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Federal Green Challenge

Waste Case Studies

  • In 2008, the US Postal Service Western Areas conservation efforts saved the region $44 million. These savings were achieved by reusing and redistributing equipment and materials within the postal system, as well as diverting 35,000 tons of waste from the landfill.
  • The Federal Prison Camp (FPC) in Duluth, Minnesota used a three-tier recycling program to increase its recycling rate by 118% in just one year. The three tiers were:
    1. Detailed institution trash recycling,
    2. vermiculture or worm farming, and
    3. food waste composting.

Additional Case Studies

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  • Waste Case Study: New Composting Program Boosts Waste Diversion (PDF)(2 pp, 401 K)
    The U.S. Navy’s Naval Station Great Lakes, near Waukegan, Illinois, increased its amount of materials recycled by an astounding 114 percent by initiating a campaign to add a composting component, reuse construction and demolition debris, and increase the number of collection bins available throughout the installation.
  • Waste Case Study: Waste Diversion through Cold Composting (PDF)(2 pp, 301 K, 02/2014, EPA-905-F-14-003)
    The Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center (Departments of Veterans Affairs and Navy) in North Chicago, Illinois, prevented 320 tons of lawn waste from going into a landfill through “cold composting.”
  • Waste Case Study: Enhanced Recycling Increases Waste Diversion (PDF)(2 pp, 396 K, 02/2014, EPA-905-F-14-001)
    The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Chicago Field Office diverted waste from landfills by revitalizing its recycling program. This work resulted in a recycling rate of 38 percent.