Recycling 2.0 comes to UCOP’s Franklin Building
August 5, 2013 •
Get ready for a new look in the Franklin Building’s kitchens and conference rooms, when new recycling, composting and trash bins make their debut throughout the building this week.
The bins are color-coded and clearly marked with photos of what goes in each one. The goal is to make it easier for all of us to reduce the amount of waste we send to the landfill.
The Waste Reduction Program is part of Franklin’s LEED recertification effort, the green building rating program known as Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. It also supports the UC Policy on Sustainable Practices goal of achieving zero municipal solid waste by June 30, 2020.
UCOP’s Franklin Building has had a recycling and composting program in place since 2006, but it needs to be more aggressive in order to achieve this ambitious goal. From now on, we will have clearly marked, color-coded receptacles to help Franklin building occupants dispose of recyclable and compostable materials properly.
“It’s not easy to remember all the different items that can be recycled and composted,” said Roman Starno, chief building manager for the Franklin building and lead for the new program. “So we’re providing better visual clues and clear guidelines, and we’re asking everyone to take responsibility for educating themselves about how to dispose of things appropriately.”
How does the program work? It’s not all that different from what is in place now, but some colors will change and you will have more resources to guide you about what goes where.
In short, all kitchens, conference rooms, copy rooms, restrooms, offices and cubicles will have some combination of receptacles for recycling, composting and trash. Receptacles are consistently color-coded as follows:
- Recycling = blue
- Compost = green
- Trash = black
Here’s what will change:
All kitchens and conference rooms as well as the fifth floor break room will have a set of three matching bins in the new colors; they will be clearly marked with signs and photos to show what can go in each.
Here’s what will stay the same:
Every desk already has two bins: one large blue bin for recycling with a smaller, attached black bin for trash. The size of the bins is your clue: You should put as much as possible in the recycling and as little as possible in the trash!
Restrooms also have two receptacles: one bin under the paper towel dispenser marked “Paper Towels Only” and one black bin marked “Trash Only.” Paper towels will continue to be collected from the restrooms for composting, so be sure to place your items in the appropriate bin.
All batteries can continue to be recycled in the “Used Battery” tubs in or near the kitchens near the freight elevators.
You can find complete details on what you can recycle or compost in next week’s Link and on the Building and Administrative Services website.
Questions? Contact the Franklin building’s Chief Building Manager Roman Starno at Roman.Starno@ucop.edu or 587-6100.
At least on my floor, people seem to be shockingly ignorant about what materials can and should go in each type of bin. Hopefully this will help.
I think these bins are an improvement and will help people put things in the proper bins. Thank you Building Management!
I just looked around my floor and saw that one recycling bin was half paper towels, and another trash bin was full of paper towels. If there is going to be targeted education, it should definitely be about paper towels.
I totally agree with Ryan. I would suggest that Building Management be invited to staff meetings to educate everyone on the “new” recycling system. We used to table during First Fridays but that is hit or miss. Attending staff meetings is more hit and less miss.
As a Safety Officer – when we used to train staff on safety issues – I provided a short training to staff on recycling and how to do it. This helped quite a bit.
Happy recycling everyone – Reuse or recycle.