| Overall Rating | Gold |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 68.02 |
| Liaison | Maxine Dandois-Fafard |
| Submission Date | Nov. 10, 2023 |
Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique (INRS)
EN-5: Outreach Campaign
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
4.00 / 4.00 |
Maxine
Dandois-Fafard Sustainable Development Officer Scientific Direction |
Has the institution held a sustainability-related outreach campaign during the previous three years that was directed at students and yielded measurable, positive results in advancing sustainability?:
Has the institution held a sustainability-related outreach campaign during the previous three years that was directed at employees and yielded measurable, positive results in advancing sustainability?:
Name of the campaign:
A brief description of the campaign:
The pilot project was conducted in the main Quebec City building in 2022 for students and employees. The Green Committee implemented various measures to improve waste management. Three waste characterization audits were conducted, with volunteers from the INRS community, to identify areas for improvement. Subsequently, several waste collection streams were added, including organic waste, used pens, and small electronics, and some waste management practises were modified. A "green squad" was established to assist in raising awareness among users (two students received scholarships in exchange for their participation). Two three-way sorting stations were added within the building. The results of the waste characterisation audit were communicated to the community in a webinar session.
In collaboration with the building administration, all offices with more than one desk were visited to centralize waste collection at the office entrance with a single trash can for waste and a single bin for recycling, and the excess trash cans were removed. Additionally, all areas with orphaned trash cans (without recycling bins nearby) were corrected to reduce mixing of materials. Various awareness-raising methods were employed to encourage users to improve their waste sorting, including emails, kiosks at the building entrance, and playful posters.
During the Quebec Waste Reduction Week (October 2022), conferences and a quiz-related competition on waste management were organized. (http://babillard.ete.inrs.ca/nouvelle.php?id=5202). A science communication article was also published in the student newspaper in 2023. (https://www.lasyntheseinrs.com/post/hors-s%C3%A9rie-qu-est-ce-qui-se-cache-dans-les-poubelles-de-l-inrs). The project was also covered by the media. (https://monsaintroch.com/2022/comite-vert-490-attaque-matieres-residuelles/).
Additionnally, a collection process was put in place in Octobre 2022 to start collecting plastic waste from laboratory. Pipette tips and other small pieces of plastic used in the laboratory are too small to be put in the municipal collection stream. An agreement was therefore reached with the Quebec City sorting center, and we now collect laboratory plastics separately and bring them directly to the sorting plant for proper recycling.
A brief description of the measured positive impact(s) of the campaign:
We have reduced the number of "orphan bins" (waste sorting areas with only a trash can or only a recycling bin) from 104 to less than 5.
The waste audits conducted in the summer of 2022 demonstrated that we have been able to reduce the proportion of organic materials in all waste sent to the incinerator in the building from 7% to 4% since the implementation of composting in May 2022 and its promotion.
Since the introduction of organic waste recovery, which has been in place for a year, approximately 150 kg of organic materials have been sent to community composting and diverted from incineration through the efforts of the Green Committee. Furthermore, about 135 kg of small electronics have been collected over the past year through the Electrobac placed in the building's vestibule (open to the public).
The laboratory plastic pilot project allowed us to divert about 1.6 tonnes of plastic from incineration in one year.
Name of the campaign (2nd campaign):
A brief description of the campaign (2nd campaign):
A brief description of the measured positive impact(s) of the campaign (2nd campaign):
A brief description of other sustainability-related outreach campaigns:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.