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1 Centre for Sustainability 33844 King Rd Abbotsford, BC V2S 7M8 March 22, 2020 Dr. Joanne McLean UFV Board of Governors 33844 King Rd Abbotsford, BC V2S 7M8 Dear Dr. Joanne McLean : I am pleased to submit the following proposal outlining a plan for introducing dedicated disposable coffee cup recycling stations throughout the campus. Coffee cups are part of the highest amount of waste the campus accumulates and they end up in all recycling streams: land waste, refundable , organics , and mixed recycling. We aim to reduce the number of cups that land in anything other than mixed recycling. The sustainability team has been working on very similar plan implementation over recent years and have continually had successful outcomes. We wan t to take our current initiatives to the next level. We believe we are qualified to see this project through to a successful completion outcome. We are prepared to begin the process to acquire the necessary bins and distribute them to their temporary trial locations upon your approval. Background and Purpose We know that everyone loves their coffee, but most people don’t realize that we can reduce waste even more by separating our disposable cups into three different recycling streams . An individual buying one cup of coffee in a disposable cup each day creates approximately 23 lbs of waste in one year (Recycle BC, 2020) . Other university campuses, such as the Unive rsity of Victoria, have shown they send approximately 40 tonnes of coffee cups to the landfill each year, which equates to approximately 3000 cups a day (University of Victoria, 2019) . The purpose of this trial is to further reduce waste by implementing disposable coffee cup recycling centers as well as entire coffee cup recycling bins . Th e disposable coffee cup recycling center s would be composed of a bin separated into 3 different streams: plastic for the lid, organics for left over coffee, and mixed mate rial for the cup and sleeve . By separating the cups into three streams we further enhance their 50% 2.20% 41.30% 6.50% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% Disposible Cup Allocation on Campus Landfill Refundable Mixed Recycling Organics Figure 1: UFV waste allocation. 2 acceptability to be recycled with the correct and like materials (R ecycling Council of British Columbia , 2019). Additionally, where appropriate, we are asking t o add to each waste station a single recycling bin dedicated to complete coffee cups . These will not be a separating station but will provide students a specific place to dispose of their cups to prevent them going into the wrong streams (landfill, organic s, refundable). The goal is to reduce coffee cup “waste” being deposited into the wrong bins such as those meant for landfill, mixed recycling, refundable, and organics. In 2018 disposable cups in UFV waste were allocated at rates of 50% into landfill, 41.3% into mixed recycling, 6.5% into organics , and 2.2% into refundable , shown in figure 1 (Birk , 2018). Hot beverage cups are also a challenge of their own to be recycled as many of them are manufactured from several materials including paper o n the outside with a plastic coating on the inside, a paper sleeve, and a hard -plastic lid (Return -It, 2020). UFV strives for sustainability and audits waste each year. In the past years , UFV has had excellent success in reducing the amount of waste being sent to the landfill: from 49% in 2017 down to 39% in 2018 (Birk , 2018). It was also noted in the UFV 2017 waste audit report that coffee cups, both compostable (which are offered at Fairgrounds and the Cascade Café) as well as mixed material (from other v endors like Tim Hortons ) was becoming a considerable problem through all waste streams (Gingerich , 2017). Proposal We propose to set up two “Disposable Cup Recycl ing Station s” (fig . 2, MacPherson et al, 2020 ) bins near the main congregating areas for stu dents such as near the exit of the cafeteria seating, and in S building near Fairgrounds . We would also like to set up two generic disposable cup bins inside the front of B building with the waste station, and inside the main entrance G building (library e nd) . This trial will give students an actual designated bin for their cups and , depending where they are on campus, they can separate their cups into different materials. By doing so we hope to achieve less recycling in the landfill, organics and returnable streams . We w ould like to add the changing of these bins to the regular custodial duties of waste station clean -up and will assess the use of the bins weekly for the first month. We have assessed the job duties surrounding waste stations and do not see the additional bin being an i ssue as far as job duties are concerned . We propose to begin the trial in September and end the trial use of the bins alongside the waste audit week , in October . There will also be additional personnel during the waste audit week. Figure 2: Disposable Cup Recycling station (MacPherson/CBC, 2020) 3 We will contact Return -It and Recycle BC to purchase the coffee cup disposal stations. We will have an accurate assessment of the use of the bins alongside the data collected from the waste audit to achieve a better understanding of the effects the new bins have. The sustainabilit y team of UFV has been striving towards positive waste reduction over the last four years with a great amount of success. We have been able to fine tune previous plans and implement new ideas in ways that continually adapt UFV’s ability in dealing with, an d reducing waste. We believe our past achievements will enhance our ability to complete this project with a positive outcome. Cost and Budget The cost to purchas e two “ Disposable Cup Recycle Station ” bins for trial use is $1800 and two additional waste sta tion bin s for general coffee cups is $ 240 , as well as $40 for additional waste bags . The additional need for janitorial services is projected to remain the same initially and will be reassessed at a later date. We conclude the preliminary trial total cost to be $2080. Benefits The benefits of this project include reducing the amount of disposable coffee cups going into the landfill, reducing the amount of non -compostable material being place d in the organics str eam , and reducing the amount of non -refundable recycling in the refundable recycling bin. By achieving success in this area, we will be increasing our campus sustainability and reducing UFV’s carbon footprint . Request for Authorization Our sustainability t eam has previously implemented new waste reducing strategies with a high degree of success. With your approval of this project, w e will be successful in diverting more disposable coffee cups away from inappropriate waste streams and into the appropriate re cycling and compost bins ensuring UFV continues striving towards its low waste goals and sustainability . I look forward to discussing the details of this proposal with you and answering any questions you may have. Sincerely, Kristy Krulitski UFV Sustaina bility Project Lead 4 References Birk, S. (2018). Waste Audit 2018. Retrieved March 22, 2020, from https://www.ufv.ca/media/assets/centre -for -environmental -sustainability/2018 -Waste -Audit.pdf Gingerich, T. (2017, November 1). Garbage on the Green 2017 Report. Retrieved March 23, 2020, from https://www.ufv.ca/media/assets/centre -for -environmental -sustainability/Garbage -on -the - Green -2017 -Report.pdf MacPherson, M, CBC (Photograph). (2020, February 4). Lid off, liquid out, dump cup: New bins aim to solve how to recycle coffee containers | CBC News . Retrieved March 23, 2020, from https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british -columbia/coffee -cup -recycling -pilot -vancouver - 1.5450904 Recycle BC. (2020). Stop Talking Trash and Start Recycling Your Coffee Cups In Your Blue Box! Recycle BC - Making a difference together. Retrieved March 19, 2020, from https://recyclebc.ca/coffeecups/ Recycling Council of British Columbia. (2019, July 30). Can I recycle my single -use cups that I get from Starbucks, Tim Hortons, and other coffee shops? Retrieved March 23, 2020, from https://www.rcbc.ca/resources/faqs/paperpackaging1 Return -It. (n.d.). Coffee Cup Recycling. Retrieved March 21, 2020, from https://www.return - it.ca/about/coffeecuprecycling University of Victoria. (n.d.). Disposable Coffee Cup. Campus Planning and Sustainability . Retrieved March 23, 2020, from https://www.uvic.ca/sustainability/topics/waste/recycle/coffeecup/index.php