Waste Audit
Client Summary: Waste audit of
Business School and Amory
Building for Green Steps OnCampus project
Aims and Objectives – What are we going to do?
The Business School:
•
Conduct a waste audit.
•
Evaluate the effectiveness of previous initiatives such as the ‘bin-free’ scheme in reducing the amount
of waste sent to landfill.
•
Ascertain whether the quantity of general waste has decreased compared to previous years
•
Examine the best method to communicate the results of this audit to the Business School staff.
The Amory building:
The Amory building incorporates the College of Life and Environmental Sciences and as of yet its waste has
not been audited. We would expect to find results similar to the Harrison building as it is similar in size, where
40-45% of the waste sent to landfill could have been recycled. The aims and objectives for this building are
as follows:
•
Conduct the first ever waste audit on the Amory building.
•
Establish some baseline data in terms of the quantity of waste sent to landfill and the proportion of
waste that could be recycled.
•
Examine the best method to communicate the results of this waste audit to the different users and staff
of the Amory building which incorporates three colleges.
Importance – Why are we doing it?
As previously mentioned, waste audits of the university buildings has found that on average 40-45% of the
waste to landfill could have been recycled. This audit has the potential to significantly decrease this statistic
for the two buildings in question which would substantially reduce the volume of waste the university sends to
landfill each year. This will benefit the University in terms of reduced disposal costs as well as improving its
sustainability performance and combating climate change.
Results – What will we produce?
Before we begin our audit we will weigh the total amount of waste. We will then separate the waste into
landfill, paper, cardboard, coffee cups, plastic and organic streams and weigh them individually. We will
record this information on a data sheet. This will allow us to calculate the percentages of waste to landfill,
recycled material and also the different types of material. A focus of the investigation will be on counting the
number of disposable coffee cups as this is a huge issue within the university. Throughout the audit we will
take photos on a digital camera that will visually describe and explain the processes that we went through.
These photos will be incorporated and discussed upon during the report.
Once the results have been calculated they will be displayed graphically in a report that will describe the
results. From these results we will ascertain statistics such as how much money the staff could save by not
using coffee cups for example? We will then explore strategies to help communicate these results to the staff
in these buildings and incorporated them into the report. In addition we will outline examples of successful
schemes that have reduced waste to landfill in other Universities. We will take photos of each stage of the
waste auditing process and use these to help communicate change to building users.
www.exeter.ac.uk/careers
Waste Audit
Our Schedule:
29/01/14 – Initial meeting with Karen to discuss project brief
05/02/14 – Meeting with Shane Vaughan to discuss waste auditing
10/02/14 – Email Karen Client Summary document
11/02/14 – Skype to discuss Client Summary
Conduct waste audit – dates to be arranged with Greg Brooks
Arrange a post-audit meeting with Karen to discuss the outcome of the audit
Prepare report of findings
Time Allocation:
The total time allocated for carrying out this project is 60 hours. This is divided into:
•
Pre-audit activities – includes initial meetings with Karen Gallagher and Shane Vaughan, liaising with
Greg Brooks, preparing risk assessments and method statements – 10 hours
•
Business School Waste Audit – 8 hours
•
Amory building Waste Audit – 8 hours
•
Data presentation – 3 hours
•
Data analysis – 3 hours
•
Investigating recommendations and solutions – 8 hours
•
Researching other successful institutions – 5 hours
•
Report write up – 10 hours
•
Final amendments and conclusions – 5 hours
Who are the stakeholders involved in this project?
We are going to work with Greg Brooks and Shane Vaughan to ensure our waste audit is successful. We will
make sure that all the personal protective equipment (PPE) is available prior to undertaking the audit and
discuss any previous problems that have occurred in order for the audits to run smoothly. We will also
discuss the best way to record the data during the audits. Greg will be our lead contact for health and safety
and logistics.
www.exeter.ac.uk/careers