Waste Reduction

National Roll-out

While trash is a normal consequence of doing business, it is possible to manage it in an environmentally responsible and affordable manner. Sprint is constantly striving to efficiently and sustainably handle its operational waste to help maintain a healthy planet and a healthy bottom line.

Sprint conducts business in hundreds of locations across the country — retail stores, commercial office buildings, call centers, data centers and network sites (e.g., cell towers, switch sites, etc.). For a subset of these locations, Sprint controls the selection of the waste remover and pays the trash-utility invoice directly. These locations are referred to as being under Sprint's "operational control." Historically, each of these sites contracted with a waste remover on its own.

In late 2010, Sprint signed a national agreement with a leading provider of waste-removal services. That waste hauler now provides services to approximately 230 of Sprint's retail, commercial and network facilities — roughly a third of the sites where Sprint has operational control. Through a combination of preferred national pricing, the "right-sizing" of trash-bin size and optimizing the frequency of pick-up service, Sprint was able generate significant cost savings for the business.

These savings enabled Sprint to achieve a new milestone in its efforts to reduce landfill waste — the first step toward a national roll-out of recycling. Sprint was able to implement recycling services at most of the 230 locations, many of which have the opportunity to recycle for the first time. This conversion was popular with employees, including many who had been requesting recycling services for years. And, even after the expense of rolling out the new recycling services, Sprint still pockets a savings of approximately $158,000 per year, given some fluctuation annually.

In early 2012, Sprint signed a national contract with a second, well-respected supplier of waste-removal services. This move and its cost savings will likely enable Sprint to bring recycling services to hundreds of additional sites. Once fully implemented, along with further consolidation efforts, these two national contracts will cover nearly all locations where Sprint has operational control of its waste stream.

Waste Audits

Sprint has recently rolled out recycling to hundreds of its sites across the country for the first time. As with any new service, there is a need to ensure that Sprint associates understand and are following the new process. Anticipating this, Sprint built an essential element into the national contracts with its two primary waste-removal providers; each vendor will conduct periodic waste audits to evaluate how effectively recycling is being implemented in various Sprint locations.

The first audit was conducted in the spring of 2012. Twelve Sprint sites, including retail, commercial and network locations across the country stretching from Las Vegas to Vienna, Va., were evaluated during one-day visits. Overall, the audits found that Sprint associates are making good progress to incorporate recycling as part of the daily business routine.

There were opportunities for improvement, though. Some locations, for example, need better signage on internal and external waste and recycle bins. Others could do a better job of separating of cardboard for recycling and would benefit from receiving tools to help them break down old boxes (previous studies show that cardboard makes up more than half the waste stream in Sprint retail stores). Analysis of the results will help Sprint improve communication with employees and janitorial staff to further improve recycling behavior.

Another important finding of the waste audit was the near absence of electronic waste (e-waste) in the trash dumpsters at sites that were inspected. In its Electronics Stewardship Policy, Sprint announced the goal to collect 100 percent of the e-waste generated by its facilities annually for reuse and recycling by 2017. Sprint will rely on these waste audits as one tool to help determine its success in managing exit points for e-waste (like keyboards, power cords, computing equipment, routers, etc.) and ensuring that it flows only to third-party certified vendors for reuse and recycling.

Zero Waste

In 2011, Sprint's Real Estate team decided to pursue an innovative approach to waste management by asking a very simple question: "Is it possible to reduce, reuse or recycle 100 percent of our operational waste stream and convert Sprint headquarters campus to a zero-waste environment?"

"Zero waste" means that all operational waste (e.g., cardboard, office paper, aluminum cans, plastic cutlery, etc.) would be collected for recycling, composting or use as an alternative source of fuel. For Sprint, it was adding "waste-to-energy," as a final step in the company's reduce/reuse/ recycle strategy that completed the picture. In early 2011, Sprint contracted with a Systech waste-to-energy facility 25 miles northeast of Sprint's headquarters campus in Overland Park, Kan., to handle the remnants in its operational waste stream. The facility provides power for Lafarge by heating its cement production kiln more cleanly than the coke and coal upon which it has solely relied in the past.

Since the waste-to-energy process requires highly combustible items, Sprint needed to determine if its remaining waste stream was a good fuel source. An initial trial was arranged that included six test shipments. It was found that Sprint's waste contained levels of metals, food and liquids that exceeded tolerance levels required for the processing facility. In response, Sprint has implemented the following solutions to refine its headquarters' waste stream and help achieve its vision for zero waste.

Campus Cafeteria Efforts
The waste-to-energy trial revealed an unexpected opportunity for cleaning the waste stream at Sprint headquarters when it identified how wet the trash could be. Sprint's food-service provider participates in the composting program by collecting coffee grounds and other food waste for pick up. However, an audit found this was being negatively offset by 800-900 pounds of ice from salad bars being tossed in the trash compactor each day.

Thanks to this discovery, ice is now used in limited fashion. This eliminates approximately 450 pounds of ice a day. The vendor now washes any remaining ice down the drains to keep the compactor contents as dry as possible. The result is a cleaner waste stream, water savings and reduced costs.

Break-room Recycle Center
Two other concerns uncovered in the waste-to-energy trial were recyclable metals and compostable materials, both of which had larger-than-expected amounts ending up in the trash. A new recycling-center prototype was installed in an employee break room as a test to improve how employees disposed of waste. They were given clear direction on how to use the compost, recycle and landfill waste bins in the new center. Within two weeks of installing it, employees had diverted so much recyclable and compostable material that the volume of landfill trash collected for waste-to-energy had decreased by 70%.

Based on this success, Sprint is expanding the effort and will roll out similar recycle centers to an entire campus building with a dedicated trash compactor. This will enable Sprint to send landfill waste from at least one location to the Systec waste-to-energy facility by the end of 2012. Sprint will continue to roll out the new recycling centers for the rest of the campus at a financially feasible pace in 2013 and beyond.

Hazardous Waste

In accordance with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations, Sprint meets the requirements as a Conditionally Exempt Small Quantity Generator (CESQG ). To qualify for this rating, businesses must generate 100 kilograms or less per month of hazardous waste, or 1 kilogram or less per month of acutely hazardous waste.

Sprint operations do not generate hazardous waste, and Sprint responsibly disposes of solid wastes per EPA regulations when discovered in facilities (switches and administrative sites). Such materials typically include excess paints, aerosol cans, cleaning supplies, etc., which are left on site by contractor or on-site maintenance operations. Before the materials are classified as a hazardous waste, Sprint evaluates the condition to determine if they are usable product or a solid waste as defined under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). Once determined the material is a solid waste, it is then classified as a hazardous waste if it meets the criteria as defined by the regulations.

Sprint has an agreement with a national emergency-response contractor to respond to spill incidents and non-routine solid-waste disposal services. All Hazardous and Non-Hazardous/Non-RCRA Regulated waste materials are disposed in the United States in accordance with Federal (EPA) and state regulations.

All pertinent Sprint associates have access to Sprint’s Emergency Response procedures with training specifically given to site managers. The Sprint Environmental, Health and Safety (EHS) team works with site personnel to safely manage all hazardous-waste materials.

2011 Performance & Overarching Goal
The hazardous waste (governed under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act and regulated under the Code of Federal Regulations 40 CFR Parts 260-262) disposed by Sprint is primarily paint- related material. Sprint safely and responsibly disposed of 1,390 lbs. (630 kg.) of paint-related hazardous waste and 1 gallon (20 lbs. or 9 kg.) of muriatic acid in 2011, which were discovered at six different Sprint facilities.

Sprint's goal is to dispose of zero hazardous waste. However, the company recognizes this will be a challenge given that most hazardous-waste occurrences are the result of vendor/maintenance personnel leaving inappropriate materials at sites. Sprint’s objective in these instances is to work with the vendor to retrieve the materials they have left behind and ensure they do not repeat this mistake in the future.

Sprint will continue working proactively to prevent these scenarios by honing its vendor policies and communications. Even so, it is likely that the number instances will increase during the next few years. With the implementation of Network Vision, the level of vendor activity at Sprint facilities will be at record levels, increasing the odds of materials being left on site.

Helping Employees

Recycling is on the rise at Sprint. Employees now have more options than ever for recycling materials at work. Sprint also makes it easy and convenient for thousands of employees to recycle household waste in addition to work-related waste. At its headquarters campus in Overland Park, Kan., Sprint offers the following solutions.

Paper Shredding
There's always a lot of talk about "going paperless" — and Sprint customers who receive and pay their invoice electronically are already well on their way there! But in spite of this, most people still generate a paper trail. It includes many documents that are highly sensitive. Tax returns, bank statements and investment information are just a few examples of paper that needs to remain private.

To assist with the secure and environmentally responsible disposal of personal documents, Sprint encourages its campus employees to bring personal documents from home on the last Friday of each month for shredding and recycling service. Trained, licensed personnel assist employees with this free service. The items collected are shred with a giant commercial shredder and recycled.

Glass
In 2009, Kansas City metro-area residents threw away 68,000 metric tons of glass. Without a nearby facility to process used glass, there was almost no local recycling offered. One area business, Boulevard Brewing Company, was tired of being part of the problem with 10 million of their bottles being buried in local landfills each year. With the support of companies like Sprint that agreed to provide local collection points, Boulevard came up with a solution and created the not-for-profit entity Ripple Glass.

Ripple Glass built a state-of-the-art processing plant, placed collection bins throughout the community, and found a local company that agreed to convert the recycled glass into fiberglass insulation. Sprint agreed to host a collection bin at its headquarters campus and encourages employees to bring empty household jars and bottles to work for convenient glass recycling. As of December 2011, the Ripple Glass bin at Sprint has prevented more than 160 metric tons of glass from being buried in local landfills.

Plastics and Aluminum
Recycling has become such a common practice that many people assume that it is available everywhere; but Sprint understands that some local communities are unable to offer residents curbside recycling for a variety of reasons. To assist employees who are faced with this inconvenience, Sprint provides a large, external mixed-recycling bin on the lot of an easily accessible building on campus. Employees may bring most recyclable plastics and aluminum cans from home and deposit them in the container at no cost.

Clothing
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. generates nearly 12 million metric tons of textile waste each year. Much of this waste comes in the form of gently used clothing. In January 2012, Sprint partnered with a local not-for-profit organization to provide collection bins for employees. On their way into work, they can now drop off their gently used clothes and shoes in the bright yellow Planet Aid bins located near other employee recycle containers (glass, plastics and aluminum).

The clothing and shoe items — more than 45,000 metric tons per year collected across the U.S. — are processed by Planet Aid and sold to exporters who provide the items at low cost to people in need all over the world. Sprint's campus averages 130 pounds (59 kilograms) of donated items each week.

By-Product Synergy

The Sprint Foundation, Sprint's philanthropic arm, has provided Bridging the Gap with $35,000 in grants to fund the By-Product Synergy program in 2011 and 2012.

The initiative is based on the old adage that "one man's trash is another man's treasure." Member companies in the Kansas City area meet regularly to discuss what by-products (waste) each generates and how these materials be used as inputs (raw materials) for another company's production and operations. The goal of the program is to help companies significantly reduce the amount of trash they send to landfills by finding other uses for it — just as the area's largest food bank did in 2011 when it acquired 144 cubic feet of thick-walled Styrofoam coolers and gel packs from a local recycling center to repurpose for the collection and distribution of food to local residents in need.

By-Product Synergy makes it easier to create these types of connections. The program offers an online marketplace to help participants to promote their available resources more efficiently. It is free for potential buyers to inquire or bid on any item listed on the marketplace. Procurement officials can find high-quality materials, bid instantly and quickly arrange to take possession, all with no risk.

An analysis by Ohio State University suggests that by achieving a waste-conversion rate of 100,000 tons, the Kansas City BPS network members would save approximately $30 million in total operating costs. It also estimates that the associated lifecycle environmental benefits include avoiding about 2.2 million tons of greenhouse gases and about 100 million gallons of water consumption. These benefits are mainly a result of eliminating the virgin-material purchases that are replaced by by-product synergies.

Click here to view additional program details and read case studies on successful synergies.