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Brazil - 2007
Less to Landfill Creates Funds for Community
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More than 170,000 used plastic cups from Alcoa's Primary Growth Products office in São Paulo, Brazil, are no longer destined for the landfill each month under a waste minimization program that not only reduced overall landfill waste by 48% in just two months but also generated revenues for a local organization working with the homeless and unemployed.
Implemented in March 2007, the Conscious Environment Program was created to reduce five metric tons of office waste each month to meet Alcoa's global sustainability goal of a 50% reduction in landfill waste by 2007 and a 100% reduction by 2015. The program emphasizes education and communication to promote changes in the consumption and waste disposal routines of the office's 900 employees.
The first step in the program was the formation of a cross-discipline team to spearhead the effort, which began with an analysis of the office's waste stream. This analysis helped pinpoint where and what kind of waste was being created, as well as the means of its disposal. The major finding was that recyclable material, primarily paper, accounted for 85% of the 4,840 kilograms (10,670 pounds) of waste generated and sent to the landfill monthly.
Changing the office culture surrounding the consumption, disposal, and collection of waste within the offices required extensive education and communication prior to the implementation of new requirements. Lectures on waste minimization and segregation were supported by a communications campaign as well as humorous skits presented by trained actors.
Specific actions implemented at the office included the following:
- Eliminating individual waste baskets;
- Creating centrally located disposal stations to collect and segregate a variety of materials;
- Replacing disposable cups with mugs and squeeze bottles; and
- Using water served in pitchers instead of bottled water during meetings.
As a result of these activities, the amount of recyclable waste collected each month jumped from 660 kilograms (1,455 pounds) to 2,340 kilograms (5,159 pounds)—an almost four-fold increase. Conversely, the monthly waste to landfill declined to 2,500 kilograms (5,511 pounds).
Most recyclable waste is donated to the Cooperative of Production, Collection, Screen, and Processing of Recyclable Materials, a non-governmental organization that provides jobs to the homeless and unemployed. The US$670 in monthly revenues from the Alcoa waste material covers the monthly income of two cooperative members.
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