​                                                                                                       SUBSCRIBE                   PREVIOUS ISSUES​

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​​Recycling & Waste Diversion Goals​

As we enter November, you may be reminded of turkey, pumpkins and cooler weather. But when it comes to sustainability, November means America Recycles Day! In recognition of this holiday, let’s take a little time to think about recycling. Fortunately, recycling is one of the most understood and widely adopted sustainability practices, with significant benefits for our waste management. If you want to get into the details of recycling and how it works, please read this article from last November​. The NIH is fortunate to have many programs for recycling that provide extensive options for diverting waste from landfills across all NIH campuses. These programs are also constantly expanding to include more types of recyclables. The NIH typically achieves a high level of recycling, but it is good practice to periodically familiarize ourselves with the NIH recycling programs and our waste diversion performance from time-to-time.

Recycling is the primary way of diverting waste from landfills at the NIH. Executive Order 14057 set the requirement for the NIH to divert from landfills at least 50% of non-hazardous solid waste (including construction and demolition waste) by FY2025 and to divert 75% of such waste by FY2030.¹ The NIH has exceeded the 50% diversion target for many years and we are well-positioned to exceed the target for FY2025. Our most recent data is from CY2023, when the NIH diversion rate was roughly 65%. We only have partial data for CY2024, but so far, our diversion rate this year is roughly 64%. More details on waste diversion are shown in the figure below.

As shown in the figure, the NIH offers recycling programs for commingled items (plastic, metal, glass, etc.), cardboard, mixed paper, pipette tip racks, toner cartridges, Styrofoam, wood pallets and more. We also continue to expand the recycling programs to include new types of items, like soft plastics. Take a look at the NEMS recycling page to learn more about proper recycling practices, programs and events.

Please consider taking part in the 2024 NIH America Recycles Day activities, which are described in this article​. There are activities and expanded recycling opportunities across quite a few NIH campuses, making this a great chance to increase your recycling!

If you want to evaluate how well your lab is doing with recycling and other sustainability practices, then please consider taking the 2024 NIH Green Labs Program Assessment, described in this month's Take Action article​. The self-assessment is quick and can earn your lab recognition as a certified NIH Green Lab.

​We are well on our way towards exceeding our diversion rate requirement for FY2025, but there is still work to be done to reach the 75% requirement for FY2030. Let's continue to increase our recycling efforts and stay at the forefront of waste diversion!

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​​Make An Impact on America Recycles Day!​ ​ ​America Recycles Day (ARD) is a nationally recognized day for promoting and celebrating recycling in the United States. This day usually occurs on November 15, but it is often expanded to last an entire week or longer. See what is happening at the NIH this year for ARD! LEA​RN MORE​​​​

​​Take Action                                                                                                                                                                              ​                                                                                                

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​The 2024 NIH Green Labs Program Is Now Live!​ ​ ​All NIH staff are encouraged to complete the 2024 NIH Green Labs Program (GLP) self-assessment for their lab! Completing the assessment will provide information on sustainability programs at the NIH, encourage staff to adopt sustainability practices, and earn your lab certification.​ ​​LEARN MORE​​​​​

NEMS Training                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         
Did you know? ​​Waste diversion can be achieved in many different ways, like recycling the item, returning it to a manufacturer to be reused, converting it into a new product, or even incinerating it and utilized the released heat. To learn more about waste disposal at the NIH​​​​​​​​​​, please visit the NEMS T​raining webpage to view a short (20 minute) NIH environmental awareness training video.

​If you found this article useful, please let us know! We also appreciate hearing how we might improve our future articles, including topics you would like to read about.