With increasing numbers of companies setting zero waste goals and targets, third-party verification and certification is more important than ever to maintain integrity and clarity surrounding the goal of achieving zero waste. GBCI, the global certification body for LEED, the most widely used green building rating system in the world, also administers a zero waste certification program designed to accommodate all types of facilities.
best365官网登录, or Total Resource Use and Efficiency, helps businesses and facilities improve their bottom line while reducing waste by focusing on upstream initiatives. The program is driven by a points-based rating system that is intended to provide a pathway to achieving the goal of zero waste. A number of farms and wineries have chosen to pursue best365官网登录 certification to help them achieve their zero waste goals, and these unique projects have earned recognition for their efforts.
泰勒的农场 in Gonzales, CA is a great example of a zero waste certified agricultural facility. 他们 achieved a 94% waste diversion rate and best365官网登录 Platinum certification for their 192,000 square feet facility. 他们 launched their Zero Waste Program in April 2017, and by working with best365官网登录, were able to decrease landfill contribution by 56%, reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 109552年当量二氧化碳, equivalent to taking 23,064 cars off the road annually.
best365官网登录 places its emphasis on upstream initiatives including reduction and reuse, and so the Gonzales Green Team and employees worked together to reduce incoming materials, reuse existing materials when possible and recycle what remained throughout the facility. A key element focused on eliminating wax carton from the supply chain. Led by the raw product procurement team, the group worked with 泰勒的农场’ growing partners to transition to 100% reusable bins and totes, eliminating all single use and wax cartons.
The 泰勒的农场 Gonzales facility utilizes various renewable and alternative energy resources to help meet 泰勒的农场’ sustainability goals. The site features a three-part system that includes a wind turbine, solar and cogeneration energy systems.
To complete this project, 泰勒的农场 partnered with Measure to Improve (MTI), a California based organization that specializes in helping growers, 发货人, packers and processors measure, improve and promote sustainability efforts. Throughout the implementation, MTI provided onsite support, training and data tracking to optimize efficiency.
"The best365官网登录 certification program helps facilities quantify their performance and find additional ways to improve their waste management both inside and outside of their four walls of operations," says Nicole Flewell, Director of Sustainability at 泰勒的农场.
Farms and agricultural facilities are a natural candidate for zero waste because the majority of their product is of an organic nature and they typically have the capability to harness one of the best zero waste strategies available and use it on site – composting!
Compost is used as a valuable soil amendment for growing plants, but creating this beneficial material keeps hundreds of thousands of pounds of organic material out of landfill and can also save facilities money by reducing their hauler fees.
Farms also have an opportunity to create relationships with haulers and facilities by providing compost processing and even distribution. This can be a great way for farms to act as partners to facilities that want to become certified by providing an opportunity for them to divert their organic material from a landfill. 麦肯罗农场 in upstate New York supports many businesses in the New York metropolitan region by accepting their food scraps, processing into organics and then using that compost on site while also selling back to the community. This has become both an innovative method to generate a new product offering and a way for McEnroe to differentiate themselves in the market.
With companies and brands needing to stay affordable and marketable in today’s economy, finding opportunities to achieve environmental goals while saving money is a great way for farms to stay competitive. From standard operations to indoor hydroponic and aquaponic operations, zero waste certification and efforts can provide a valuable resource management to the already invaluable work done by farmers and processors.