P2 Success Story: Whitman Air Force Base Recycling Program

At A Glance

"An aggressive and well-supported base recycling program is at the heart of Whiteman's outstanding waste reduction efforts."

Scott Ammon,
RRRP Program Manager

Introduction

Whiteman Air Force Base (AFB) has set the standard for Air Force recycling programs. In the past 3 years, the Base, through its resource recovery and recycling programs (RRRP), has reduced its solid waste by 55 percent, earned over $150,000, and recycled 4,610,880 pounds of material. As a result, Whiteman AFB earned an Honorable Mention for the 1992 Thomas D. White Environmental Pollution Prevention Team Award. The AFB's RRRP became official on October 1, 1990, when it transferred responsibility for a recycling program from Morale, Welfare and Recreation to Civil Engineering. This recognition proved that for an integral part of the nation's strategic deterrent force, peace-keeping and environmental awareness are not mutually exclusive goals.

At the time of the transfer, Whiteman AFB used the county landfill for the disposal of the majority of its solid waste; however, the county landfill was nearing closure. As one of the landfill's largest users, Whiteman AFB, through its RRRP, implemented a basewide policy to substantially reduce the amount of solid waste delivered to the landfill. In addition, the 30 November 1992, Air Force Policy Directive (AFPD) 19-4 to reduce municipal solid waste through reduction and recycling served as an added incentive to Whiteman AFB's already successful RRRP. (AFPD 19-4 has been replaced by AFPD 32-70, 30 November 1993, Environmental Quality.) Today, Whiteman AFB has one of the premier RRRPs in the Air Force.

Unique Marketing Challenges

Whiteman AFB is located in a primarily agricultural area in Johnson County, Missouri. Markets for recycled materials in this area are depressed in comparison to large metropolitan areas, calling for unique marketing techniques to sell waste commodities.

Scott Ammon, RRRP Program Manager, finds it extremely satisfying to research methods of marketing for particular materials. For example, Ammon says he uses the "economy of scales" approach with most of the collected material. Recyclable material is stockpiled in base warehouses until there is a tractor trailer load (40,000 pounds). According to Ammon, large quantities of sorted and decontaminated material are much more marketable and subsequently profitable than small, piecemeal loads.

Regarding transportation and equipment problems, Ammon, a 1992 Thomas D. White Award winner for individual excellence in pollution prevention, says there is always a solution, though some solutions are not as obvious as others. For example, Ammon said it was relatively easy to acquire through DRMO the forklift the RRRP needed (according to Ammon, 2 hours of paperwork = one free forklift); however, the solution he recently devised for the sale of 1,000 used pallets took a little more ingenuity.

Ammon explained, "We had a buyer in Kansas City which is 60 miles from Whiteman AFB, but we couldn't justify the transport on just the sale itself. We worked with a White AFB airman who required on-the-job training (OJT) in heavy truck hauling and his training officer to solve the driver problem."

To complete the plan, Ammon determined a need for a tractor trailer truck at Richards-Gebaur ARS near Kansas City. In one trip, RRRP sold its 1,000 pallets, the airman acquired road time toward his OJT and Richards-Gebaur ARS received its much needed tractor trailer truck.

Also challenging Whiteman AFB is the State of Missouri's comprehensive recycling law. This law mandates that by 1998, solid waste sent to landfills must be reduced by 40 percent from a 1990 baseline. The law also places restrictions on types of waste which can be disposed in landfills, requiring extensive education of the Whiteman AFB populace to ensure compliance with Missouri's laws.

Through dedicated and enthusiastic effort, Whiteman AFB beat the State-imposed waste reduction goal in the first 2 years of its RRRP! Between 1990 and 1992, Whiteman AFB reduced the amount of solid waste disposal in Johnson County Landfill from 7,500 tons per year to 3,400 tons per year. Although it is difficult to continue the dramatic waste reduction percentages achieved by Whiteman AFB during the first 2 years of its RRRP, the base has found additional ways to prevent and recycle waste: reducing its contribution to the Johnson County Landfill by an additional 50 tons in 1993.

Whiteman AFB Recycling Programs

A driving force behind solid waste reduction at Whiteman AFB is the office and computer paper recycling program. White AFB's office paper recycling program utilizes the source segregation concept, providing each individual the opportunity to recycle by placing I'm A Recycler boxes at each worker's desk. When the box is full, individual employees empty the boxes into 32-gallon collection cans strategically located throughout Whiteman AFB offices. Once a week, the paper from these cans is delivered to the warehouse by building custodians, RRP representatives or volunteers. The paper is inspected for contaminants and placed in gaylord boxes for marketing. This initiative alone enabled Whiteman AFB to recycle over 210 tons of computer and office paper in fiscal years 1991 through 1993.

In addition to the office and computer recycling initiative, Whiteman AFB has initiated basewide recycling centers for collection of a variety of recyclable wastes, including:

During the same 3-year period, Whiteman AFB has successfully recovered over 430 tons of recyclable materials through this initiative.

White AFB also instituted an industrial waste recycling program for reclaiming scrap from base industrial operations. Materials collected through this program include:

Over the 3-year period, Whiteman AFB has saved over 1,400 tons of industrial waste from disposal and generated additional revenue from recycling these materials.

White AFB continues to improve and expand its RRRP recycling efforts and has recently experienced significant improvement in its collection and recycling of industrial cardboard. Industrial cardboard recycling at Whiteman AFB has steadily increased from 35 tons in 1991 to over 110 tons in 1993. Scott Ammon credits the jump to increased participation and teamwork between the Program staff and base operations. RRRP staff members work with base operation centers to identify potential cardboard components of the waste stream. Recycling opportunities exist basewide as cardboard packaging materials are associated with almost all base operations. The RRRP makes it convenient to recycle discarded cardboard by placing industrial cardboard recycling bins adjacent to the normal waste dumpsters. The convenience of recycling at Whiteman AFB, coupled with the RRP's aggressive teamwork approach and strong support from base command, have played major roles in the success of the base recycling programs.

Above and Beyond

White AFB has gone beyond typical recycling measures by continuing to explore and promote new opportunities for recycling and environmental awareness. The Whiteman AFB RRRP developed, planned and executed a Christmas tree reuse program that utilizes the trees for wildlife habitat. The trees are collected on base and delivered to several state parks. The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) uses the trees at Knob Noster State Park and Montrose Wildlife Area for fish and wildlife habitats. Over the past 3 years, the base delivered over 600 trees to MDC. Not only does this project eliminate a waste stream, it also enhances wildlife habitat and helps to provide better recreational facilities for Whiteman AFB personnel.

Whiteman AFB has also developed an extremely popular annual Earth Day Celebration. Over the past 2 years, 3,500 children from over 450 local schools, have attended the Earth Day Celebration hosted by Whiteman AFB. The celebration includes openhouse activities, including displays discussing aircraft and the Air Force mission. Games and crafts are designed for different age groups, ranging from elementary to high school-age children. Activities include a demonstration of water pollution concepts using soap and water, a 40-foot sculpture (made by the school children) using recycled materials and an environmental awareness poster competition. Environmentally conscientious prizes including Air Combat Command Bird Feeders, pencils made of recycled wood and recycling awareness posters provided by EPA are distributed. A high point of the Earth Day Celebration includes distribution of over 1,000 seedlings donated by the Missouri Forest Service.

For More Information

To help other bases with their recycling programs, Whiteman AFB developed a How to Recycle video, which has been distributed to HQ USAF and ACC bases. For more information about this video and the recycling programs at Whiteman AFB, contact Scott Ammon at (816) 687-7777 or DSN 975-7777 or Tim Blevins/HQ ACC at (804) 764-2876 or DSN 574-2876/3250.

Need more information?

Call PRO-ACT
DSN 240-4214 (800) 233-4356


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Last Updated: February 9, 1996