August 16, 2018

WASTE AUDIT REPORT Colorado State Capitol

PRESENTED BY: AMPAJEN SOLUTIONS, LLC

18121 East Hampden Avenue, Suite C-227, Aurora, CO, 80013

WASTE AUDIT REPORT

SETTING:

On June 14th, 2018 at The Colorado State Capitol located at 200 East Colfax Avenue, Denver, CO, 80203,

an audit of waste materials discarded and recycled was conducted.

PROCEDURE:

The collection period was from one representative Thursday, and included all building trash and

recycling, not a sample. The janitorial staff was shown the location to store all trash and recycle

collected on Thursday, June 14th. We used collection bins with signs for each floor, i.e. 1st Floor Trash, 1st

Floor Recycle and the waste audit manager was on-site to insure proper separation of the materials.

The streams were then sorted that same evening in the basement level. The collection period included

no holidays or weekends.

STYLE OF AUDIT:

The waste audit for each stream was physically separated, then the weight method in pounds (lbs.) was

used as the unit of measurement. Trash liners were used for sorting commodities into the various

categories:

Glass

Mixed plastics

Aluminum / metals

Paper & shredded paper

Paperboard / cardboard

Bio / compostable waste

Other waste / garbage (non-compostable or non-recyclable waste)

AUDIT PERFORMED BY:

Ampajen Solutions, LLC performed the audit and has performed over 99 audits for LEED documentation.

OVERALL AUDIT DECREE BY WEIGHT

The current diversion rate from the landfill is 36.21% (58.2 pounds diverted out of 160.75 pounds of

total material). Perfect diversion would allow for 78.62% of material to be diverted from the landfill.

Mixed paper (52.6 pounds or 32.72%), bio/compost (46.05 pounds or 28.65%) and garbage/other waste

(43.9 pounds or 27.31%) represent the largest categories of waste generated at the building. A total of

88.68% of the total weight comes from these three categories. Having mixed paper as the largest

stream is slightly unusual as it is typically compost or garbage. Positive findings include that 95.06% of

mixed paper, 61.73% of corrugated cardboard, 50.0% of aluminum and 50.0% of glass is being diverted

from the landfill.

Only 23.19% of plastics were properly diverted. Educate employees on the fact that all plastic

containers #1-7 can be recycled, not just plastic bottles (i.e. yogurt containers, take-out containers, and

microwave trays).

We recommend auditing workstations to see if employees have both trash and recycle bins for their use.

It may be helpful to provide performance data to the employees to let them know how well they are

utilizing the program. Adding a composting program would have the greatest impact, a good first step is

composting the paper towels in the restrooms. Also, encourage employees to print less, if possible, as

mixed paper was the largest overall stream found at the building.

OVERALL WASTE STREAM CHART

0.00%

10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

40.00%

50.00%

60.00%

70.00%

80.00%

90.00%

100.00%

Per

cen

tage

Waste Stream Audit

Percentage of Waste Type Thrown Away Percentage of Waste Type Recycled

GARBAGE STREAM ANALYSIS (GARBAGE / NON-BIODEGRADABLE WASTE)

By weight, compostable and trash items constitute the largest streams placed into building trash

containers - 46 pounds of compost (45.23%) and 43.1 pounds of trash (42.38%), for a total of 87.61% of

the material placed in trash containers.

Recycling commodities made up the remaining 12.39% of the waste/garbage stream for a total of 12.6

pounds which is not a lot by weight or by percentage. Here is the breakdown:

5.3 pounds (76.81%) of plastics found in the waste/garbage stream could have been returned to

manufacturing which made up 5.21% of the waste/garbage stream

3.1 pounds (38.27%) of corrugated cardboard/paperboard in the waste/garbage stream could

have been returned to manufacturing which made up 3.05% of the waste/garbage stream

2.6 pounds (4.94%) of mixed paper in the waste/garbage stream could have been returned to

manufacturing which made up 2.56% of the waste/garbage stream

1 pounds (50.0%) of aluminum in the waste/garbage stream could have been returned to

manufacturing which made up 0.98% of the waste/garbage stream

0.6 pounds (50.0%) of glass in the waste/garbage stream could have been returned to

manufacturing which made up 0.59% of the waste/garbage stream

Auditors noted that many garbage items were comprised of Styrofoam food cartons, plastic straws/stir

sticks, Coffee Mate creamers, disposable coffee pods, hot and cold beverage cups that are lined, chip

bags, candy wrappers, lined disposable plates/bowls, disposable silverware, and thin plastics (i.e.

grocery bags and sandwich bags).

Photos of total non-biodegradable waste

Waste Bags

Items found in the garbage / non-biodegradable stream that could have been recycled or composted

Plastics Mixed Paper Paperboard

Aluminum Glass Compostable Material

RECYCLABLES FOUND:

Paper: Mixed office paper, envelopes, post-it notes

Paperboard: Packaging boxes, tissue boxes, food boxes, brown paper bags

Metals: Aluminum cans

Glass: Glass bottle

Plastics: Water bottles, beverage bottles, yogurt containers, food containers, microwave food

trays

COMPOSTABLES FOUND: Food, paper towels, tissues, napkins, plants, coffee grounds

WASTE STREAM ANALYSIS CHART

45.23% of the garbage stream was comprised of compostable material. Composting efforts would have

the largest impact on diversion efforts. 12.39% is comprised of recyclables.

Glass, 0.59%

Aluminum, 0.98% Mixed paper, 2.56%

Corrugated Cardboard, 3.05%

Plastics, 5.21%

Bio/Food waste, 45.23%

Garbage, 42.38%

Landfill Stream

Glass Aluminum Mixed paper Corrugated Cardboard Plastics Bio/Food waste Garbage

RECYCLE STREAM ANALYSIS

An audit of the recycle stream found only 1.44% contamination from compostable materials (0.08%) and

garbage (1.35%) which is great, so employees are doing a good job of keeping recycling “clean”.

More recyclables are being recycled (58.2 pounds) than are being disposed of in the building waste

containers (12.6 pounds), but better diversion can be achieved.

The vast majority of the recycle stream was made up of mixed paper (50 pounds or 84.67% of the

stream). The rest of the recycle stream was made up of corrugated cardboard (5 pounds or 8.47% of the

stream), plastics (1.6 pounds or 2.71% of the stream), aluminum (1 pound or 1.69% of the stream) and

glass (0.6 pounds or 1.02% of the stream). Plastics (38.27%) overall diversion has the largest room for

improvement.

Photos of contamination in the recycle stream:

Trash Contamination Bio/Compost Contamination

Items properly recycled

Plastics Mixed Paper Cardboard/Paperboard

Glass Aluminum

ITEMS FOUND IN THE RECYCLING STREAM THAT ARE NOT RECYCLABLE:

Straws, plastic silverware, lined hot and cold beverage cups, aluminum foil and thin plastics for

food (e.g. cracker packaging), sugar packets

Napkins, tissues, paper towels, compostable silverware

RECYCLE STREAM ANALYSIS CHART

RECOMMENDATIONS AND STRATEGIES

Audit employee workstations for diversion bins

Due to the volume of mixed paper found (largest stream at the building), make efforts to reduce

printing - only print if necessary, print double-sided and encourage use of dual monitors to

lessen the need for printing

Provide annual training to the building occupants to train them on what items your recycling

program accepts as these items change over time, and as new hires come on board

Source reduction. Washable / reusable materials should be used when possible

Not taking unnecessary items when getting “to-go” food or other items that may just end up in

the garbage

Consider implementing a composting program, starting with paper towels in the restrooms.

This will require signage stating “paper towels only” or “compostable items only” to insure

occupants and visitors are aware of the program and do not place contaminating materials in

the containers. We recommend having a small trash can in each restroom as well.

NOTE: There is currently a Solid Waste Management Policy and Program in place at the building. The

policy insures that NO electronics or furniture (durable goods), mercury-containing lamps, or toner

cartridges are sent to the landfill. Only the janitorial staff has access to the dumpsters for quality control

of the building policy that these products are not to be thrown away. The five largest categories of

purchases are: office paper, paper towels, toner, post-it notes, and envelopes. The majority of these

five items are all being diverted from the landfill.

Glass, 1.02%

Aluminum, 1.69%

Mixed paper, 84.67%

Corrugated Cardboard, 8.47%

Plastics, 2.71%

Bio/Food waste, 0.08%

Garbage, 1.35% Recycle Stream

Glass Aluminum Mixed paper Corrugated Cardboard Plastics Bio/Food waste Garbage