Thanksgiving may be over but we are still very grateful for our recycling program at UCSF Health. Though we’ve encountered some challenges, we’ve done lots of work over the past three years to improve the quality of our recyclables and have made some progress that deserves celebration.
Per San Francisco’s Refuse Separation Ordinance No. 180646, large refuse generators (LRGs) must have a composting, recycling, and landfill program and be audited every three years. A passing audit would mean that the contents of the containers are found to have levels of contamination lower than 5% for compostables, 10% for recyclables, and 25% for trash, respectively. UCSF Health currently has four buildings classified as LRGs: the three medical centers at Parnassus, Mission Bay, and Mount Zion, and the Ambulatory Care Center located at 400 Parnassus.
Parnassus has historically struggled with consistently keeping the recycling contamination below the allowed 10% threshold. Previous audits deemed that the recycling compactor at Parnassus Heights was too contaminated with PPE and soft plastics, leading to financial fines and rejected recycling loads.
Sorter at Parnassus Heights.
To address this, the sustainability team worked closely with colleagues from Hospitality Services, Nutrition and Food Service, and nursing to:
- Expand our compost program at the medical centers to include paper towel composting in all public restrooms
- Launch an online waste sorting course for UCSF Health staff and present at staff meetings
- Implement standardized waste stations with new signage
- Launch an internal waste auditing program for the inpatient units
- Add sorters to capture and remove any contamination from the compactors prior to pick up. These sorters are located at Parnassus and Mission Bay and they sort about 800 lbs per site per week.
Progress Update
As of September 2023, Parnassus dipped below the 10% contamination guidelines and saw a diversion increase. In fact, the Parnassus Medical Center has already diverted 56,540 lbs of waste in just two months. We expect an average of 20 tons on an ongoing monthly basis, that's about 40,000 lbs every single month! This is mainly due to better education regarding sorting rules, waste audits, and having a sorting team at the loading dock.
Before photo: shows privacy curtain, styrofoam, and clear bag with trash contents
After photo: clean recyclables, lots of cardboard
But wait, we still need your help. Only select recycling bags are sorted, so we still need to do our job to ensure that the right materials go into the right bins– particularly the compost and the landfill. Here are a few things you can do to help us keep making progress:
- Refresh your sorting skills. Did you know that the recycling rules change depending on what waste hauler you have? That means that if you work in SF but live in another county, there could be different rules for you at work and at home. Here are some guidelines on how to sort at UCSF Health. (we encourage you to look into your home county rules)
- Invite one of our staff members to present at a staff meeting by emailing healthsustainability@ucsf.edu
- Incorporate waste sorting knowledge into your team:
- Sign up to be a green champion and serve as a liaison for your department
- Take a Recology tour and learn about what happens to waste when it leaves UCSF.
For more information, check out UCSF Health Waste website.
