In 2010 , eight businesses were selected from a large pool of certified Blue Ribbon Recyclers and recognized for their efforts at an award ceremony at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo.
Each of the eight businesses displayed recycling and waste reduction practices that went above and beyond typical paper or bottle and can recycling efforts. Check out the highlights below from the winning businesses.
2010 Blue Ribbon Recyclers of the Year
CDM (Business – General Category)
CDM is a worldwide consulting, engineering, construction and operations firm with an office in the Salina Industrial Power Park. They have made pragmatic steps in making their operations more sustainable.
Highlights:
• Adopted a formal written policy on recycling which includes provisions for both paper and containers.
• Deposit bottles and cans are returned; proceeds help provide water services to underdeveloped parts of the world (WaterForPeople.org).
• Substantially reduced paper usage by implementing double-sided printing, the use of internal email for communication, utilizing fax software to transfer documents directly from their computers, electronic billing and minimizing the amount of unsolicited mail they receive.
• Other efforts include toner recycling, battery recycling, e-waste recycling, use of non-disposable coffee mugs and purchase of refurbished office furniture and equipment.
Challenges:
The cost of some recycled products was prohibitive and general education about recycling within the office was needed.
Results:
They have been able to reduce their overall paper consumption through double side copying and have reduced their general waste generation by diverting materials to recycling.
Diamond Catering & Events Company (Food Service Category)
Diamond Catering and Events Company of Syracuse hosts private functions with a goal to create countless memorable events each year.
Highlights:
• Diamond Catering shows their concern for the environment by purchasing paper and cutlery products made from recycled content for onsite and offsite catered events. (The request for these products is on the increase due to their own clientele wanting a more eco-friendly alternative.)
• Grease is responsibly recycled through a local vendor and kept out of the waste stream.
Results:
• Diamond Catering is proud of their recycling achievements and prominently displays the OCRRA Blue Ribbon Recycler logo on the main page of their website to let potential customers know about their commitment to the environment.
Green Hills Market (Business – Retail Category)
Green Hills is a small neighborhood grocery store on Syracuse's south side that has provided the area with convenient shopping for decades. Their green efforts have enhanced the local community as well as their image in the neighborhood.
Highlights: 
• Donate unused produce and bakery items to local food programs; expired materials go to Marz Farms, outside Ithaca, for animal feed.
• Installed a cardboard baler and started collecting shrink-wrap with their plastic bags, which has improved their recycling ability.
• Discourage single-use plastic bags by granting a discount to customers who bring reusable bags; raised funds for a local public space beautification project by selling reusable bags.
• Serve as a collection point for OCRRA's residential battery disposal program.
Challenges:
Being a small store space initially limited their operational abilities, but co-mingled paper and container recycling dumpsters helped with their space concerns.
Results:
Their recycling efforts helped sustain Green Hills' image as an eco-conscious business and reduced their waste generation by almost half.
Jadak LLC (Business – Manufacturing Category)
Jadak LLC is a multi-faceted engineer-to-order organization that has a variety of recycling and waste reduction initiatives in place that highlight their responsibility to the environment.
Highlights:
• Reuses packaging and boxes from incoming components for outgoing shipments
• Purchased an air-bag machine that makes recyclable air pillows which are used for padding shipments -instead of bubble wrap.
• Replaced bubble wrap with recyclable
Electro Static Discharge bags for electronically sensitive items.
• Inventories a larger variety of box sizes so they can fit shipments in the most appropriate size box, which minimizes the use of packaging fillers.
• Electronically distribute and file documents internally (both internally and externally).
• Print only necessary items and all of those are routinely double sided due to changing printer default settings.
• Contacted all catalog and junk mail distributors to discontinue mailings completely.
Results:
Packaging alterations alone brought about an estimated savings of $1000 a year. Taking advantage of OCRRA’s referral to a local scrap metal recycler resulted in a financial reimbursement of $300.
The greatest specific benefit to the company resulted in an increase in business with environmentally conscious companies. The Blue Ribbon Recycler award helped move forward many business opportunities.
The employees at all levels of the organization have noticed a higher morale knowing they work for an environmentally conscientious organization.
Liverpool Village Animal Hospital (Medical and Healthcare Category)
Liverpool Village Animal Hospital provides veterinary services from their location on Onondaga Lake Parkway. Their adoption of technology and other green ideas has reduced their footprint and made their operation more efficient.
Highlights:
• Paired recycling containers with trash cans throughout their facility, from reception area to exam rooms.
• Purchased products such as toilet paper, paper towels and napkins with recycled content.
• Invested in a digital X-ray machine that produces images that are stored on their computer network.
• Adopted digital technology that reduces paper use. Applied to appointment scheduling and medical record archiving.
Challenges:
There is additional staff training and substantial investments needed to utilize technology for digital medical records and X-rays as well as general education of recyclables in the workplace.
Results:
There is no longer a need to buy costly film and chemicals to produce X-ray images. Paper consumption has been greatly reduced as well as the space and time to maintain records after switching to digital records and scheduling.
OCWA (Government Category)
The Onondaga County Water Authority (OCWA) manages the public water system for the County and is responsible for the proper treatment and delivery of this valuable resource to industry and residential customers.
Highlights:
• Formed a ‘Green Team’ where individuals from various departments across the board volunteered their time to meet, develop ideas, and formulate plans to help their fellow employees change daily work routines for the benefit of the environment and to reduce the demand of natural resources.
• A recycling “sheriff” patrols the facility on a regular basis to award employees who are responsible recyclers and offer reminders if improvement is needed.
• As a convenience to their employees, OCWA collects batteries and recycles them.
• Ongoing computer reuse program with the Rescue Mission.
• E-waste recycling program with Bruin Computer in Liverpool
Results:
The recycling and waste reduction initiatives helped OCWA reduce their annual trash bill by over $700 dollars.
Sheraton Syracuse University Hotel (Tourism and Leisure Category)
The University Sheraton has provided guests with an opportunity to recycle while they enjoy their stay on the SU campus for over a decade. Director of Engineering, Peter LaPage, says that it is a “win-win,” bringing down operational costs while helping the environment.
Highlights:
• Placed hotel specific recycling containers in every room along with educational pamphlets to encourage proper use of recycling containers.
• Recycling containers are paired with trash receptacles in all public areas.
• Kitchen is recycling fats, oils and grease.
• Eliminated the use of Styrofoam and plastic disposables throughout the hotel.
• Microfiber cleaning cloth use eliminates the need for paper towels.
• Paper items including napkins, toilet paper, and office paper are purchased with at least 30% post-consumer recycled content.
• Avenues to recycle or properly dispose of CFLs, batteries, cell phones and electronic equipment are being utilized.
Challenges:
Educating staff and their clientele about what is recyclable. The key to a good recycling program is to have properly trained staff on board to make sure the program works from top to bottom.
Regarding staff that initially resisted the recycling efforts, “they got involved once they realized how easy it was”. LaPage especially commends the kitchen and housekeeping staff for creating “almost a competition of who can recycle more”.
Results:
The Sheraton achieved substantial cost savings through their green efforts – they reduced their waste by more than 200 tons annually. In addition, they received the 2009 Good Earth Keeping Award from the New York State Hospitality & Tourism Association.
SUNY Empire State College (Education Category)
The college serves adults pursuing associate, bachelors and masters degrees and offers affordable, SUNY degrees onsite at locations in New York state and abroad, as well as entirely online.
Highlights:
• Participates in Recyclemania, which is a friendly competition that benchmarks college and university recycling programs to promote waste reduction activities to their campus communities.
• Placed OCRRA recycling bins around campus.
• Faculty and staff copy on both sides of paper as often as possible.
• Collect inkjet cartridges to benefit the Booker T. Washington Center in Auburn.
• Collect food waste to be composted at an employee’s home.
• Return all cans/bottles (employees sign up each week and volunteer to return the deposits.)
• Compost coffee grinds in the staff kitchen.
Challenges:
As a tenant in a larger building, educating the managers and custodial staff about trash separation was a challenge, at first, but proved to be a positive experience.
Results:
By implementing a comprehensive recycling program, SUNY Empire State College faculty and staff have become more conscience of what they dispose of and what is the proper way to recycle items.
Business Recycling Case Studies
Looking for more inpspiration? The businesses case studies below also offer tips on how to implement great recycling practices at work.
Learn from local pros - businesses that have recycling down cold share their secrets. Select the type of business you want to learn more about or scroll down to read all the case studies.
Apartments
Sacred Heart Apartments
Background
Sacred Heart Apartments in Cicero is an apartment complex built to accommodate seniors and mobility impaired persons, and houses 39 residents.
Michelle Betts, Building Superintendent, first started to enhance the recycling program in the building about a decade ago. Although she stated that it was easy to get support from staff and residents for recycling efforts, it didn’t always work perfectly. For example, it was common for a lot of non-recyclable items to be found in the recycling bins in the building’s two trash rooms. Because Sacred Heart has new residents on a regular basis, there was sometimes confusion about what is recyclable and what isn’t, or where to dispose of certain items.
How did they improve recycling?
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Recycling education. In order to help residents recycle, Betts contacted OCRRA to request an educational recycling presentation. An OCRRA representative gave a tutorial on what can be recycled and what cannot, as well as where the items go. While a presentation is helpful, it needs to be repeated for new residents on a regular basis. “Scheduling a presentation once a year makes a huge difference,” said Betts.
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Printed recycling information. To boost the effectiveness of OCRRA visits, refrigerator magnets, brochures, and pamphlets are passed out to residents to keep in their homes. This way, if they have a question in the future, there is a readily available resource for them to use.
Results
Betts stated that “we have seen a reduction of about 30-40% in the trash we produce since contacting OCRRA.” Betts is especially thankful for the OCRRA visits because, although she has a track record of recycling, residents don’t always know that. “Sometimes they don’t listen to me, they think ‘What do you know?’ Having someone from the source makes a big difference.”
Asked for any recommendations to other apartments looking to step up their recycling efforts, her answer was simple: Education.
Hotels
Sheraton Syracuse University Hotel
Background
According to Director of Engineering, Peter LaPage, the University Sheraton Hotel on the SU campus caters to clientele from around the country and aims to both provide a great stay while recycling as much as they can. LaPage has made it a priority to expand recycling because he “sees it as a win-win. The company can reduce its operational costs while helping the environment out.”
How do they do it?
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Recycling in the guest rooms. About 10 years ago, LaPage worked with OCRRA to implement guest room recycling. Small recycling containers specifically designed for hotels were provided by OCRRA and placed in each room, along with educational pamphlets. Hotel guests can easily recycle their paper and containers in the comfort of their own rooms.
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Green Committee. LaPage created a group that includes both managers and staff. They identified additional areas for improvement, including the hotel restaurant, kitchen, and offices.
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Found recycling solutions for some non Blue Bin items. They began to collect old cell phones and shipped them to call2recycle.org in Atlanta, Georgia. The hotel now recycles fluorescent tubes, batteries, and old computer and office equipment in addition to the traditional plastic, glass, paper, and metal.
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Staff involvement. As for staff that resisted the recycling efforts, “they got involved once they realized how easy it was”. LaPage especially commends the kitchen and housekeeping staff for creating “almost a competition of who can recycle more”.
Results
LaPage is proud of the success of the recycling programs. The hotel has reduced their trash production by one half, or 14-18 tons! Does this mean they’re done? “No”, said LaPage, “we’re always looking for the next big thing.”
Retail Locations
Green Hills Market
Background
A business with strong local ties, Green Hills Market in Syracuse dates back to the 1930s. The family owned and operated food market is committed to the community—which the owners also feel means a commitment to the local environment. Green Hills makes recycling and waste reduction a priority because they believe that “it is about taking care of future generations and not taking what we have for granted”.
What Do They Recycle?
Green Hills currently recycles cans, bottles, paper, glass, metal, and plastic with their waste hauler, sends all cardboard to RockTenn in Solvay, offers a container redemption center for customers, and collects household batteries as a part of OCRRA’s battery program. They encourage employees to recycle with prominent signage and convenient and accessible recycling containers, some of which come from OCRRA while others are purchased by Green Hills’.
Plastic Bags
With their commitment to recycling, as well as a recent state mandate, Green Hills wanted to expand their recycling program to include plastic bags. It was tough at first to find a buyer for the collected plastic bags, but they were able to work with a wholesaler that now transports and sells the material to TREX, a company that manufactures decking material from plastic bags.
Advice?
Green Hills Market’s advice for other businesses looking to embrace their commitment to recycling is to “set your sights on a goal and keep moving in that direction”. Although hurdles may spring up along the way, “OCRRA is a valuable resource to help individuals and businesses get started in their recycling efforts”.
Stickley Audi & Co.
What are Stickley’s recommendations for other businesses?
“Start small and build on your successes, solicit employee involvement and constantly look for more opportunities – keep in mind that what is no longer useful to you may be of value to someone else.”
– Justin Dusseault, Environmental, Health and Safety Coordinator at Stickley
Background
Stickley Furniture has been a fixture in the Syracuse area since 1900. They pride themselves on quality craftsmanship, which is made to last generations. For this reason, Stickley considers itself to be sustainable, but it goes even further by incorporating recycling into its daily practices. Justin Dusseault, Stickley’s Environmental, Health and Safety Coordinator, stated that they have made a commitment to waste reduction not only to reduce disposal costs, but to do something good for the environment.
How does Stickley make recycling a daily practice?
• Office recycling. Stickley makes it easy for employees to recycle typical office items such as paper, cardboard and plastic. Recycling containers for paper are at each desk and in copy rooms (right next to the trash cans to make the decision to recycle easy). Break rooms and the cafeteria have recycling bins for cans and bottles. They even have locations to recycle printer cartridges and electronics, which are shipped to various recycling companies.
• Recycling during manufacturing. In addition to common items, Stickley recycles steel drums, sawdust, glue totes, pallets, leather scraps and scrap metal. Amazingly, the sawdust is used for heating almost the entire 410,000 sq. ft. building! Any excess sawdust goes to a local pellet manufacturer or to farmers, who use it for animal bedding. Many employees even heat their homes with scrap wood from the Stickley facilities.
• Employee education. Supervisors annually train employees on recycling and waste reduction practices. Dusseault stated that the “trickle-down” attitude toward recycling, starting with management, works very well.
Results
Stickley has seen several positive results from its recycling efforts:
1) Reduced total waste by about half;
2) Annual savings of about $25,000 from waste reduction practices; and
3) Heating fuel costs almost nothing because it is derived primarily from the production process.
Schools
Southside Charter Academy (2011 Vonnell Mastri Award Winner)
Background
Southside Charter Academy (SSCA) is a National Heritage Academies charter school on Syracuse’s Southside, with approximately 650 students in grades K-8.
The school has continually improved its recycling program over the last few years, thanks to a group of concerned teachers and Head Custodian Steve Streeter.
Streeter welcomed the support of the teachers, and the initiative has expanded to involve many environmentally-conscious efforts. Thanks to their commitment to waste reduction, and the environmental measures they’ve implemented, Southside Charter Academy received OCRRA’s 2011 Vonnell Mastri Recycling Excellence Award!
Streeter’s advice to other custodians: “Look at the big picture. We can all be ‘teachers,’ too.” He added, “Hopefully, we can set an example for other schools.”
Challenges
• Recycling was not a part of the school’s early days, so they had to start from scratch.
• SSCA is part of a national charter school association, based in Michigan. So, to get the recycling program kick started, they needed buy-in from the national office.
Highlights
• Blue bins, blue bins, and more blue bins – they’re everywhere, which makes it easy and convenient to recycle paper, old homework, artwork, memos and mail.
• Staff stockpiles scrap paper and uses it to make copies for their classes.
• The recycling message is actively communicated through poster display, OCRRA presentations, and monthly emails to staff.
• October is “Recycling Month,” which includes a recycling poster contest and classroom lessons centered around recycling.
• SSCA’s signed School Recycling Pledge is proudly displayed as a daily reminder of their commitment to recycling.
Results
• Streeter and Principal Mevec were able to get the needed buy-in from the national charter school association’s office (and the staff) by showing how important recycling was to the students.
• The school now recycles so much cardboard and paper that they have doubled their recycling pick-ups – they recycled more than 4 tons of paper in the 2009-2010 school year!
• Using old copy paper as scrap paper has reduced the need to purchase large volumes of copy paper.
• All of these efforts, along with everyone’s cooperation and participation, led SSCA to be the recipient of OCRRA’s 2011 Vonnell Mastri Recycling Excellence Award.
Future Plans
• Start an after-school Environmental Awareness Group with guest speakers
• Launch a “green” website
• Begin a composting program to aid their new garden
Durgee Junior High School - Baldwinsville
Background
A few years ago, guidance counselor Chris Marciniak founded the Durgee Leadership Team (DLT) at Durgee Junior High School in order to facilitate leadership development among students. The team’s goals are to create enriching activities and a positive environment throughout the school district. They agreed that a great way to reach these goals is to “go green”, particularly through a commitment to recycling.
Teaching Others How to Recycle
The students’ idea was to take recycling information to the younger students, not only to pass on knowledge, but to get them involved in environmental issues. DLT student leaders believe that recycling is not only for adults, but also that “kids should change their lifestyle to save the environment”.
To learn more about the topic themselves, they invited an OCRRA representative to talk them about recycling and showcase what materials OCRRA has to offer. The students then began to develop their own recycling curriculum.
In order to convey the message to their younger peers, the DLT traveled to Baldwinsville elementary schools to teach younger students using fun methods. They presented fun facts, visual aides, and played their own interactive game called “Recyclethon”. At the end, the younger students signed pledges to recycle and received coloring books, stickers, and pencils (made from recycled materials, of course)!
Results
The DLT’s ability to communicate on a peer-to-peer basis and to act as role models makes their recycling message much more effective.
Marciniak does not hesitate to call the DLT’s efforts successful. “All in all, the younger students had fun and listened intently to their older peer role models… The kids love learning from the older students. It's novel, it's cool and it draws their attention!”
H.W. Smith Elementary
Background
H.W. Smith K-8 School, in Syracuse, houses about 800 students and a whole lot of diversity. 35 different nations are represented by the student body, with over half of all of the children’s parents coming from a foreign country. The school, led by Principal Sharon Birnkrant, has made a commitment to waste reduction and recycling efforts in order to “be a model for kids from around the world”, and because they “live in the real world with critical issues such as sustainability and waste production.”
We Already Recycle…What Else Can We Do?
H.W. Smith recycles the typical items: paper, plastic bottles, cardboard, etc. The school made a step to go above and beyond and has set itself apart with a unique program: Making used books available to all students and parents.
As a school with a tight budget, administrators were looking for ways to provide the best education possible without the luxury of excess cash. School administrators began collecting books that would otherwise be thrown out by other schools and/or residents. What started as a 2-week volunteer effort on the part of school faculty has developed into a year-round program. Hundreds of books have been collected from school book-drop boxes. While most of the books have gone to the school’s library, some are made available, for free, to students and family members on tables in the hallways.
The Rotakids, a student division of the Rotary Club, collect redeemable bottles and cans to help cover any costs of the book program.
Results
“It’s gotten kids reading, that’s for sure,” said Birnkrant. And, there’s a definite sense of satisfaction from doing a good deed. “They feel as though we are rescuing old friends, and owners are relieved.” In addition, cookbooks have been extremely useful for foreign parents learning to cook in a new culture. This program has had a lot of positive results: kids are reading more, parents are learning, books are being saved from the trash, and recycling is helping to cover any accrued costs.
Birnkrant’s recommendation to other schools looking to mirror H.W. Smith’s book reuse program? “Strong arms, dedication, and a love of books”.
Marcellus Central School District
Background
Keith Watkins’ philosophy about school maintenance is to “create a clean and safe environment for all that enter.”
When joining the Marcellus Central School District as the Assistant Superintendent of Buildings and Grounds a few years ago, one of the first things he looked at to further this ideal was how to improve recycling throughout the three schools. It seemed that too many recyclables were being thrown in the trash. While recycling serves an environmental benefit, Watkins also wants the district to “be a better example to the students” (there are 2,050 of them in Marcellus!).
The solutions:
Results
The recycling improvements have had visible effects in the district, and people are taking notice. “Many staff and patrons have seen the recycling stations, witnessed the collection process, and commented on the pride that comes with re-using products and the beneficial impact on the environment,” noted Watkins. People have noticed that there is much less trash; the dumpsters are taking longer to fill.
Watkins’ advice to encourage recycling in other schools? “Involve the students, make it fun and visible, and use OCRRA as much as possible.” Find out how OCRRA can help your school!
