Hi Daphne! Thanks again to you and Pete for taking time to review the preliminary audit data with us yesterday. As you have time to digest all of that, please let us know if you have any questions. We look forward to the FY 2023 tonnage stats for landfilled waste, commodities recycled, and the updated effective diversion rate calculations to include in the report. As promised, I wanted to follow up with some questions our team has as we work on the report:

• How many campus buildings have at least one MaxR bin? https://icap.sustainability.illinois.edu/metric/buildings-new-waste-bins says 63, but https://sustainability.illinois.edu/icap-update-toward-a-zero-waste-campus/ indicates number is 64. 64 is correct; I had yet to update the number on the iCAP portal by 1!
• Does campus still send waste to Brickyard Disposal and Recycling, Inc., and is methane capture still happening at that landfill? We plan to note this in our report, as well as the life expectancy of that landfill (18 yrs.), based on IEPA info. No, our current contract with Green For Life (GFL) is with the Clinton, IL landfill which does not have methane capture.
• Regarding destinations for recyclables (previously shared by F&S):
  
  • Does F&S take scrap metal to Mack’s Twin City Recycling in Urbana, or Mervis? I know I’ve heard this before but both company names begin with “M” and they’re both in Urbana, so I want to make sure I’m not mixing them up. Mervis is who we use for our scrap metal.
  • Graphic Packaging in Battle Creek, MI was on the list of destinations for cardboard collected on campus. However, that location seems to have been closed (see https://wwmt.com/news/local/battle-creek-graphic-packaging-mill-closes-friday-employees-plant-expansion). Is cardboard still sent to Graphic Packaging, and if so, which location? Good question. I sent an inquiry to our GFL rep who directly works with the mill buyers/brokers who take our recyclables. I will follow up with his response.
  • Novelis in Atlanta, GA was listed as a destination for aluminum, but looking at their website, that seems to be their corporate HQ. Can we confirm the destination location for Novelis? Working on receiving confirmation!
• Clarifying current practices
  
  • All auxiliary units coordinate their own BSWs, correct? I know Housing, the Union, and Campus Rec do, but wanted to confirm this is true for other auxiliaries not included in the study. This is correct. Every auxiliary on campus has their own BSWs.
  • Are there any buildings on campus where cardboard is still being placed in the landfill dumpster as standard procedure, to be picked out later at the WTS, or is it the case that all buildings either have a cardboard dumpster or toters for cardboard collection? Yes, this is correct. If the carboard is grouped together and visible in the landfill dumpster, it can pretty easily be grabbed out when it is dumped at WTS. Similarly, are there any buildings on campus with such limited dock space that blue bags of recyclables are being put into the landfill dumpster for later recovery at the WTS? Yes, this does occur because of the limited dock space. In other words, are there buildings without adequate dock space even for toters for recyclables? I believe that was true in the past but want to confirm whether that is happening at all on campus as we work on process flow diagrams. Improvements are being made during new capital builds to include the perspective of waste management (BSWs, truck drivers) in the design process for buildings. We continually face the challenge that there is inadequate space outside of buildings to place more than 1 dumpster. This situation further emphasizes the need for correct color-coding of the bags.
  • When considering the “acceptable” materials list for paper bins, does “Office Paper: All Types” include shredded paper? I assume so but wanted to confirm. Yes, it includes shredded paper.
• We currently have the following items highlighted under “Current Campus Waste Reduction & Diversion Initiatives” in the draft report:
  
  • WTS Tours https://fs.web.illinois.edu/Insider/2022/08/19/tours-bring-reality-to-campus-waste-and-recycling/
  • Grind2Energy
  • Bin Standardization (Indoor & Outdoor)
  • Dump & Run  https://fs.illinois.edu/News/dump-and-run-expands-to-multiple-campus-locations/
  • Don’t Waste Campaign with Coca-Cola
    
    • Welcome Celebration Recycling https://icap.sustainability.illinois.edu/project-updates/8721
    • Fighting Illini, Fighting Waste
      
      • Basketball Game Recycling https://dailyillini.com/news-stories/around-campus/campus-life/2022/11/17/fighting-illini-fighting-waste/
      • Tailgate Recycling https://fs.web.illinois.edu/Insider/2023/09/29/illini-football-tailgate-recycling-event/ & https://newschannel20.com/news/local/university-of-illinois-promotes-sustainability-with-tailgate-recycle-event

Please confirm that we should also add:

• Recyclopedia Confirmed, let’s add!
• Pilot transition to new paper towel dispensers (which will help reduce paper towel waste) Confirmed, let’s add!
  
  • 17 buildings transitioned to the new paper towel dispensers over the holiday break (December 2023 – January 2024). The Building Services team is slated to transition another clockstation or two during the summer break (June 2024 – July 2024), transitioning an additional 40-60 buildings to the new dispensers.
• Anything else? Should we highlight LeanPath or other efforts related to organics (e.g. exploration of anaerobic digestion) given the amount of food scraps being sent to landfill?
• If you could point us to relevant iCAP or other online information on additional programs to highlight, and/or provide suggested blurbs, we’d appreciate it!
  
  • Other initiatives to consider including:
    
    • Provost-approved purchase of a $1.65M new recycling baler system. Joy already came across this news: https://fs.web.illinois.edu/Insider/2023/09/29/incoming-new-and-improved-baler/
      
      • This will be a sole-source contract. We attempted a competitive bidding process that failed, so we are moving forward with working with Harris Baler directly.
      • We have experienced a lot of issues with our current baler. A new baler will significantly improve the amount of unexpected down time that we see with our current baler.
    • Along with the paper towel dispensers, F&S is revamping its cleaning process to achieve LEED and WELL green cleaning certifications in the buildings it services. The transition started this past summer with five facilities. The transition across more buildings will continue to take place: https://fs.web.illinois.edu/Insider/2023/09/18/adapting-building-services-new-custodial-operations/
    • When the waste of a building is not contracted out during a construction & demolition project, F&S takes special care to recycle as much of the debris as possible. Undergrad library example: https://fs.web.illinois.edu/Insider/2023/03/16/big-blue-new-crane-acquired-to-use-on-ugl-renovation/
    • Early research into AI / robotic sorting. Joy, let me know your thoughts on including this? The research hasn’t started, but funding from both iSEE and SSC has been awarded to Nishant’s project.  https://sustainability.illinois.edu/isee-seed-funds-2-new-projects/ F&S recognizes that it will not be able to rely on DSC sort-line workers forever, and has started preliminary conversations with companies that retrofit MRFs for automated sorting.

Thanks in advance!

Joy

Hi Joy,

Please see in red the responses to your questions in your previous email. Let me know if anything needs more clarification. I will follow up on the questions I didn’t immediately have an answer for. Recyclopedia will eventually be a webpage on the F&S website but for now I have the drafted word doc form to share.

Question for you all – we have started up conversations with Tork/Essity for paper towel recycling in light of the preliminary results you shared with us last week. It’s a very telling story that paper towel recycling would be hugely beneficial for a campus that so heavily relies on the material. Would it be okay with you all for us to share the data with them/the drafted report you walked Pete and me through?

Thank you,

Daphne

Good afternoon!

Info sharing...

Sad day for local Styrofoam recycling.  🙁  Dart Corp is closing at the end of this year.  They reached out to me to request that I update our website info re: Styrofoam recycling.

He said the Styrofoam drop-off will remain open until Friday, Sept 29th.

https://www.news-gazette.com/business/longtime-urbana-plant-to-close-135-jobs-lost/article_51bd0a33-27ab-5f72-8d72-af8a3c60ce72.html

Please forward this to whoever you think would be interested in knowing.

Nichole

Here’s a link to the Recyclopedia test site for everyone to look over to make sure everything’s good before we make it live. https://azuretest.fs.illinois.edu/RecyclopediaSearch/

Just a couple of quick, initial feedback items on this…

If this will be a stand-alone page then it would benefit from at least a short executive summary – what is Recyclopedia about/goals -  and primary image (assuming this structure will be the case for populating the responses from search).  Then we would want to tether all the related pages to it as well to establish that incorporated page flow.

If you do not return a hit on a search, we should have some type of default contact information that encourages outreach through email if there are remaining questions (instead of just “no results”)

I would like to see the full list because I wasn’t able to find a few items I thought would be included (e.g., gloves). Overall, it seemed to work well and I was able to find information for most of what I searched for.  It would be nice if search data was captured to determine if new sections need to be created.

I have more suggestions, but just a few highlights:

• The phone numbers are not to our style and would need to be redone to xxx-xxx-xxxx.
• Use of related links, etc. should help use reduce the need for us to have to constantly use hyperlinks in the text body (e.g., work request, Service Office)
  
  • Should be a way to aggregate the main potential contacts and avoid redundant links (keep specific ones)
    
    • Or maybe build in a new section on this page specifically to address this issue – a floating footer (would take care of a majority of the links to just do WTS, DRS, etc.

Nice job, this will be a good resource and something that we can definitely help to rollout in the future. Let me know if you want to discuss this further.

Steve B.

Hi Nishant!

I wanted to reach out to see if you had any updates regarding the AI characterization project – congrats on receiving more funding from SSC for it! Please let us know if we can assist with this project in any way.

Thank you,

Daphne

Thanks Daphne.

I don’t have a major update as of now. I’ve a new student who will start looking at this issue. Maybe sometime in April or May, I’ll organize a meeting for us to make a plan to get started.

Best,

Nishant Garg

Hi all,

Here are our results from the latest basketball events:

• Women’s game
  
  • 100 lbs recyclables collected by volunteers, pre-sorted
  • 360 lbs recyclables sorted out of DIA’s general waste stream at WTS
  • Total recyclables collected from that night: 460 lbs
  • No diversion rate available because the total waste collected from State Farm Center was from more than just this single event
• Men’s game
  
  • 960 lbs recyclables collected by volunteers, pre-sorted
  • 80 lbs recyclables sorted out of DIA’s general waste stream at WTS
  • Total recyclables collected from that night: 1,040 lbs
  • Total waste collected from that night (trash + recycling): 10,300 lbs
  • Diversion rate: 10%

Thank you,

Daphne

Hi Matt,

It’s nice to virtually meet you - I’m the Sustainability Programs Coordinator at iSEE. I’ve been working with colleagues involved in zero-waste efforts to start drafting a proposal to install hydration stations with water bottle refillers in residence halls on campus. Alma is supportive of this idea and approved the idea of submitting a proposal to the Student Sustainability Committee.

I was wondering if you have any cost information available for the following:

• Equipment cost of different models of hydration stations
• Installation costs
• Filter costs
• Maintenance costs (both for stations with filters and without)

If you can provide any of that info, that would be a big help. Please let me know if you have questions or need any clarification.

Best,

Miriam

Hi Miriam,

I’m glad to hear a proposal is in the works for hydration stations with water bottle refillers!

We’ll gather the information you’ve requested.

MATTHEW M. BROWN (he, him, his)

Director of Facilities for University Housing

Hi Matt,

I wanted to reach out again because we are aiming to submit a proposal by March 20, which is the Spring 2024 deadline for SSC project proposals over $10,000. Do you think it would be possible to gather the cost information before then?

I was also wondering if you could share insight on what a realistic timeline for this project could look like. If we receive SSC grant money at the end of May, would it be feasible to install the hydration stations over the summer?

Thanks and please let me know if you need any other info from me!

Best,

Miriam

Hi Miriam,

Here is information on these items:

• Equipment cost of different models of hydration stations – Filtered are around $1,500; Without filter around $1,000
• Installation costs – Estimate $250-$500
• Filter costs – $65-75 depending on model
• Maintenance costs (both for stations with filters and without) – minimal beyond changing filters

The installation timeline will vary depending on how many units are obtained and when. Summer is a very busy time of year for us. We would likely prioritize locations for installation if possible, work in as many as we can during summer, and continue steadily installing as needed.

MATTHEW M. BROWN (he, him, his)

Hey, all!!

Thanks for the great meeting.

We were glad to hear that Daphne liked the dining glass recycling numbers (130,955lb!), the process flow charts, and the BSW-related engagement section. We're moving ahead with the plan to publish the entire report, and we'll also work on making a clear and concise (1-3 page??) executive summary too. Here's what I got for notes:

Daphne's to-dos:

• P14. Send GFL Battle Creek info
• P14. Hear back from GFL on Novelis info
• P26. Investigate dining's Tin Can recycling??
• P14. Keep working on Effective Diversion Rate calculation w interns
• P17. Send public box file on (ordering MaxR??)
• P43. Send Green basketball rates for March 3+5
• Recommendation Table:
  
  • What other ideas do you have?
  • Any existing recs need higher priority/more detail?
  • Provide draft "responsible party" for each
• Poke Dr. Garg for project updates?

ISTC's to-dos:

• P6 and P16. Include specific numbers of 245 MaxR bins, mostly 3-bin stations, across 70 buildings
  
  • Union has 9 with, 7 w/o shadowboxes
• P14. Add a little more explanation of "auxiliary" -- means it has to "pay for itself," basically
  
  • But F&S still services external dumpsters
• P14. Transition to F&S servicing/replacing outdoor bins happened at end of calendar 2023
  
  • Replacing bins -- currently ~50, but 125 dual bins by Fall 2024.
• Make executive summary
  
  • Determine what's important to include
  • Determine how to present it / where to put that information (iCAP portal? ISTC website? Box?)

Have a great Wednesday! We'll plan to meet again soon to discuss these items.

Betsy

Betsy Ruckman
Sustainability Technician

The Greener Campus Program would like to recognize the most recent events certified under the Green Event Certification Program.

These events include:

- Office of the Provost's Student Success Symposium; hosted February 8th, 2024 

- Office of the Provost's Celebration of Academic Excellence; hosted February 20th, 2024 

- Sustainable Aviation Fuel Workshop; hosted February 23rd, 2024

Congratulations and keep up the great work! 

Miriam Keep, Codie Sterner, and Michael McKelvey met to discuss the status of embedding projects from the iCAP Portal on the SSC website.

Discussion items:

• Michael shared a demo of SSC project embedding (TEST site) which includes a map which responds to filters.
• Codie suggested adding the following SSC-specific fields to projects:
  • (SSC) Project Lead
  • (SSC) Project Lead Email
  • (SSC) Financial Advisor (all)
  • (SSC) Financial Advisor Email
  • (SSC) Project Advisor (only applicable to student-led projects)
  • (SSC) Project Advisor Email
  • (SSC) Team Members (unlimited plain text fields, just like in Contacts tab)
• Change SSC tab title to: SSC Specifics
• Project Funding discussion:
  • Prefer to separate out the 2 funding sources (SCEF, CETF) - perhaps instead of one "Funding Source" in iCAP Portal for SSC, could have 2 - one for each fund. Funding Type in the Funding Details could be a way to group together all SSC funding regardless of source (?)
  • When SSC funds a project, each semester needs to be reported separately, which is a different structure from how "projects" are represented in the iCAP Portal. For one-off funding, this isn't a problem, but sometimes (~5%?) SSC funds projects multiple times, which would require creating multiple Projects in the iCAP Portal to record SSC info about what the iCAP Portal would consider a single "project." How do we handle this? Some potential options include:
    • Always create a sub-project for each semester of SSC funding related to a project (lots of "extra" projects in the iCAP Portal created only to record SSC funding info). Projects created explicitly for SSC which don't have a more logical parent could go potentially go under the SSC project.
    • Use the Project Funding system in the iCAP Portal to record information by semester. The "Project Funding" content type is meant to act as a bridge between Funding Sources and Funding Details, so it might be the right place to store this information.
    • Create a new content type specifically for SSC projects. Perhaps use Metrics as a template? Not sure if there's an advantage to this over repurposing the Project Funding system, except this would be a single-purpose system built specifically for SSC, so it might be more streamlined.
  • Michael and Codie plan to meet March 22 to continue the discussion.

Michael McKelvey, Miriam Keep, and Morgan White have a meeting scheduled on Friday, March 22 to discuss how to structure Recommendations, probably by diagramming on a whiteboard. In the meantime, Michael and Miriam met briefly to discuss iCAP Recommendations while the discussion at last Friday's meeting is still somewhat fresh. Our takeaways:

• Perhaps we shouldn't use Project Updates after all, but should pattern the new Recommendations feature after Metrics:
  • A Recommendation is associated with a project and contains some additional general information
  • A Recommendation can have many "tracking" updates including at least a status and some notes
  • This would mean that each tracking record for a Recommendation wouldn't automatically generate a Project Update. Is that ok?
• We also discussed using the iCAP Portal for the Recommendation workflow. We're not sure whether that would reduce complexity or increase it. Further discussion is warranted. Sample project updates with initial recommendation form attached:
  • Energy010 Establishment of a Clean Energy Plan Conference Committee - Submitted
  • Edu009 - Updating College of Business Course Descriptions - Submitted

We look forward to diagramming this out on a whiteboard in Morgan's office!

Agenda

• Homemade caramels!
• Update: Miriam Keep, Sarthak Prasad, Christina Tran, and Michael McKelvey met to discuss a proposed structure for updating iCAP recommendations: Discussion about updating iCAP recommendations - February 21, 2024
• Lots of back-end updates/upgrades over the past couple weeks - Michael's been testing and retesting to try to catch any incompatibilities with the new updates, and so far things are looking good. Let him know if you encounter any issues!
  • One update of note: the module that creates automatic redirects when titles change has gotten smarter, so those infinite loops should be a thing of the past!
• Google Analytics reporting

Discussion/Decisions:

• Project Updates:
  • Add field "To Do Item(s)" at top of Tasks section
    • Show field in Pending Tasks listing?
    • Q: who should be able to view the content of this field? Other task-related fields are restricted to iCAP Admins & iCAP Moderators, but if you want to assign a task to a non-admin or non-moderator, they'll need to be able to view this task field (and the other fields) in order to view the task. Should we expand the scope of who can view task-related fields? At least add iCAP Clerks, or perhaps even all logged in users?
  • Q: Also add field for tagging iCAP Portal user(s) as responsible party for tracking tasks and updating when they're completed? (note: separate from "Assigned To" field which allows free editing and doesn't associate with user accounts
    • What should this field be called?
    • Should it allow multiple people to be entered?
    • Add a My Tasks page where logged in users can view all tasks assigned to them. Also show tasks they've assigned?
    • Started work on this on test site: Michael's test task
• Pending Tasks list:
  • ✔️Change Title column to "Project Update"
• Recommendations:
  • May not need to allow a Project to "subscribe" to Recommendations:
    • Recommendation has associated Project (allow multiple, but typically only enter one)
    • Project page shows all Recommendations pointing to this project (possibly instead of a project being able to "subscribe" to recommendations)
    • iWG project: instead of showing all the recommendations, provide a link to the page showing the recommendations
  • Recommendation add/edit form could be used to receive suggestions for new recommendations
  • Need to discuss further - Morgan, Miriam, and Michael will meet next week to discuss & diagram out on a whiteboard

RailSplitter Wind Farm provided the February 2024 Buyer's Share amounts by the hour, totaling 2,425.1 Megawatt hours.

The February 2024 Buyer's Share Report is attached below.

The Land & Water iCAP team met on Teams from 1-2 PM on Friday, March 91st. Meeting minutes are attached.

The Education iCAP team met on Teams from 1-2 PM on Thursday, February 29th. Meeting minutes are attached