EPA celebrates 25 years of WasteWise program

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced it is celebrating 25 years of its WasteWise program, which encourages corporations, businesses, educational institutions and governments to set sustainability goals and track progress in preventing and recycling waste.

“The WasteWise program is a cornerstone of EPA’s commitment to sustainable materials management through reducing, reusing and recycling,” says EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler. “Under the Trump Administration, EPA is working diligently to identify market-based strategies and innovative ideas to create a more sustainable recycling system in America. Through the WasteWise program, EPA is carrying through on this commitment and I congratulate all of our WasteWise participants over the last 25 years on their many accomplishments. I know there are many more innovative successes this program will produce.”

As one of EPA’s longest-standing partnership programs, WasteWise launched in 1994 and has involved thousands of participants over its 25 years, EPA says. During the duration of the program, participants have prevented and diverted 247 million tons of materials from going to landfills or incinerators. This has saved participating companies as much as an estimated $11.1 billion in avoided landfill tipping fees, EPA says.

EPA launched WasteWise with 281 charter members representing a cross-section of American companies ranging from communications firms to large utilities. From its inception, the program emphasized waste prevention—using less material to do the same job—because this provides the most significant benefits to the environment and the bottom line, EPA says. It also emphasizes the importance of setting waste diversion goals and tracking progress to quantify and measure results. EPA is highlighting some of the accomplishments from the 25 years of WasteWise on its website.

WasteWise is part of EPA’s Sustainable Materials Management program, which focuses on using and reusing materials more productively over their entire life cycles.

Recent honorees

EPA recently awarded two participants with awards for their WasteWise participation in honor of America Recycles Day Nov. 15.

The first award went to the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians and Chumash Casino Resort for its outstanding efforts in recycling, food recovery and moving toward zero waste. The Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians owns and operates the Chumash Casino Resort, which is located on the tribe’s reservation on Highway 246 in Santa Ynez, California.  

In 2018, the Chumash Casino Resort diverted 2,922,307 pounds of waste, representing over 90 percent of its overall waste stream, from local landfills through their successful Zero Waste program. To reach this target, the Chumash Casino Resort has formed both local and national partnerships and participated in several innovative programs to complement its extensive in-house recycling efforts.

EPA’s Regional Administrator for the Pacific Southwest Mike Stoker recently toured the Chumash Casino Resort.

“The Chumash Casino Resort’s zero waste initiatives are making a real difference for the environment,” Stoker says in a news release. “By diverting more than 90 percent of their total waste stream from landfills and sharing their expertise with other tribes, they are true recycling champions.”

“It’s an honor for our tribe to be recognized by the EPA during America Recycles Week,” says Kenneth Kahn, tribal chairman for the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians. “By forming local partnerships and participating in innovative programs, our Chumash Casino Resort’s facilities department has taken our recycling efforts to new heights. We are proud of our team’s ongoing campaign to further reduce our waste stream and its ability to be an industry leader for recycling in California Indian gaming.”

The Chumash Casino Resort has won several EPA awards, including the Food Recovery Challenge award in 2014 and 2016. The EPA’s Food Recovery Challenge partners with over 1,000 organizations and businesses to prevent and reduce wasted food. In 2018, the Chumash Casino Resort donated more than 4 tons – 8,478 pounds – of food to Veggie Rescue to improve the nutrition and quality of life for community members struggling with food insecurity by providing healthy meals.

The Chumash Casino Resort has also been an EPA WasteWise partner since 2008 and has received national WasteWise Partner of the Year awards in 2012 and 2015. 

Virco Manufacturing Corporation (Virco) in Torrance, California, also recently earned an award for its sustainability accomplishments and leadership.

Virco, a manufacturer and supplier of American-made school furniture and equipment, earned national recognition for its programs to reduce waste, divert material from landfills and support community outreach. Stoker recently toured its facilities as well.

“Virco’s 25 years partnership with WasteWise has proven to be an invaluable source of information,” says Virco Chairman and CEO Robert Virtue in a news release. “WasteWise has provided us a roadmap to successful waste reduction programs, recycling programs, sustainable materials management; all programs that help Virco to be good stewards of the environment”

Virco joined WasteWise in 1994 for an opportunity to track and monitor its waste reduction efforts. To reduce waste, Virco examined its waste stream and purchased new higher-efficiency equipment that improved its production processes. Virco’s waste reduction efforts reduced trips to the landfill and the associated disposal costs. The company’s Take Back and Cash for Cardboard programs expanded outreach to the community and created end markets both for furniture and for cardboard collected at schools.