Waste
WSC reduces, reuses, and recycles at the corporate office to minimize our waste footprint.
Reduce
Plastic
In an effort to reduce the use of plastic water bottles at the corporate office, employees are encouraged to use water bottle filling stations, or boxed water for large meetings and events whenever possible. The office has three drinking water fountains equipped with a water bottle filling station that reduced 8,018* plastic bottles in 2022.
In the micro mart, no plastic water bottles are available for purchase due to our company’s commitment. Instead, a Bevi machine was installed in that same area. The machine not only dispenses water but up to four flavored still and sparkling water options. Flavors were voted on by the office and can be switched upon request. Since that installation in June of 2021, 32,681** bottles have been saved.
In total, 29,888 plastic bottles were saved through reusable water bottles and cups at the Bevi machine and bottle filling water stations, an 83.78% increase from the previous year. The number does not include the use of the reverse osmosis water taps.
*Based on 20 fl oz/bottle **Based on a 12 fl oz/bottle
In pursuit of our reduced plastic waste initiatives, the office has reusable silverware, plates and bowls became available in the café and pantries. When possible, during catered meetings and events, compostable cups, plates, and silverware are used.
The office continues to utilize compostable pods contributing to our compost program to reduce plastic waste. Kauai Coffee is our coffee supplier for the pod machines. Kauai Coffee, located in Hawaii, is the U.S.’s largest coffee grower and are dedicated to social and environmental sustainability.
The café area also has a large whole bean grinding coffee machine. WSC selected a local coffee supplier, Blk & Bold, the first Black-owned nationally distributed coffee brand that also achieved B Corp status. BLK & Bold pledge 5% of its profits to initiatives aligned to sustaining youth programming, enhancing workforce development, and eradicating youth homelessness.
Paper
In 2019, the office started to track total paper purchased and where most of the paper was being used in the office for various processes. An increase in paper made with a higher portion of post-consumer recycled content was used.
In 2022, the Accounts Payable Team worked to transition check vendors to Automated Clearing House (ACH) to minimize paper check distribution.
Accounts Payable by the Numbers
386
TOTAL SUCCESSFUL
TRANSITIONS
2,250
TOTAL REQUESTS
37
RETURNED MAIL
OR UNDELIVERABLE
The Marketing and Communications Department outsources high-quality printing projects. The first digital edition of the company’s biannual newsletter, The Wright Perspective, was published in the spring/summer of 2020, decreasing the paper used by 95%, using 221 pounds of paper. This is an estimated reduction of 9.5 tons of CO2e.
A small quantity is still printed and mailed to employees upon request. In 2022, 293 newsletters were printed. The 2022 editions used 181 pounds of paper. This is about an 18.1% decrease in weight from 2021.
In addition, the company continues to utilize Workday with its digital processes. Workday reduces an estimated average of 805 pounds of paper annually which would equate to reducing 2.3 tons of CO2e annually.
Reuse
WSC has provided branded reusable cups and mugs to corporate offices employees over the years to reduce the amount of plastic waste from water bottles or coffee cups. New hires are given a reusable cup on day one as part of the onboarding/orientation initiative.
The IT Department purchases and redeploys electronic devices that are in good working order to reduce the amount of electronic waste we will produce over each device’s lifetime while also savings on device costs. 356 devices were redeployed.
356 Devices Were Redeployed by the IT Department
REDEPLOYMENT BY MODEL TYPE:
- 211 Standard Laptops
- 54 10-key Laptops
- 2 Specialty Laptops
- 78 Tablets
- 11 Toughpad Tablets
DEVICES PURCHASED:
- 75 Tablets
- 173 Laptops
- 185 Garmin InReach GPS Units
At the headquarters, a 3-stream waste collection system is utilized to encourage employees to sort their waste into either landfill, recycle, or compost. These everyday decisions cause employees to think beyond the bin, think of reclaiming value from waste to reduce their individual footprints together with the company, a joint effort for us to be successful in our sustainability goals.
A local Iowa company, GreenRU, repurposes our organic wastes to create nutrient rich soil compost materials and keep a portion of our waste out of the landfill reducing our environmental footprint. Our Training and Development Department created a brief interactive game called Stop. Think. Sort. to optionally play on WSCU after watching an educational workshop led by GreenRU to inform employees about the company and our compost program.
Employee Café Reduced Food Waste from 9% In 2021 to 5% in 2022
Recycle
Through TerraCycle, the recycling efforts at the headquarters accept batteries, small electronics, and office supplies utilizing e-cycle bins with one located in each wing. WSC did not host a clothing drive to recycle branded clothing and instead will host one on a two to three year basis, depending on the need.
TerraCycle Recycling Highlights
31.80
POUNDS OF
OFFICE SUPPLY
32.55
POUNDS OF
BATTERIES
39.05
POUNDS
OF SMALL
ELECTRONICS
We continue to discard of sensitive information with the use of secure shredders located through the office by utilizing with a local secure document recycler, The Shredder. This information is not currently captured into our waste assessment.
In 2022, 182.24* total pounds of e-waste recycled with a local certified recycler, Midwest Electronic Recovery. Since implementing the program, we’ve recycled 6,236.24 pounds of electronic waste.
Midwest Electronic Recovery Recycling
| 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1,384 lbs | 1,209 lbs | 1,981 lbs | 1,480 lbs | 182.24* LBS |
