Ken Janzen is the Manager of Facility Services for the Delta School District.
A British Columbia school district used a bold approach to divert more waste from the landfill – they removed the garbage cans from classrooms.
The Delta School District is located south of Vancouver and has 31 schools. In 2015, the district removed all garbage cans from the classrooms and placed four-piece bins in the corridors for garbage, organic waste, mixed recycling and cans and bottles.
This all-in approach was the key to the program’s success, said the manager of facility services, Ken Janzen.
“The biggest thing we found really helps is being able to go at it 100 per cent,” said Janzen. The stations are most effective when they are the only spots for staff, students and guests to dispose of their waste.
Over 350 four-piece bins were purchased for the district, enough for one station for every four classrooms. Garbage cans were still left in food areas, shops and medical rooms, and there are still mixed recycling bins in the classrooms.
Once the stations were in place, education started to ensure waste was dropped into the proper bin. Ongoing promotion starts day one, said Janzen, and it never stops.
“It’s a continual promotion and communication for all of us,” said Janzen.
“We have been putting it out to all our building users that it is all our responsibility.”
For custodial staff, Janzen explained initially there was hesitation that the new bins would create more work. However, the workload is around the same because there are no more cans in the classrooms.
“It took a little bit of adjusting, but I would say virtually all of the custodial staff are on board.”
The key to a quick adjustment, according to Janzen, is lots of meetings “to let custodial staff know what the district was doing and exactly how we were doing it.”
Teachers still have the choice to bring in their own garbage cans for the classrooms, but then they are responsible to empty it into the hallway stations. Some teachers did bring in their own cans right after the stations were installed, but Janzen now sees very few extra bins throughout the district.
“I think it was a case of everybody becoming accustomed to the system.”
Janzen has nothing but positive remarks about the students in his district. They have been helpful in educating their peers on how to properly sort waste and the district’s green teams are active advocates for all aspects of sustainability.
The support from the district’s executives was a big advantage, Janzen explained. They were on board for the plan from the beginning, provided funding for the transition and advocating for the change. Janzen guessed the program would have not been as successful if the transition was done in pieces, one waste station at a time.
The district’s diversion rate is now above 70%, but Janzen says that is still not high enough.
“We are, of course, trying desperately to work towards a 100% diversion rate.”
Next steps include improving waste sorting from all building occupants. To reduce cross-contamination, the district set a goal for no more than 5 per cent contamination and their waste haulers will be keeping track.
Promoting proper use of the stations is an ongoing process, but waste management is a team effort. From students to staff, everyone participates.
“The biggest lesson we