Special Event Recycling

Special Event Recycling
Lessons from the ground
Sponsored By
Bob Henkel
St. Louis Earth Day
ROG Program Manager
314.282.7533
rog.manager@stlouisearthday.org
@stlouisearthday #eventgreening
Key Takeaways
 Best
practices for effective recycling
 Sharing Resources
Recycling Excuses
Not
easy
Doesn’t happen
Doesn’t work
The #1 Drink Cup
From a
“throw away”
culture…
…to the
“Way to Throw”
Culture
DIY
 Equipment
lending
 Dumpster
rental
 Equipment
delivery
 Supervisor
only
Festival of Nations
2011 - 140,000 attendees
45% diverted – 6,840#
Opportunity: coconuts!
Opportunity: vendor compliance
2014 – 65,000 attendees
67% diverted – 11,881#
Why Recycle at Events?
 It
is “THE WAY TO THROW”
More events recycling
Bans on materials
Public perception
St. Louis Earth Day Sponsors
St. Louis Earth Day

501c(3) non-profit since 2002

Earth Day Festival since 1989

Annual Symposium since 2000

Recycling On the Go since 2006
(ROG)

Green Dining Alliance since 2011
(GDA)
Our goal is to reduce the negative environmental
impact of events and festivals by reducing and
recycling a portion of the waste they generate.

Kirkwood Greentree Festival

HSMO’s Bark in the Park

West County Greek Festival

Girls On the Run 5k and Fun Run

Art Fair at Laumeier Park

Pedal the Cause

Feast in the Park Food Trucks

Pride Fest
 Tilles
Park

Festival of Nations
 Faust
Park

Fair St. Louis
 Creve
Coeur Park

African Arts Festival

Sauce Magazine’s Food Truck
Fridays

Mobot’s Best of Missouri Market
 Spanish
Lake Park

Webster University

Fulton School Trivia Night
How to Recycle at Events?
ROG
Principles
ROG Strategies
From the beginning
through to the end:
ROG Principles
Education and Engagement
Setting clear expectations
Control waste stream
Vendor
selection
Purchasing
choices
Food/Vendor contracts
Waste hauler contracts
ROG Principles
Reducing Waste
Generation
Food
vendors
Planning
Source Local
ROG
Full Service
Planning
Staffing
Recycling
Composting
Trash
Dumpsters
Reporting
ROG Nuts and Bolts
 Evaluate
each event
 Determine
 Event
level of service
Layout
 Recycling
 Composting
 Equipment
 Staffing
Evaluate Needs
of the Event

Goals

Budget

Vendor requirements

Amount of waste

Composition of waste

Attendance

Access to event areas
Determine the Level of Service
 Do-it-yourself
$0
- $50, more labor
Add delivery and
dumpsters
$150 - $300
ROG and County programs
 DIY
with ROG supervisor
event
provides volunteers
$30/hour plus equipment
 Full
service ($0 - $7000)
Only collect recycling?
~30-50% recovery
Plus Composting
Clustered bins?
Waste stations?
Combination?
40-98% recovery
Determine Bin Locations
 Be
where the waste is
produced
Food
areas: serving, dining
and back of house
 Always
pair recycling and
trash bins
 Entrances
and exits
 Bathrooms
Recycling Container and Signage
Good signage with visuals
Be Consistent
Information Overload
Single-stream
Recycling 101
Cartons and
Containers
 Glass
bottles
 Steel
and aluminum
cans
 Plastic
 Fiber
containers
– mixed paper
and cardboard
What is a MRF?

Material Recovery
Facility

Facility that separates
all recyclables by
commodity

Recycles over 400 Tons
per day, at just this
facility!
Slide credit: Republic Services
2 MRFs: Hazelwood, MO and Earth City, MO
Image courtesy of St. Louis County Department of Health
What to look for: PLASTIC
No Plastic Bags
Is it a container?
RESIN CODES ≠ Recyclable
Below
NOT Recyclable
Best choices
#1 PETE
#2 HDPE
#5 Polypropylene
#2
Below: YES!
#1
What to look for: PAPER
Recyclable: CLEAN, UNUSED
Compostable: Certified
www.bpiworld.org
Landfill: Products lined with oil-based
wax, foil, plastic or foam.
Image Credit 3.9.14 http://gp1.wac.edgecastcdn.net/802892/production_public/Artist/1383657/image/cardboard-boxes-in-a-pile-web.jpg
What to Avoid
NO FOAM
NO Plastic Bags
(EPS - expanded polystyrene)
Straws,
Lids,
Cutlery
PAPER CUPS and Oil-based wax,
foil, or foam-lined Paper
#6 Plastic
Polystyrene Cups,
Plates, Bowls
Purchase Locally:
A more sustainable choice

Garrett Paper, Inc.
3140 Park Ave, St. Louis, MO 63104
314.241.3060 www.garrettpaper.com
Joe Garrett, Jr. joejr@garrettpaper.com

Royal Papers

Restaurant Depot

Dierberg’s, Walgreens, Target, Schnuck’s

Also available on-line (PETE, HDPE, Polypropylene)
Composting
Event Partners
Questions to think about
 How
important is recycling to your event/audience?
 How
much do you want to keep out of the landfill?
 Zero
Waste
 Recycle?
Why bother?
 What
resources are you willing to commit?
 What
partners do you need in place?
 Pilot
project - a great first step.
 Master
recycling before composting
ROG
Case Studies
Girls On the Run 5K
and Fun Run
May 2011 - 5,000 attendees
84% diverted – 1,240#
Opportunity: product choice
May 2014 - 10,000 attendees
97% diverted – 3,209#
Zoo Ado
 2500
attendees sit down
dinner
 Zero-waste
 “Control”
goal (pilot)
of service
ware
 Vendor
 Waste
walk-through
stations with
satellite bins
Zoo Ado
Event Layout Map
Many challenges
Lost opportunity ~ 20%
4,485#
59% diversion
ROG Strategies
Volunteers

Recruitment

Training
 Safety

Retention
Benefits:

Festival entrance

Service hours

Network
Venue Considerations
90 Municipalities in St. Louis County
 Chesterfield
No
glass containers
Trash
 St.
Amphitheater
containers provided but no recycling available
Louis County Parks
Maggie
Martin 314.615.8371
Contracted Services
St. Louis County Department Waste Haulers
of Health
 St. Louis County Licensed
 Grant funding
 Bin
rental
 Contact:
Paul Taylor
314.615.7833
Regency Enterprises
 Site
restoration and
waste management
services
SLED – ROG
 Experience
 Committed
to recycling
collection
 event
data
reporting with
Why Recycle?
 Economic
benefits
 10,000
tons recycling = 10 jobs
 $2 million saved in MO directly due to recycling
 Community
and health benefits
 251M
tons of MSW, 87M tons recycled and composted
 = emissions offset from 33 million cars
 Energy
 1.1
reduction
Quadrillion Btus = energy of 10 million U.S. homes
 Waste
reduction and resource conservation
164M tons, 30% is containers and packaging
~15% is food waste
http://www.epa.gov/osw/nonhaz/municipal/pubs/2012_msw_fs.pdf
U.S. Recycling Rates of Selected
Products, 2012
Image Credit 3.3.15
http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/nonhaz/municipal/images/2012_rec_rates_sel_prdcts_fig3_lg.jpg
Deeper Event Greening
 Décor
 Water
service
 Alternative
 Energy
transportation
use and carbon offsets
ROG resources on line Resource Guide
For Organizing Committee
 Green
Event Toolbox
 Guide
to Greening Festival Food
 Plastic
Recycling Chart
 2013
St. Louis Earth Day Festival
Food Vendor Agreement
 Event
Rules & Regulations
 Energy
 Metro
Offsets with Pure Power
Resources for Special
Event Planners and Attendees
For Non-Food Vendors/Exhibitors &
Sponsors
 Guide
to Green Giveaways
 Non-Food
Vendor Instructions:
Recycling
 Non-Food
Vendor Instructions:
Compost & Recycling
ROG Resource Guide
For Vendors/Exhibitors & Sponsors
Serving Food or Beverages
 Food
Vendor Instructions:
Recycling Only
Volunteer Materials
 Event
VOLUNTEER info: Recycling
& Compost
 Food
Service Ware Presentation
 Food
Vendor Instructions: Compost Public Outreach Materials
& Recycling
 ROG Event Promotional Materials
 Food Service Ware Presentation
 St. Louis Earth Day Recycling On
 ROG Service Ware Vendor Index
the Go logos
 Ceramic vs Foam & Paper Cups
 Example: Event Sustainability at
the St. Louis Earth Day Festival
Review
 Recycling
 Cartons
 NO
works – “The Way To Throw” an event
and Containers accepted
Foam, Plastic Bags or Paper Cups in Recycling
 Avoid
low value #6 PS
 Use
Recyclable #1, #2 or #5 drink cups
 Use
compostable service ware and utensils for food
 Have
a goal and gain support from all stakeholders
 Partner
with vendors to reduce waste
QUESTIONS?
St. Louis County Department of Health
Contact Info:
Paul Taylor: 314.615.7833
www.RecycleSaintLouis.com
Special Event Recycling
Lessons from the ground
Sponsored By
Bob Henkel
St. Louis Earth Day
ROG Program Manager
314.282.7533
rog.manager@stlouisearthday.org
@stlouisearthday #eventgreening