by
Andre Xiong
For a copy of this report or to access more information about waste management / recycling at MPS, visit: http://mpsgoesgreen.mpls.k12.mn.us
School name and grade: Pratt School k-5
Today’s date:
Audit date:
Audit participants:
6-14-2010
4-15-2010
Andre Xiong, Hennepin County Environmental Services
Ed DeBruzzi, Head Building Engineer
Jim Tschida, Plant Operations Supervisor
Waste generated at your site in April, 2010:
 In April, your school produced 3,100 lb of waste.
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 Trash: 2,800 lb (91 %)
 Mixed recycling: 280 lb ( 9 %)
 Based on your school population of 171 (150 students, 21 staff), each person in your school produced 18 pounds of waste during this month.
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 It took approximately 4.5 dumpsters to haul your 2,800 lb of trash.
3
 The waste you recycled in April will result in 280 less pounds of material going to the incinerator as well as the production of new materials. Making new products from recycled material is less expensive and more environmentally friendly than making them from raw materials.
District cost of trash and recycling disposal for your site in April, 2010
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:
Trash, actual Mixed Recycling
Trash,
had you not recycled
Monthly haul charge $1.90/yd
Processing fee rate $/ton
Processing fee based on weight
MN State tax 17%
Hennepin Co. tax 14.5%
$228
$43
$61
$10.31
$8.79
$15
$0
$0 exempt exempt
$228
$43
$67
$11.33
$9.66
MPS is now collecting information about waste and recycling rates by school. The analysis below is based on data for the month which this audit took place at your site. To access weights from other months, please visit: www.mpsgoesgreen.com
and click on ‘Green Reports’.
Total Cost $308 $15 $316
In April alone, your school diverted 280 lb of waste towards recycling; saving the district $8 in disposal fees that would have incurred from adding that 280 lb to the trash instead. These savings allow the district to enhance its resource management strategy and offer programs like organics recycling and improved mixed recycling. Increasing your recycling rates would yield even higher savings throughout the school year.

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You were not recycling organics in addition to mixed recycling.
Approximately 35% of a school building’s' waste is compostable. Recycling compostable waste saves the district money from reduced hauling fees and taxes, helps the environment, and provides students an educational, hands-on way to learn about environmental stewardship. If your school is interested in starting an organics recycling program, there is an opportunity for additional schools to add an organics program in
Fall, 2010. Start-up costs will be covered by a grant. For information about how to launch an organics recycling program at your school, please visit: http://mpsgoesgreen.mpls.k12.mn.us/Organics_Recycling.html
Recycling containers were observed in the main office. Congratulations for recycling at all levels of the school community.
Recycling containers were observed in the faculty lounge. Congratulations for recycling at all levels of the school community.
You were not stacking trays prior to disposal.
Trays, despite how little they weigh, take up massive volume and fill up trash bags quickly, requiring them to be changed out frequently. Stacking trays to be disposed of separately will allow much more room in the trash container for other waste items. This practice saves the district money from less bag usage, reduces plastic in the environment, and allows more space in the trash dumpster(s).
You were collecting liquid waste in a separate container.
Congratulations. A great way to minimize the weight of your waste is to divert liquid waste down the drain.
Weight is one key basis that MPS’ hauler uses to charge the district for trash and recycling. In addition, because MPS sends its trash to the incinerator, dry waste results in a more efficient burn which is better for the environment.
You were using MPS Goes Green signage.
Congratulations on helping standardize the district-wide MPS Goes Green message. Remember that there are informational signs in English, Spanish, Hmong and Somali available on the MPS website. Also, there are fun
‘What to Collect’ signs on the website that are appropriate for a K-8 audience.
You were using custom-made educational materials as well.
*not sufficient data.
Note: Members of your building community know what will work in your building. Encourage staff and students to create their own promotional materials in addition to those provided by MPS. This involvement promotes ownership and responsibility amongst students and staff which leads to a successful recycling program. Be creative. On your signs, use examples of real items that students commonly run into at their school or create a video or skits for a school assembly.

Most of the surveyed classrooms displayed posters and labels to aid in sorting.
It is good to see that classrooms in your building are taking ownership for the recycling program. Posters and labels help students and staff comply with the program. Teachers, take as little as a minute of your time to post up signage by recycling containers to encourage recycling in the classroom. Another step you can take is to incorporate environmental sustainability information into coursework. The MPS Goes Green website provides curriculum materials you may find useful.
You often used color coding to promote sorting.
Congratulations on using the MPS-designated colors (blue = mixed recycling, green = organics recycling, red/gray = trash) to promoting recycling and proper sorting. Make sure to cover up any recycling labels on containers that do not correspond with its designated use. (i.e. recycling sign on a red barrel). Contact your
Plant Operations Supervisor for stickers that can be used for this purpose.
Not all classrooms sampled had recycling containers.
MPS will make every effort to provide every (class) room with recycling containers, please contact Plant
Operations Supervisor for containers. Paper makes up a tremendous portion of classroom waste, yet an astounding amount of recyclable paper is still making its way into trash bins. The labor required to throw paper into the trash or recycling bin are equal. Give students the opportunity to recycle in the classroom by providing recycling bins in all classrooms. Promote proper use of recycling bins through signage and classroom activities.
See the MPS Goes Green website for ideas, http://mpsgoesgreen.mpls.k12.mn.us/
You rarely provided both trash and recycling containers at the same location (in classrooms.)
Due to the large amount of recyclable material generated at a typical school building, placing recycling containers wherever there are trash containers is an easy way to ensure that the right items go in the right bins. Even if there is a recycling container in the same room or close by, individuals are likely to toss their recyclables in the trash if the recycling container is not next to the trash. Making recycling convenient is important to increasing recycling rates. The waste hauler’s single stream, no-sort recycling makes it even easier and requires only one container for all recycling.
You were not bagging mixed recycling containers.
Congratulations on further reducing your school’s environmental impact by minimizing plastic bag use.
MPS’ waste hauler prefers recyclables un-bagged because the bags become a problem at the materials recovery facility (MRF) where the recyclables are sorted and processed. At the MRF, in order to keep the plastic bags from getting wrapped around the sorting equipment, they must be separated and disposed. The plastic bags do not get recycled. Furthermore, the recyclables can easily be contained and transported through the use of bins, dumpsters, and trucks. Keep up this environmentally friendly, cost effective practice.
Number of sampled bags of trash: 2
Both samples had excessive contamination (paper.)
Contaminants in your trash are any items that can be recycled or composted. Common items such as paper, glass/plastic bottles, and cans require much more energy to produce from raw materials than from their recycled counterparts. These items also add weight to trash thereby increasing disposal fees for the district. A collaborative effort from your school community is needed to prevent recyclables from becoming trash.

Number of sampled bags of recycling: 0
*Samples were not provided or available
Your dumpsters were labeled.
Congratulations for labeling the different dumpsters to distinguish what waste type goes in them, ensuring that trash and recyclables are disposed of properly.
Waste were correctly disposed of in their corresponding dumpster.
Congratulations on completing the process by correctly placing waste in their proper dumpsters.
Your dumpsters were effectively arranged to best encourage recycling.
Your school has made it convenient to dispose of recyclables by placing the recycling dumpsters closer or at least next to the trash dumpsters, thereby reducing chances of it being disposed of in the trash dumpster. If your school is participating in organics, it is especially important to put that dumpster close due to the heavy weight of those bags.
Your trash dumpster [ 6 yd 3 , picked up 5x weekly ] is typically full at pick-up.
Congratulations for choosing an appropriately sized trash dumpster. Keep in mind there should be a decrease in trash as a result of the district’s revitalized recycling program. As recycling improves at your school, make note of reduced trash production and request a smaller dumpster as necessary. Many MPS schools experience significant trash reduction through organics recycling. Please consider it for your site and contact your Plant
Operations supervisor on how to get started.
Your mixed recycling dumpster [ 2 yd 3 , picked up 1x weekly ] is typically full at pick-up.
Congratulations for picking an appropriately sized dumpster. Increasing capacity or service frequency is perfectly fine if your school’s recycling efforts have improved that much.
-Incorporating organics recycling will significantly reduce trash by diverting food waste (including the countless
milk cartons and now compostable trays) into its own dumpster to be converted into compost rather than
buried or incinerated as trash. An 8 yd 3 trash dumpster being filled to the rim daily, especially for a small
school, is a cause for concern.
-Improve recycling—nearly 100% of your total waste is trash, much of that is recyclable.
-Establish a school-wide set-up that best promotes recycling in classrooms:
-Post up signs/posters by containers to differentiate recycling from trash.
-Position trash and recycling containers together to promote sorting.
-Place containers in prominent locations, such as by doors or teachers’ desks, rather than scattered
around.
-Limit the amount of (trash) containers in class rooms—one recycling and one trash should suffice.
If your school needs to modify its hauling schedule / dumpster size or access additional materials to make your waste management/recycling program successful, please contact your Plant Operations Supervisor. For questions regarding the audit and audit report, please contact Andre Xiong.

Andre Xiong
MN GreenCorps School Waste Prevention Specialist
Hennepin County Dept. of Environmental Services
417 N. 5th Street, Minneapolis, MN 55401 phone: 612-543-1316 email: andre.x.xiong@co.hennepin.mn.us

Appendix / Sources
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Monthly waste generation data was provided by MPS contract hauler, Allied Waste Services. Data on
dumpster sizes and hauling schedules were also obtained from Allied.
2
Student enrollment numbers were obtained through MPS student account, available to the public online.
Staff enrollment numbers were obtained through payroll.
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Allied Waste estimates one cubic yard of trash weighs approximately 100 lbs.
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Ginny Black, from MN Pollution Control Agency, estimates approximately 50% of organic waste remains as
finished compost after decomposition.
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It was decided upon to use 32% as the figure for organic waste composition of total waste generated at
schools. The study was conducted in southern California by California Integrated Waste Management Board
for 2002.
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Calculations:
Monthly haul charge = [ $1.90 X dumpster size (yd
3
) X frequency of pickup in a week ] X 4 weeks (month)
Processing fee = processing rate X weight (tons)
Total cost = monthly haul charge + processing fee + tax
Savings incurred from recycling = total cost (gross weight) ▬ total cost (trash weight)
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Audit procedures: o Audits were scheduled for 1 hour and included:
1.
Interview with head building engineer 2. Interior walkthrough
3.
Contamination assessment 4. Exterior walkthrough o Audits were conducted by Hennepin County Environmental Services’ GreenCorps member; alongside an
Allied Waste representative and the Plant Ops supervisor for that site. o Questions during audit were answered based on head engineers’ observations and perceptions. o Walk-through portion of audit consisted of observing (as needed):
2 hallways (or other common areas)
3 classrooms
1 bathroom
Cafeteria
Dumpsters o Contamination assessment portion of audit consisted of visually assessing:
2 bags of trash
2 bags of mixed recycling
2 bags of organic waste
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Not all schools were able to supply samples for contamination assessment due to various reasons. In such
cases, samples were attained in these other manners (where possible):
Observing bags already disposed of in dumpsters
Observing un-bagged waste in dumpsters equivalent to bag
Observing active containers on the floor
Clarification on contaminants:
Non-recyclable paper include: food-soiled paper, napkins, paperware, milk cartons.
Non-recyclable plastics include: shrinkwrap, plasticware, food containers.
Cardboard is allowed in single stream collection, so it is categorized with ‘paper’ for our purposes.
Food waste is only considered a contaminant in trash where organics recycling is in place.