Wexner Medical Center Recycling Initiatives
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Date
2021-12
Authors
Graves, Charles
Harlan, Hannah
Hollenack, Anna
Manhoff, Grace
Rehark, Addison
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Journal ISSN
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Abstract
The Wexner Medical Center (WMC) is launching a new recycling initiative to increase its waste diversion rate with the assistance of an Ohio EPA grant. The initiative involves designing new combined trash and recycling carts, increasing the use of Automated Transport Systems (ATS) to efficiently move waste, converting one of the trash compactors to collect strictly comingled recycling, implementing a new recycling education campaign to inform staff, and establishing a framework to collect results for the Ohio EPA. An additional component included in the grant is a collaboration with The Ohio State University's School of Environment and Natural Resources to establish a senior capstone project to assist with elements of the new recycling system.
This capstone group was tasked with evaluating a waste characterization study conducted by Synergent, providing feedback on the new cart design, creating an education campaign that features an action plan and proposed signage for staff recycling, and designing a framework to evaluate the initiative's success to report the results to the Ohio EPA. The purpose of this project is to help guide the direction of the recycling program to support Ohio State's sustainability goals. The WMC can utilize this research and recommendations to educate employees and guests on proper recycling techniques. After the educational campaign takes effect, they can use the evaluation framework to determine the effectiveness of the initiative and make necessary changes.
The main goal of this project, assisting the WMC in achieving its goal of becoming a zero-waste facility through the implementation of a new recycling program, was achieved by dividing the main goal into three separate research objectives. The research objectives were: 1) Interpret the results of the waste study to evaluate the design of the new waste carts 2) Create an education campaign for the new recycling program 3) Design a framework to review and evaluate the results of the new recycling campaign for the Ohio EPA.
The research discussed throughout this report was collected through key informant interviews, literature review, and data analysis. Information was also accumulated in weekly informal interviews with the project mentors, Lauren Koch, Sustainability Consultant at the WMC, and Mary Leciejewski, Zero Waste Manager at OSU. They provided access to the waste study results, cart design plans, and marketing resources. Connections were established at the WMC for meetings with the marketing team and environmental services staff. Insight about the recycling initiative and waste removal process was also gained through a tour of the WMC loading dock and waste rooms throughout the hospital.
We conclude that the WMC can increase its waste diversion rate from the landfill and limit the level of contamination of recyclables by implementing the findings from this capstone project. One recommendation is to decrease the amount of waste entering the building by working with the supply chain to acquire supplies packaged at greater sustainability and efficiency. The second recommendation is to design training methods and signage to target specific groups within the hospital by using the proposed education action plan. Lastly, using the evaluation framework, a WMC employee should complete the steps bi-weekly to gather data that can be synthesized and reported to the Ohio EPA.
Description
Course Code: ENR 4567
Keywords
Medical, Recycling, Sustainability, Waste Study