rubber

0%Textiles4%

Other plastics14%

Plastic tubs4%

Refundable beverage

18%

Food waste22%

Metal0%

Glass0%

Other Paper12%

Office Paper11%

Figure 4 - Housekeeping waste stream composition (%mass)

The waste stream contained a large percentage of recyclable materials, for example

18% of the total mass consisted of recyclable beverage containers. This indicates a low

recycling participation rate from both Banff Centre guests as well as housekeeping staff.

The housekeeping waste included a recycle stream for office paper, however this was

contaminated with plastics, cardboard and other incompatible wastes and was therefore

considered as part of the waste stream. Poor recycling participation from this department

is a trend that was also observed in the July 2005 audit. Efforts should be made to

educate the housekeeping staff about the importance of correct source separation for

recyclable waste. Guests should also be encouraged to participate in recycling through

source separation, which would require recycling bins to be placed within guest rooms

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The Banff Centre Waste Audit – November 2005

IRIS Environmental Systems Inc 7

and throughout Lloyd Hall. It should be noted that the common area on the second floor

of Lloyd Hall had the appropriate recycling containers in place.

Cardboard15%

Plastic tubs7%

Textiles3%

Food waste4%

Metal0%

Glass0%

Other Paper15%

Other plastics28%

Foil2%

Rubber0%

Magazines1%

Newspaper1%

Office Paper14%

Refundable beverage

10%

Figure 5 - Housekeeping waste stream composition (%volume)

The main component of the textiles waste category (2.9kg) consisted of Swiffer®

disposable mop pads. These pads are non-biodegradable (www.pgbrands.com) and

non-recyclable, are packaged in plastic boxes, and create a waste source that would not

be present with the use of conventional mops or sponges.

The housekeeping garbage contained a significant number of Banff Centre disposable

coffee cups. These cups are constructed of paper with a polyethylene coating

(www.dixiefoodservice.com), and are non-recyclable. The Banff Centre may wish to

consider the use of recyclable coffee cups that do not have a polyethylene coating.

Further waste audits of the housekeeping department will allow changes in waste

generation and source separation rates to be observed, and will hopefully reveal

improvements in recycling rates and reductions in overall waste volumes.

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IRIS Environmental Systems Inc 8

3.0 Food and Beverage Waste Audit The waste audit for the Food and Beverage department was conducted on November

16th, 2005. This audit was greatly facilitated by the participation of the Banff High School

students, who assisted with the sorting and measuring of the waste. The food and

beverage audit considered the waste produced during a normal operating day

(November 15th, 2005).

The totals for mass and volume of both the waste and recycle streams for the Food and

Beverage audit are presented in Table 2. The waste stream constitutes a significantly

greater proportion of the generated waste than the recycle stream, in terms of both mass

and volume.

Table 2 - Food and Beverage mass and volume totals

Waste stream Recycle stream Total mass (kg) 519.05 73.80 Total volume (m3) 2.48 1.16 Density (kg/m3) 209.42 63.90

A breakdown of the waste stream reveals the significance of its various components,

and is displayed in Figure 6 and Figure 7. It can be seen that food waste is by far the

most important waste category, particularly in terms of the mass percentage. The

categories of “other paper” and “other plastic” are less significant in terms of mass, but

contribute greatly to the total waste volume. This result may suggest an application for

waste compaction.

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IRIS Environmental Systems Inc 9

Food w aste89%

Other Paper5%

Cardboard2%

Other plastics4%

Refundable beverage

0%

Office Paper0%

Metal0%

Styrofoam 0%

Foil0% New spaper

0%

Magazines0%

Figure 6 - Food & Beverage waste stream composition (%mass)

Magazines0%

New spaper0%

Office Paper0%

Foil1%

Styrofoam4%

Other plastics20%

Refundable beverage

0%

Cardboard6%

Other Paper16%

Metal0%

Food w aste53%

Figure 7 - Food & Beverage waste stream composition (%volume)

The composition of the recycle stream is presented in Figure 8 and Figure 9. The main

component of the recycle stream was steel chafing fuel containers, with a total mass of

38kg. These containers were not observed in the July audit, and may be an intermittent

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IRIS Environmental Systems Inc 10

component of the recycle stream. These containers contain flammable solvents and are

therefore considered hazardous waste, and should be sent to Safety and Security as

part of their Hazardous Waste Program. There may also be the option of reusing these

containers by refilling them with chafing fuel. Cardboard recycling is well conducted,

although care should be taken to properly flatten all boxes in order to reduce the overall

volume.

Plastic tubs10%

Chafing fuel containers

(steel)52%

Cardboard33%

Grease10%

Figure 8 - Food & Beverage recycle stream composition (%mass)

Grease1%

Cardboard58%

Chafing fuel containers

(steel)10%

Plastics tubs31%

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IRIS Environmental Systems Inc 11

Figure 9 - Food & Beverage recycle stream composition (%volume)

Figure 10 shows changes in the composition of the food and beverage waste stream

from 2003 to 2005. No significant results can be obtained from this analysis, however

there appears to be a reduction in the percentage of the total mass of the other paper

and other plastic categories, and an increase in the percentage of food. Once more data

becomes available a statistical analysis will reveal the significance of these results.

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Cardbo

ard

Office P

aper

Other P

aper

Glass

Metal

Food

Refund

able

Plastic

tubs

Other P

lastic

Textile

s

Styrofo

amRub

ber

% m

ass

2003 2005 Mar 23 2005, Jul 25 2005, Nov 16

Figure 10 - Food & Beverage waste composition patterns: 2003 to 2005

4.0 Theatre Waste Audit

The theatre waste audit was conducted on November 16th, 2005, with the assistance of

the Banff High School students. The audited waste consisted of a full dump load of

waste generated during October and November, and is derived from one-off set

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IRIS Environmental Systems Inc 12

construction events occurring during this period, and the disposal of end of life tools and

equipment.

The totals for mass and volume for both the waste and recycle streams are presented in

Table 3. The densities of both the waste and recycle streams are particularly high, so

further waste compaction would not be necessary.

Table 3 - Theatre audit mass and volume totals

Waste stream Recycle stream Total mass (kg) 553.75 157.50 Total volume (m3) 2.44 0.61 Density (kg/m3) 227.13 256.93

Engineered wood, such as plywood and fibreboard, made up the bulk of the waste

stream, accounting for 88% of the mass and 78% of the volume. There is the possibility

of recycling much of this wood for woodworking and craft purposes, and the Banff High

School displayed interest in utilising this source for school activities. If recipients for this

material could be found then the mass and volume of the theatre waste stream could be

drastically reduced. The composition of the remainder of the theatre waste stream

(excluding engineered wood) is presented in Figure 11 and Figure 12.

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The Banff Centre Waste Audit – November 2005

IRIS Environmental Systems Inc 13

Glass0%

Other Paper2%Brooms

2%

Paint cans16%

Styrofoam1%

Refundable beverage

0%Other plastics

16%

Textiles4%

Electronics10%

Sawdust21%

Wood-solid28%

Figure 11 - Theatre waste stream composition (excluding engineered wood)

(%mass)

Brooms1%

Wood-solid11%

Other plastics29%

Refundable beverage

0%

Other Paper18%

Glass0%

Textiles9%

Styrofoam2%

Paint cans18%

Saw dust9%

Electronics3%

Figure 12 - Theatre waste stream composition (excluding engineered wood)

(%volume)

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The Banff Centre Waste Audit – November 2005

IRIS Environmental Systems Inc 14

The waste stream did not contain any significant amounts of recyclable products, so

source separation for this department can be deemed a success. Paint cans were once

again found in the waste stream, indicating the need to reiterate the disposal protocols

suggested after the July audit. The paint cans are classed as hazardous waste, and

should be sent to Safety and Security as part of their Hazardous Waste Program.

The composition of the recycle stream is presented in Figure 13 and Figure 14. The

recycling facilities within the theatre department are well utilised, with good separation of

recyclable products.

Metal76%

Cardboard11%

Office Paper3%

Magazines7%

New spaper3%

Figure 13 - Theatre recycle stream composition (%mass)

The theatre waste audits have now been conducted on two separate occasions, July

2005 and November 2005. Once more data becomes available it may become possible

to see trends in the waste stream composition, even though the nature of waste

generation from the theatre department may seem to be irregular.

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IRIS Environmental Systems Inc 15

Cardboard63%

Metal25%

Magazines5%

Newspaper3%

Office Paper4%

Figure 14 - Theatre recycle stream composition (%volume)

5.0 Campus-wide Waste Assessment Campus-wide waste assessment, performed in conjunction with the Town of Banff, was

not conducted as part of the November 2005 audit. This audit is to take place on an

annual basis as part of the March waste audit.

6.0 Conclusions and Recommendations The November 2005 waste audit revealed both strengths and weaknesses of The Banff

Centre’s waste management program, including issues identified from previous audits.

The staff housing, food and beverage and theatre departments should be commended

for their effective source separation of recyclable materials and all of the departments

assisted in the preparation of the materials. This success indicates the potential for

improvement and expansion of recycling programs at The Banff Centre. A number of

possibilities exist for optimisation of the waste management program.

• Consider composting food and other organic waste when composting

facilities become available.

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IRIS Environmental Systems Inc 16

• Waste compaction could be used to reduce overall waste volumes,

particularly with staff housing and housekeeping waste, which is relatively low

density.

• The successful staff housing recycling program could be expanded to include

other waste categories, such as cardboard and plastics.

• Wood waste from the theatre department could be reused for woodworking

by the Banff High School or other groups.

• Recyclable coffee cups could replace non-recyclable disposable coffee cups.

• Consider discontinuing the use of Swiffer® disposal cleaning pads by the

housekeeping department.

• Banff Centre guests and housekeeping staff should be encouraged to

participate in source separation for recycling.

• Paint cans (theatre department) and chafing fuel containers (food &

beverage) should be disposed of in accordance with hazardous waste

protocols.

References The Banff Centre Waste Audit Report. July 2005

The Banff Centre Waste Audit Report. March 2005

The Banff Centre Waste Audit Report. April 2005

The Banff Centre Waste Audit Report. August 2001

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