Waste and Recycling
Cascadia led a team to help the Washington State Department of Ecology update their solid and hazardous waste management plans and conducted research to help Ecology achieve their Beyond Waste vision. Work included documenting how materials (including hazardous and toxic materials) move through Washington’s economy, designing better ways to track waste generation and disposal trends, evaluating strategies to reduce or eliminate wastes, and developing action plans that Ecology and its partners could pursue to achieve the Beyond Waste vision.
Tasks included data analysis, gap analysis, research into innovative approaches, scenarios planning, conducting interviews with Ecology staff and experts around the country, and report writing. Work products included seven issue papers with recommended actions on several topics, including industrial waste and toxics, pollution prevention, organic wastes, green building, and waste tracking. Cascadia’s bedrock work for the Department of Ecology ultimately led to the development of the Beyond Waste Plan, which is currently being implemented throughout the State of
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Cascadia began to immediately overhaul the way Resource Venture services were marketed, delivered, and tracked; ultimately resulting in superior outcomes. Among the dramatic changes we noted were (1) an increased level of accountability; (2) a more strategic focus; and (3) service documentation that demonstrated a more effective and efficient program. In particular, Cascadia’s “targeting and tracking” database made it possible to focus on the biggest commercial resources users with the greatest potential for conservation, and then measure their progress over time. The program’s unique targeted approach is extremely cost-effective; Cascadia has helped reduce the City’s program costs from about $100/ton diverted in 2006 to about $45/ton in 2008.
- Phil Paschke, Seattle Public Utilities