A Model Business Recycling Program
Fairfax County, Virginia recognizes Booz Allen for the second consecutive year with its Business Recycling Award—and asks the firm to mentor other companies.
More than 2 million pounds of materials were recycled at two Booz Allen Hamilton office locations in 2008—42,000 pounds more than the previous year—earning the firm’s McLean headquarters a second Business Recycling Award from Fairfax County, Virginia.
In addition, Booz Allen’s One Dulles office in Herndon, Virginia won its first Fairfax County recycling award in 2009.
Booz Allen's Gary Lance accepts 2009 recycling award from Fairfax County's Ben Boxer
“Leadership can always ‘mandate’ initiatives, but it takes staff commitment to maintain such an impressive effort, to say nothing of improving it each year,” says senior director Gary Lance, who accepted the awards—made of recycled glass—at an event on July 2, 2009. “The fact that our staff are recycling to the extent that they are, and are as passionate about recycling as they are, spurs us on to achieve more.”
Since Booz Allen started recycling in 2004, it has expanded its program from solid waste, bottles, cans, cardboard, and mixed and proprietary paper to include printer cartridges, fluorescent lamps, ballast, and rechargeable batteries.
“Many of our staff are not aware of how well we’re doing,” says senior associate Velma Booth. “For example, employees may be discouraged if they see the office cleaning staff co-mingling the recyclables, but much of the actual sorting process takes place behind the scenes, at the loading docks. In fact, our recycling programs have been so successful, county representatives have asked us to mentor other companies.”
Ben Boxer, communications and outreach manager for the Fairfax County Solid Waste Management Program, says that the county wants Booz Allen to participate in a network of mentors: “Businesses without recycling programs don’t know where to start. We’d like the companies that have won our recycling award to share their firsthand knowledge as well as the struggles they’ve experienced with their programs. This practical experience can help businesses of all sizes plan for and overcome common challenges while they implement a successful recycling system.”
In 2008, almost 1,673 tons of material were recycled at the McLean campus, and its proprietary destruction increased from 208 tons to 867. In 2007, the firm did not recycle fluorescent bulbs; in 2008, bulbs recycled from McLean’s five buildings included:
- 3,574 fluorescent bulbs
- 258 incandescent lamps
- 50 non-PCB lamp ballast
Four McLean buildings are managed by one property management company; the fifth building is managed by a different company that uses a machine to crush the bulbs before they’re shipped, which produced 541 pounds of crushed fluorescent lamps in 2008.
At One Dulles—a single 410,000-square-foot structure—almost 26 tons of mixed materials were recycled in 2008, and proprietary destruction exceeded 144 tons. Light bulbs and ballasts were also recycled at One Dulles in 2008, but data on the amounts was not recorded that year.
Both locations also recycle toner cartridges; provide 30% recycled content paper in copy rooms and print shops; and use 80% recycled content and 20% Forest Stewardship Council-certified letterhead and business cards.
“Booz Allen’s recycling initiatives and frequent communications are some of the best in Fairfax County,” Boxer says. “In this region, 50% of what businesses throw away is recyclable paper and cardboard, and residents are noticing positive changes in their communities, especially with improved recycling in Tysons Corner. And the benefits are widespread; people who work in Fairfax County reinforce their recycling habits in their homes throughout the Washington metro area.”
Principal Rick Kinne is most proud of the commitment of the Booz Allen staff to recycling. “It’s great to be recognized with the awards, but we’re even happier with the continued growth in the tonnage we recycle and the reduction in the waste going to landfills,” he says.
Careful Planning Yields Significant Results
Booz Allen’s recycling efforts started with white paper in the 1990s. In 2004, Kinne expanded the program to include mixed stream paper, plastic, cans, and bottles, and purchased receptacles for recyclables that were placed in all McLean buildings and in the One Dulles building when it opened in 2005.
Two recycling receptacles to collect plastic, aluminum, and glass containers and proprietary materials for shredding are placed at each employee’s desk, as well as a wastebasket for other trash. Larger receptacles in kitchens, conference centers, and copy rooms collect paper and beverage containers.
Blue bins are used for recycling glass, aluminum, and plastic. Bin contents are put into larger recycling bins, then separated into color-coded bags, taken to the loading dock, and put into appropriate dumpsters. A disposal service picks up the dumpsters and takes their contents to another company for further separating and processing. After processing, materials are sold to local companies for recycling and repurposing.
Non-proprietary paper and cardboard, including white paper, newspapers, and colored paper, is put into recycling containers or proprietary bins, separated into color-coded bags, and put into a compactor at the loading dock. After the compactor is full, it is taken to a company called Capitol Fiber, where the material is further separated, baled, and sold. Capitol Fiber is owned by the Washington Post, says Booth, “so the newspaper our employees read may be comprised of something they threw away a few weeks ago.”
Fluorescent light bulbs and batteries from the firm’s McLean buildings are shipped to a company that removes hazardous material and repurposes glass and phosphorescent material for use in building supplies and battery components in new batteries. Booz Allen also has a firm-wide recycling program for firm-owned computers.
Booz Allen's Recycling Initiatives Beyond Fairfax County
Lance says the next step is to keep building on the current momentum in the Virginia offices and improve efforts in the regional offices. “Communication is a major short-term goal,” he says. “We’re establishing a robust communication strategy around our entire greening initiative, and recycling is certainly a component of that. The more we educate staff about the importance of recycling, the better off we all will be.” The firm promotes its program with e-mail bulletins, posted flyers, hello.bah.com, and its intranet site.
Recycling efforts at Booz Allen offices nationwide are under way, but are largely dependent upon what property management companies mandate. “Our biggest challenge will be implementing programs in our smaller offices, and where we don’t necessarily have the vendor support we have in the Washington area,” says Kinne.
Lance agrees. “In many instances, our local Booz Allen staff has established volunteer programs for recycling at their facilities. We’ve reached out to all our property management companies across the U.S. to ask them about their current efforts and their future plans for recycling at their facilities. Holding them accountable is part of what we do.”
Boxer says recycling methods are easier to implement than the behavior change, especially in older individuals to whom recycling is a relatively new concept. “We’ve seen significant positive changes since 2007, especially in recycling paper, but we have a long way to go. Behavioral change is an ongoing process.”
Still, signs of increased commitment to environmental stewardship persist. When the economy falters, the amount of trash collected and recycling rates go down as well. But in 2008, Fairfax County’s recycling rates increased by 40%, despite the reduced trash volume.
All businesses in Fairfax County, Virginia are required to recycle a minimum amount of mixed paper and cardboard. Since 2001, the Fairfax County Business Recycling Awards have honored businesses and nonprofits that exceed the minimum and/or demonstrated creative collection methods. Applicants are judged by the staff of the Fairfax County division of Solid Waste Collection and Recycling, based on criteria that include total amount of trash diverted from the waste stream through recycling, waste reduction, and/or reuse efforts; positive impact on Fairfax County’s environment; employee participation; and innovation of the program.
story posted July 30, 2009
