Waste and Pollution Prevention
GSA expanded the non-construction non-hazardous waste diversion data tracking from 78 million rentable square feet (RSF) in FY 2011 to 129 million RSF in FY 2012, now representing 75 percent of the GSA owned and managed building portfolio. In FY 2011, GSA diverted 36 percent of its waste in audited facilities, well ahead its FY 2011 reduction target of 10 percent. This amounts to $3.6 million in waste diversion cost savings. GSA has also expanded the composting of organic waste at several locations across the country to include landscaping, food waste, compostable cafeteria products, and bathroom paper towels. In FY 2013, GSA will expand waste reduction training and education programs for facilities managers and tenants. GSA relies on tenant participation in building recycling programs to increase waste diversion. GSA will also continue to assess waste management practices to identify viable opportunities for increasing diversion of solid waste, construction and demolition (C&D) debris, and compostable organic waste.
In FY 2013, GSA will develop a construction waste toolkit and management plan to address the challenge of measuring and centrally tracking C&D waste. GSA is also working to improve data collection on chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) stocks, which are responsible for ozone depletion, in its facilities so that it can re-baseline and continue transferring or disposing of these by FY 2013.
