Designing Sustainable Consumption and Production Systems in Higher Education

Institutions (HEIs): The Case of Solid Waste Management

Danesto B. Anacio

PhD Candidate, Environmental Science

School of Environmental Science and Management (SESAM)

University of the Philippines Los Banos

Waste Generation in HEIs

• Analogous to the operation of large scale industries, business establishments and health care facilities (Alshuwaikhat and Abubakar, 2008)

• Significant environmental impacts arise from volume and variability of materials required to support university operations

• Universities need to implement sustainable waste management systems

Waste Generation in HEIs: A Review of Global Data• Recyclable wastes

= 45% (2004)

= 53% (2002)

= 70% (2010), Prince George campus

= 65% (2008) Mexicali 1 campus

= 67% (2006)

= 79% (2012)

Waste Generation in HEIs: A Review of Global Data• Biodegradable Wastes

= 26.29% (2012)

University College of Lands

and Architectural Studies

Water Resources Institute

= 71-86% (2002)

= 45.30% (2012)

= 45.83% (2016)

Waste Generation in HEIs: Philippines

Recoverable wastes (recyclables, biodegradables) = ~90% (2012)

Focus on faculty rooms (rooms used primarily by, or occupied by a group of teaching personnel)

PAPERS PLASTICS GLASSES

FOOD

WASTE BIODEGRADABLE TEXTILE

RESIDUAL

WASTES

Total

UB 14% 23% 2% 27% 28% 0% 6% 100%

SLU 12% 14% 2% 17% 45% 0% 10% 100%

UC 46% 14% 1% 7% 20% 1% 11% 100%

Recyclable Item Estimated Factory Price ($/kg)

(except ink cartridges) in increasing order

Glass bottles $0.01 to $0.07

Assorted papers $0.05

Corrugated carton $0.07

Glass cullet $0.12

Tin can $0.12

Old newspaper $0.14

Used white paper $0.21

GI sheet $0.23

Low density polyethylene (LDPE) $0.23

Car battery $0.27

Steel and Iron (ordinary) $0.28 to $0.33

High density polyethylene (HDPE) $0.30

Printer casing plastics $0.30

PET bottles w/ caps and labels $0.35

Polyethylene (PET) bottles w/o caps and labels $0.47

Stainless Steel $1.63

Ink cartridges $2.33 to $7.00 per piece

Copper wire (reddish) $8.14

Copper wire (yellowish-red) $13.04

Copper wire (yellowish in thin strands) $14.35 Note: ($1.00 = P43.00, 2011)

Monetizing recyclable wastes in Philippine HEIs

• $537.66 (monetary equivalent of recoverable wastes per campus in a given school year)• Specifically from faculty rooms only

• 2,374 HEI campuses in the Philippines (CHED, 2014)

• 25.7 personnel per faculty room

• 1.6 kg per day per room

• 75,968 kg/day of solid wastes from Philippine HEI faculty rooms alone

Implementing sustainability through sound SWM systems in HEIs• Various universities already on the right track

• Harvard Sustainability Plan (2014) • Boston University (no date) – Plans for waste management• Princeton University (no date) - Waste reduction efforts• Appalachian State University (2012). “Waste Reduction Strategic Plan: Working

toward a Zero Waste Campus” • Wake Forest University (no date). Waste Reduction and Recycling efforts• Rutgers University (no date). “Green Purchasing”• Arizona State University (no date). “ASU Roadmap to Zero Waste”• Swansea University (2010, 2014). “Swansea Carbon Management Plan 2010-2020”;

Plan on reducing food wastes• Chinese University of Hong Kong (no date). “Sustainability at CUHK: Waste

Reduction”• University of Queensland (2010). “UQ Waste Minimisation Plan”

Creating Sustainable Consumption and Production Patterns in the Campus• Identify waste characteristics according to source, type, quantity, etc.

http://www.omicsonline.org/journal-highlight-images/solid-waste.jpg

http://techalive.mtu.edu/meec/module15/images/trashcompilation.gif

https://www.deanza.edu/mlc/images/mlc-2ndfloorlayout.jpg

Creating Sustainable Consumption and Production Patterns in the Campus• Recognize other institutions for promoting sustainable consumption

and production patterns• The Talloires Declaration

• American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment

• Baltic 21

• International Sustainable Campus Network (ISCN)

• Global Higher Education Sustainability Partnership (GHESP)

• COPERNICUS Alliance (European Network of Higher Education Institutions)

• Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE)

• GUPES

• Government institutions, NGOs, For-Profits

Creating Sustainable Consumption and Production Patterns in the Campus• Recognize stakeholders, participants and elements of the production-

consumption system

Creating Sustainable Consumption and Production Patterns in the Campus• Recognize CULTURE of stakeholders, participants and elements of the

production-consumption system

CULTURE operationally links everything

ValuesAttitudes

Environmental Settings (Culture-Environment Nexus)Beliefs

Worldviews

Creating Sustainable Consumption and Production Patterns in the Campus: ASEAN Case

• (1) ASEAN Political-Security Community Blueprint, (2) the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community Blueprint, (3) the Second IAl Work Plan (2009-2015), and the (4) ASEAN Economic Community Blueprint

• Trans-Pacific Partnership

• Existing recycling companies in ASEAN and ASEAN-bordering nations

• Market for recoverable materials, or serve as partners for recycling initiatives

Ensuring the Sustainability of the University Consumption-Production Loop: Concluding Thoughts

• Action in the age of SDGs• 10-Year Framework of Programs on Sustainable Consumption and Production

(10YFP) • Sustainable management and efficient use of natural resources • Substantially reduce waste generation through prevention, reduction, recycling, and

reuse• Eight other related conditions to fulfil by 2030

• Systems thinking, especially involving children in sustainability practices of the campus (cultural influence within and outside the university, entire educational system)

• Developing partnerships between; manufacturers, governments, and consumers

Metal encasement for collecting recyclable PET and other plastic bottles in De La Salle University

Dasmariñas (Photo courtesy of Ms. Meycel Amarille).

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:

University of the Philippines (UP) System and UP Los Banos (UPLB)

School of Environmental Science and Management (SESAM)

Graduate School, UPLB

Rudi W. Pretorius

Anonymous reviewers of manuscript (source of this presentation)

Walter Leal and Julie Newman for Visa support