The Circular Future - A Quantum Lifecycle Partners podcast

34. Achieving Zero Waste: Strategies and Solutions for Businesses

• Quantum Lifecycle Partners • Season 1 • Episode 34

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Unlock the secrets of zero waste in business with our host Stephanie McLarty and  incredible guest Celeste McMickle, the Director of Client Solutions for True Zero Waste Certification at the US Green Building Council. Celeste uncovers the hidden world of industrial waste, often invisible to consumers, and its massive impact on the circular economy. She enlightens us on the zero waste hierarchy, highlighting the critical strategies of redesign, reduction, and reuse to proactively prevent waste.

Next, we discuss the rising wave of companies striving for zero waste certification as they navigate their sustainability journeys. Learn how the TRUE Zero Waste Certification Program acts as a crucial roadmap, guiding businesses to achieve an impressive 90% or better diversion from landfill, incineration, and waste-to-energy. Celeste also underscores the importance of third-party reviews in ensuring a robust certification process, and we talk about the realistic timelines for companies to meet their zero waste goals.

Finally, we explore the intricacies of achieving facility-level zero waste certification and the benefits it brings. From boosting employee engagement to providing marketing advantages, the rewards are manifold. We also emphasize the significance of widespread, imperfect participation in zero waste efforts, particularly in IT asset disposition and e-waste recycling. Join us at Quantum Lifecycle as we support your sustainability journey and work together towards a more circular future.

Takeaways

  • Zero waste is a critical goal for businesses to reduce their environmental impact and contribute to a circular economy.
  • The zero waste hierarchy prioritizes reduction, reuse, and recycling as strategies to minimize waste.
  • The True Zero Waste Certification program provides a framework for companies to measure and improve their waste diversion efforts.
  • Third-party certification adds credibility and transparency to a company's waste reduction initiatives and can benefit marketing, employee engagement, and overall sustainability performance.


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Want to be a guest on The Circular Future podcast? Email Sanjay Trivedi at strivedi@quantumlifecycle.com


Stephanie McLarty:

For every one ton of waste you generate, 71 tons of industrial waste have already been created before the product even got to you. Welcome to the Circular Future, your access to thought leaders and innovations to help you be a business sustainability champion, even if it's not your core job. I'm your host, stephanie McLarty, head of Sustainability at Quantum Lifecycle Partners. You may be familiar with the iceberg concept, where the majority of something is below the surface and you can't see it. Well, this iceberg concept can be applied to waste and, in effect, we have a wasteberg. So much waste is produced before products even get to us, which is both a huge challenge and opportunity for the circular economy. With me to understand improving waste diversion for businesses is Celeste McMickle, director of Client Solutions for True Zero Waste Certification with the US Green Building Council or USGBC. Celeste is trained as an architect and has a background as a sustainability consultant and waste expert. Welcome to the podcast, celeste.

Celeste McMickle:

Thank you so much. I'm so happy to be here.

Stephanie McLarty:

I'm thrilled you're here too. This is a fascinating topic that I'm really excited to get into. But first we'll start, as we always do, and, celeste, let's peek into your world. What would be three things that the world maybe wouldn't know about? The US Green Building Council?

Celeste McMickle:

It's a great question and I hopefully have a great answer. The first thing I would say is that, even though US is in our name, we are actually a global organization. So we do quite a bit of work outside of the US and actually have a large presence throughout the world, which is really amazing. The second thing is that we are not a government agency. That's another confusion that happens a lot. We are a nonprofit. We're a 501c3 nonprofit. And the third thing is that, for those of us that are familiar with the USGBC and have only heard of the LEED certification program, one of the things that you'll learn today is that we actually have a number of other certifications related to other sustainability issues. So we work worldwide, we are a nonprofit and we have a lot of different cool programs that can help support sustainability goals.

Stephanie McLarty:

Yeah, and that was something that really stood out for me when I met you is that I know of LEED, but up until that point I didn't know about all the zero waste work you do, so I'm excited to get into that today. So let's start with understanding zero waste when we think about businesses. What are we talking about when we say zero waste? Yeah, so zero waste when we think about businesses. What are we talking about when we say zero waste?

Celeste McMickle:

Yeah, so zero waste, I think, is a really interesting phenomenon. I think there's a lot of confusion around the term zero waste because it's used in a variety of contexts. We see people on social media living zero waste lifestyles and keeping all their trash in a mason jar, which is amazing. But then we also see large companies making commitments to be zero waste or a zero waste company, and I think the differential between that one individual version and that more company corporate version is huge. And so one of the things that we do at the USGBC that again kind of aligns with our origin with LEED, is that we create standards around these sustainability issues. So when we think about zero waste, we really wanted to create some alignment around what it meant to achieve that at a company level, so that there isn't that sort of like industry confusion around what that is and the way that we have gone about defining. That is by working through what the EPA and the Zero Waste International Alliance have used to define zero waste, which is basically through the zero waste hierarchy.

Stephanie McLarty:

So walk us through that hierarchy. How do you prioritize the different elements of this whole reduce, reuse, recycle and so much more.

Celeste McMickle:

Great. So I love the zero waste hierarchy and I also love explaining it. I think many of us, when we grew up, were used to the term reduce, reuse, recycle, and essentially what's happened over the years is that as a cultural society, we have focused on the recycle piece of that, and reduce and reuse have become far less prevalent, and one of the main reasons that I would attribute that phenomenon is that the recycling piece allows us to continue business as usual. When we focus on some of these other strategies, it can disrupt a bit of how we go about our day and that has been challenging. But, as we all know, we have a huge waste issue and we really need to look at that. So the zero waste hierarchy basically looks like a upside down triangle and it gives an overview of the most efficient and economical way that materials can be used throughout their life cycle to keep them in their useful life for as long as possible. So at the very top of the hierarchy we start with things like redesign, reduction, you know, remanufacturing, that type of thing. What types of processes would allow materials to maybe exist for longer in their same format without needing to be adapted? From there we start to look at strategies like reuse or, again, maybe some type of repair situation, and then those are all strategies that we consider to be upstream, which essentially means it's prevention of waste from occurring in the first place, because these materials can still be used in their current format. Then, when we move down, we end up with recycling and composting, and below that, we have landfill and incineration and waste to energy.

Celeste McMickle:

Now all of these bottom tiers are referred to as downstream solutions, including recycling and composting, and I want to be really clear here I am a huge supporter of recycling and composting. I I want to be really clear here I am a huge supporter of recycling and composting. I got my start in this industry as a composter. I think these are really important aspects of how our material lifecycle works. However, when we look at recycling and composting and then, of course, landfill, these are waste management strategies. These are things that happen once these materials can no longer stay in their current form and need to be processed into a different form. In order. Upstream strategies, because those are, by and large, most effective. Link the image of the hierarchy in the show notes.

Stephanie McLarty:

So people can actually take a look at it. I know I'm a visual person, but at Quantum we first prioritize reuse, whether it's reuse products and, if not, reuse of parts, and then we do recycling. But when we looked at, we have a sustainability calculator that measures the carbon avoidance of reuse and recycling and it's depending on the product type. It's anywhere from seven to 21 times the emissions. Avoidance of reuse over recycling. There's just so much more environmental benefit and also often financial benefit to stay in the upstream side, as you're saying. So that makes a lot of sense to me. Now, where are companies today on this journey of reducing their waste and ultimately aiming to be zero waste? Are we doing well or are we not doing well? And I think I know the answer.

Celeste McMickle:

But I'd love to hear it from you.

Celeste McMickle:

Yes, that's a great question. I think we're a work in progress. I'm a very optimistic person, so I always kind of err on the side of feeling like we're doing the best that we can and we have a long ways to go, but there is progress that is occurring. The one thing I would say is, with that overview of the zero waste hierarchy, I think the thing that I've learned the most by working in this industry and working with companies that are on their journey is that, by and large, many places are still focusing on the recycling and again, that's just because that's kind of what we're used to. That's a very easy tracker.

Celeste McMickle:

Sometimes, calculating reductions associated with reuse or redesign can be a little bit more challenging.

Celeste McMickle:

We do have some specific formulas at the USGBC that we encourage project teams to use to help with that, because we really want to move them in that direction. However, I do think that so much of what companies are used to looking at is those downstream numbers, and so it's a real challenge to get them to kind of look at things from 180 degrees and really turn their approach around to looking at like ah, actually we could start with upstream solutions first, and that would be more effective and then, as we move through the process, we can look towards the downstream numbers once we get to that point. But we need to start with purchasing and we need to start with training and we need to start with actually looking at what materials we're bringing in and how we're using those materials before we look at how we're getting rid of those materials. And that's the biggest challenge that I think we face is just helping people understand kind of how to revisit the way materials are managed throughout the life cycle of the way that they're used in the facility.

Stephanie McLarty:

Yeah, I totally get it. At Quantum, we're currently doing a packaging project where we're looking at how sustainable is our packaging and why. Because a customer started asking us for information and for numbers and we actually, prior to the project, really didn't have any idea of how well we were doing. So we did a little pilot and discovered that 74% of our packaging was either reusable or recyclable, and so I mean I suppose that's not bad, but we have a long way to go, and at least it gave us a starting point to look at. Okay, what are we purchasing for packaging and how else can we package our materials and move away from plastics? Even if they say they're recyclable, a lot of plastics don't get recycled in the end either. Are you seeing that any type of company, any industry, is really looking at this, or are there specific examples of industries or types of companies that are really prioritizing this whole waste journey?

Celeste McMickle:

It's a good question. I think it depends. I do work with companies all across the board everything from higher education to manufacturing to commercial office spaces and I think one of the things that's happened over the last number of years is that there have been a lot of increased awareness around waste and around plastics especially, and just kind of how these materials are staying with us in the environment for longer than I think anybody realized. And so, with that huge sort of upsurge and awareness, we're seeing a lot of companies make very big commitments to waste reduction efforts, specifically, hopefully, towards being a zero waste company or towards certifying towards zero waste. So I think I'm seeing a lot of increased participation in companies that are interested in getting started. But that's exactly what I would say.

Celeste McMickle:

There's a lot of organizations that are in that getting started phase and they want to reach the commitment that they've made for 2025, which now is very soon or 2030 or 2035. But they really need clear steps in order to help them get there, because it's a huge task to go from maybe never having done a waste audit or maybe never having analyzed how your materials are being processed. I see so many examples of companies that are paying to have materials brought in and then paying to have those same materials hauled away, right, and that's a huge inefficiency. So how can we sort of revisit their internal operations so that, okay, we're bringing materials in and then we're reusing them and we're revisiting them and then it reduces what has to happen on the downstream? So it's in progress. It's really exciting to see how much interest and excitement there is and I'm happy to be on the solutions end of it and being able to provide tools and resources to help these companies get there. But I do think there's still a long way to go.

Stephanie McLarty:

Right? Well, you've piqued my interest. So what is the TRUE certification and what kind of tools and solutions do you provide?

Celeste McMickle:

Yeah, so TRUE is our Zero Waste Certification Program. It stands for Total Resource Use and Efficiency and, as I mentioned, it is basically developed around the idea of the zero waste hierarchy. And what we have done with it is we've developed a checklist, a program that's based on strategies that are embedded within the zero waste hierarchy that can then be used as a playbook for companies to get to that goal of zero waste. So let's say, company X has a goal of having all of their facilities certified to zero waste. They would essentially work with our team. Again, we're a nonprofit and so all of our resources and tools are totally free. They're just meant to be a guidepost for how to basically get to that industry standard of what we consider to be zero waste. They'll go through the process, they'll identify all the possible strategies that they can use and hopefully that will work in tandem with incorporating their diversion numbers and getting to our goal, which is 90% or better diversion from landfill incineration and waste to energy.

Celeste McMickle:

So that is the requirement that project teams need in order to be able to certify. They need to be at that 90%. Again, that comes from sort of an industry standard, and then, in addition to that, they use the resource playbook to help them get to that goal and those two pieces work together and we're here to help answer questions and support them along the way. And at the end of that process they go through a rigorous third-party review process and that is very similar with all of the USGPC programs. We really believe in the power of third-party to be able to help guide project teams towards a really robust and valuable certification process. And if they make it through that review process without any issues, hopefully, then they are able to be certified.

Stephanie McLarty:

That is really cool and it just reminds me, when you speak of 90% or better diversion, of the sign that's in the refillery that I go to and it was there just two days ago refilling dishwasher cubes and soaps and things like that on a personal level and there's a sign that says we don't need a few people doing zero waste perfectly, we need millions of people doing zero waste imperfectly. Get to that 90% goal or better. So that's a really it's a great measurement for us all to strive for. And as I think about that packaging project that we've initiated of how far we have to go but it doesn't have to strive for, and as I think about that packaging project that we've initiated of you know how far we have to go, but you know it doesn't have to be perfect. What is the timeline? If someone starts this journey, how long does it take them to get to quote unquote zero waste until they get to that certification piece generally?

Celeste McMickle:

So it can really depend on the company and the process that they are going through. It varies a lot. I think one of the main things is that we require 12 months of data demonstrating that 90% diversion number. So if that 12 months of 90% or better already exists, then they might actually be able to go through the process very quickly. However, by and large, most companies are not already at 90% diversion, and so they are going to need some time to be able to gather that 12 months of data.

Celeste McMickle:

One of the things that I do want to highlight that's really important is that the 12 months of diversion data includes not only downstream numbers, but also upstream numbers.

Celeste McMickle:

Again, downstream is usually what companies are used to tracking.

Celeste McMickle:

They have their line item for recycling, they have their line item for composting, and then they have their line item for landfill, and then you break that down and that comes out to be their diversion number.

Celeste McMickle:

What we do at True that's really different is we incorporate, okay, what strategies and materials associated with reduction were used, what strategies and materials associated with reuse were used, and by incorporating those upstream strategies into the diversion tracker, it's going to give recognition and acknowledgement for those more environmentally preferable strategies that were actually used, and so even for companies that maybe have been tracking their waste for a while, they might need to revisit that if they're going through the true program, because their materials and their diversion number might actually be better than they realize when they think about all the things that they're doing for reduction and reuse. So it can really depend, but they do need that 12 months of data and then our review process can take about 10 weeks, so some companies can get certified very quickly and others might need a little bit more time. I've seen a little bit of all of it.

Stephanie McLarty:

Right, I'm sure, I'm sure. And do you certify as a company or as a single facility, or how does that work?

Celeste McMickle:

So companies do certify the facilities themselves. The big reason for that is we are tracking the diversion waste right, and that is always going to be associated with a facility itself. So it's really important that we associate the certification itself with the facility where that material was processed, because if we're just doing from a company level, there's a little bit less transparency in exactly how and where those materials were collected and diverted and so on and so forth. That said, it's certainly entirely possible for a company to certify all of the facilities that are within their portfolio and thus be able to say that all of their facilities are certified zero waste, which essentially means that their company is certified. But because we always track it specifically to the facility, we always want to make sure that that is transparent and that that is communicated correctly.

Stephanie McLarty:

Interesting. I'm curious what are you seeing is the true benefit that companies are realizing from being on this journey and in certifying Like, how are they leveraging it to their benefit as a company?

Celeste McMickle:

Sure. So I think this kind of comes back to the whole issue of third-party certification and why we feel like that's an important piece of the process and basically having a third-party certify the work that you're doing is a really standard part of the scientific process. Because if we're only looking at what we're doing ourselves and we don't have somebody from the outside reviewing that work, I don't even think it's in any way malicious or it's intentional, but it's just harder to see things when you're within a company itself rather than when you're communicating something externally that you know is going to go through a review process. So something might seem like, oh, we're doing all this great work and then when you compare it to a more industry standard, you actually realize that there's some missing pieces. And I see that happening more often than not when companies are saying, oh, yeah, well, we've been doing zero waste for years, and then it's like, okay, well, let's compare what you're doing to what we've developed. Which, again, is this global standard? And they realize, wow, there's actually a lot more that we could be doing.

Celeste McMickle:

So I think it really increases the performance of these zero waste programs.

Celeste McMickle:

I think it's a huge opportunity for them to be able to demonstrate externally to their clients from a marketing perspective, from a transparency perspective, to just really be able to actually show that they're walking the talk, because, again, if you're just doing something within a silo, I think it's really hard to have that actual perspective on it.

Celeste McMickle:

So it's a third party issue, for sure, and then I also just think that it's something that now the public is very engaged in, so especially for companies that maybe have a product that they're developing, or I mentioned higher education, students are very passionate about zero waste in the environment, and so to be able to have teeth behind the commitments that you're making and demonstrate that publicly through the third party program, I think does a ton from a marketing perspective, from a trust perspective and, quite frankly, there can even be economical benefits as well, because I use the example of paying to bring something in and paying to bring it out. I think when we do an analysis of how these materials are used, we actually find that there's a lot of efficiencies that can be found as well.

Stephanie McLarty:

Makes sense.

Celeste McMickle:

There's a lot of reasons.

Stephanie McLarty:

Yeah, and another one that sticks out to me is the employee side how it really engages employees. It's great for retention. We see this at Quantum. They love working for Quantum because we make a difference, and I think a lot of individuals want to work for a company that's actually walking the talk when it comes to sustainability and all of this whole space. Let's get into our how-to section, celeste. There's so many measures out there. We talked on episode 32 about how to measure circularity, so in this particular space, how to figure out which measures to focus on when it comes to waste.

Celeste McMickle:

Okay, so that's a good question. So the way that we've developed the program I mentioned, we found strategies that are derived from the zero waste hierarchy. So what that looks like in practice is let's take the issue of reuse. So we have seven credits within our program that focus on strategies associated with reuse. Those could be things like finding one commodity to reuse. That could be something like finding opportunities within existing purchasing policies. There's different ways that companies can go about it. We don't necessarily give an exact prescriptive goal of what they need to do for that credit, but we create that standard that they can align to how to get the most out of your rating system, how to score the most points or credits.

Celeste McMickle:

Right. So we have it broken down into four different certification tiers certified, silver, gold and platinum. That's going to be very familiar for those of us that have worked with LEED. We try and keep alignment between our programs. Each different certification tier requires a different number of points in order to hit that number. So for certified they need to achieve 31 points and within the whole program there's 81 points. So depending on which strategies they want to implement and depending on which things may or may not be feasible, they could choose anywhere between that range of 31 to 81 points.

Celeste McMickle:

Some companies come in and say that range of 31 to 81 points. Some companies come in and say automatically we know we want gold, we know we want platinum, and so we're going to definitely target the number of points that we need to get there, no matter what Other companies are like. Well, we want to see what we can do, and so they might end up with certified or silver and be happy with that. It really just depends over and be happy with that. It really just depends, honestly, to me, because we have this tandem rating system that is point-based, that goes along with the 90% diversion requirement.

Celeste McMickle:

I think that all projects that are able to achieve certification are phenomenal, because hitting that 90% is no easy task and, honestly, sometimes if projects have done a little bit more work upfront, they might actually need less points to be able to hit that 90%, whereas if a company is right at the beginning of their zero waste journey, they might have to go all out on the rating system and get as many credits as they can, because implementing those credits are going to help reduce their diversion number and get them closer to that goal of 90%. So there's a really broad range in why projects might choose to pursue a certain number of credits and implement those strategies, and then there's reasons why they might, you know, pull back a little bit and go for a lower certification tier. Again, I think all achievements are really valid and really phenomenal. When we get to those higher certification tiers of gold and platinum, I mean, those are really the elite performers that have gone above and beyond what the majority of companies out there are doing.

Stephanie McLarty:

Amazing, and I know for the true certification. You offer training programs, so it's possible to get your staff trained in your programs. And it reminded me not long ago we had this opportunity at Quantum to do a waste audit training and we actually didn't know who should go. There isn't a single person on staff where we could say it is your responsibility to do a training like this. So how do you figure out who should do the training for this type of work?

Celeste McMickle:

Sure. So to pull back on that a bit, the training program that we have is called the True Advisor and it is open to anyone. You don't have to be working within a company that's pursuing zero waste to get the True Advisor. We see a lot of students go through it. We see consultants go through it, also, folks that are maybe looking to make a career transition or just really interested in zero waste in the circular economy. It's a deep dive into true and it's also a really good overview of zero waste practices and philosophies, a lot of information about the zero waste hierarchy, how to do bin right, sizing, everything like that. So I think it's a great opportunity for most of us that are working in this world if it's of interest. It's actually how I got involved with the program, which is kind of fun.

Celeste McMickle:

But when we're looking at a company that's going through the program and trying to decide, okay, who should we put through this, I think there's a couple of obvious places to start.

Celeste McMickle:

One is going to be if there is someone that is tasked with actually going through and doing the documentation, that's definitely somebody that should go through the true advisor because you're going to really want to have those skills and resources. Another person that might be really helpful is an operations or a facility manager, because those are often the ones that are doing the overview of exactly what processes are going to be happening at that facility and might be able to showcase that information to the rest of the team. So that's another person that I often say is good to have on board. Also, somebody that works in purchasing can be really helpful as well. Also, somebody that works in purchasing can be really helpful as well. It's largely going to depend on a company's structure, size and sort of overall goals when it comes to zero waste and sustainability, but I do think that there are a lot of key people that can be involved and I usually recommend at least one person per facility go through the process.

Stephanie McLarty:

That's great advice. At least one person per facility. It sounds like great training, Regardless of the role that you're in. You'll get a lot out of it. Celeste, this has been so interesting and I feel like it's really opened my eyes around waste diversion in companies and zero waste. What would be one final piece of advice you would leave our listeners with in terms of how to make progress within their companies in this whole space?

Celeste McMickle:

Honestly, get started. I think the main thing that I see holding people up is just like oh, but we don't know how to get started and we really want to think about it for a long time and do a lot of planning on the front end and just at a certain point we'll move forward. But we need to think about it first. And that's great. I get it. It's really good to be well-informed and feel like you have a plan. And also, I think the only way there's actually movement is if we pull the trigger and start the process, and I promise it's not as scary as it seems. It might take a while. There might be some two steps forward, one step back, but that's great because we're still moving in the right direction. Again, I'm an optimist and I just think having a plan that's moving forward is better than not.

Stephanie McLarty:

I agree. And back to that quote we need millions of people doing this. Even if it's imperfectly Like it's okay.

Celeste McMickle:

Exactly, it's okay. It's really okay and we're a really nice team to work with. We're not mean, we just want everyone to do their best, so we always love to work with project teams that are really at any stage of their journey and help them move forward however we can. That's the goal.

Stephanie McLarty:

Yes, and I totally get that. Celeste, thank you so much for being here and thank you so much for your energy and your passion in this space. It comes out in spades, so I appreciate you.

Celeste McMickle:

Thank you so much, I really appreciate it.

Stephanie McLarty:

And remember, if you're looking for a Canadian partner in ITAD and e-waste recycling, we'd love to chat Head on over to quantumlifecyclecom and contact us. This is a Quantum Lifecycle podcast and the producer is Sanjay Trivedi. Thank you for being a Circular Future Champion in your company and beyond. Logging off.

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Stephanie McLarty

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Sanjay Trivedi

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