United States
                  Environmental Protection
                  Agency
National Risk Management
Research Laboratory
Cincinnati, OH 45268
                  Research and Development
EPA/600/SR-96/115  September 1996
&EPA      Project Summary

                  Pollution  Prevention Assessment
                  U.S.  Postal  Service  Materials
                  Distribution  Center Topeka,  KS

                  Carole O. Bell, Mary Hoel, Henry Huppert, and Steven Rolander
                   As part of its Waste Reduction Evalu-
                  ation at Federal Sites (WREAFS) Pro-
                  gram, the U.S.  Environmental Protec-
                  tion Agency (USEPA) National Risk
                  Management Research Laboratory
                  (NRMRL) worked cooperatively with the
                  U.S. Postal Service (USPS) to integrate
                  waste prevention and recycling activi-
                  ties into the waste management pro-
                  grams  at various  postal facilities
                  through conduct of pollution preven-
                  tion opportunity assessments (PPOA).
                  The PPOA summarized here was con-
                  ducted at a  USPS facility in Topeka,
                  KS.
                   The PPOA documented and quanti-
                  fied waste generation at the USPS Ser-
                  vice Materials Distribution Center,
                  which consists  of the Materials Distri-
                  bution  Center, Central  Repair Facility,
                  and Label Printing Center located in
                  Topeka, KS. The report makes recom-
                  mendations concerning the  procure-
                  ment of office  supplies, maintenance
                  supplies and hazardous materials; man-
                  agement of hazardous materials and
                  wastes;  purchase of chemicals on
                  USEPA's 33/50 list; improvement of
                  source separation and recycling of pa-
                  per and  paper  products, metals and
                  plastics; management of unwanted
                  equipment; and other  options for re-
                  ducing or eliminating pollution.
                   This Project Summary was developed
                  by  USEPA's National Risk Management
                  Research Laboratory (NRMRL), Cincin-
                  nati, OH, to announce  key findings of
                  the research project that is fully docu-
                  mented in a separate report of the same
                  title (see Project Report ordering infor-
                  mation at back).
 Introduction
  Since 1988, EPA's National Risk Man-
 agement Research Laboratory (NRMRL)
 has managed a technical support effort
 known as the Waste Reduction  Evalua-
 tions at Federal Sites (WREAFS) Program.
 WREAFS was established to provide pol-
 lution prevention solutions to environmen-
 tal issues through research, development
 and demonstration of pollution prevention
 techniques and technologies, and trans-
 ferring lessons learned within the federal
 community and related private sector in-
 dustries.
   The United  States  Postal  Service
 (USPS),  in cooperation  with NRMRL's
 WREAFS Program is engaged in  an effort
 to integrate pollution prevention and recy-
 cling activities into the waste management
 programs at postal facilities. The  purpose
 of this project was to perform  pollution
 prevention opportunity assessments
 (PPOAs) at Postal Service facilities, rec-
 ommend implementation strategies, and
 develop facility guidance that can be in-
 corporated into a revision of the USPS
 Waste Reduction Guide.  The project was
 funded by the U.S. Postal Service through
 an  interagency agreement with EPA
 NRMRL.
  In this report, the findings of the PPOA
 conducted for the  United States Postal
 Service at the facilities  associated with
 the  Materials  Distribution Center in To-
 peka, KS are described.  The PPOA was
 conducted during the week of March 6,
 1995.

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Facility Description
  The Materials Distribution Center (MDC)
is located  in Topeka, KS. The USPS op-
erations occupy eight buildings on the site.
Four buildings are owned by the USPS
and four are leased.
  The mission of the MDC is the specifi-
cation, acquisition, storage, distribution and
maintenance  of more than 16,000  parts,
supplies, and pieces of equipment for the
USPS automation and computer systems,
nationwide. The MDC encompasses five
distinct  operations: Materials Distribution
Center,  Inventory Control,  Inventory Sup-
port, Systems Integration, and the Topeka
Purchasing Center.
  The  Label  Printing  Center (LPC) pro-
duces variable  data bag and tray labels
for 40,000 customers, including USPS na-
tionwide and a  variety  of bulk  mailers.
The mission of the Central Repair Facility
(CRF)  is to repair electronic equipment,
including circuit boards, monitors, printers
and  motors from USPS facilities nation-
wide.

Waste Management
  Facility-wide,  monthly  solid waste man-
agement fees are estimated  at $5,034 for
an annual  expense in  excess of $60,000.
These  charges  are  divided   among  the
three organizational groups:  the  Material
Distribution Center which pays three-fifths
of the total, the Label Printing Center one-
fifth, and the Central Repair Facility one-
fifth.
  The MDC  generates limited quantities
of hazardous waste.  In the  past year two
drums of waste  paint were inadvertently
shipped to  the MDC and disposed of as
hazardous waste.
  The LPC generates several  hazardous
wastes. These include  gear oil, hydraulic
oil,  and cleaners, degreasers, and chemi-
cals associated with  the operation  of the
offset lithography presses.
  The offset presses generate three waste
streams which are hazardous when  spent.
These include: Blanket wash (Blankrola)
which  contains tetrachloroethylene  (F002
when  spent); Electrostatic  solution con-
taining potassium  hexacyanoferrate (po-
tentially D003); and liquid developer con-
taining isoparaffinic hydrocarbons  (D001
if spent).  The  LPC  generates  approxi-
mately one gallon of each per week.

Facility-Wide
Recommendations
  Pollution prevention  recommendations
applicable to the entire facility include op-
tions  in several categories  as discussed
below.
General Rnvironmental
Management
  •  Appoint environmental coordinators to
    monitor the  environmental issues at
    the facilities and identify opportunities
    to either reduce or recycle the wastes
    generated at the facility.
  •  Reallocate waste disposal costs based
    on waste volume to provide incen-
    tives to reduce waste.
  •  Determine the cost/benefit of replac-
    ing single-use corrugated boxes and
    jiffy bags in  certain  USPS shipping
    operations with distribution  packag-
    ing that can  be reused hundreds of
    times.
  •  Use software to store information on
    all items purchased in  a database
    that includes fields for tracking monthly
    use, quantity on-hand, price, vendor,
    and storage  location.
  •  Establish preference programs and
    adopt specifications for the purchase
    of products  made  with the percent-
    ages of recovered materials specified
    in EPA Guidelines.

Cardboard
  For the cardboard that cannot be re-
duced at the  source, recycling is recom-
mended as  discussed  below. Exhibit  1
presents a summary of facility-wide corru-
gated cardboard  recycling options.
 Exhibit 1. Corrugated Cardboard Recycling

 Maximize corrugated
 cardboard recycling
                Option 1:
      Continue current arrangement with
      Topeka Waste and Republic Paper
           Option 2:
    Negotiate a contract with
     another paper recycler
 Total additional pulls of
 dedicated 40 cu yds
 compacted corrugated per year

 Annual weight of corrugated

 Annual collection costs

 Annual avoided disposal

 Revenues from sale of corrugated
                   50



                300 tons

            $15,250 ($305/pull)

                $15,650

            $6,250 ($125/pull)
              50



           300 tons

              0

           $30,900

       $22,500 - $30,000
         ($75-100/ton)
 Total Savings
                $21,900
      $53,400 - 60,900

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   Establish  a corrugated cardboard
   source  separation  policy, designate
   containers for cardboard only and train
   all employees to maintain separation
   of OCC for  recycling. Continue cur-
   rent collection  arrangement with To-
   peka Waste  and Republic Paper.
   Establish  a corrugated cardboard
   source  separation  policy, designate
   containers for cardboard only and train
   all employees to maintain separation
   of OCC for recycling. Establish a mar-
   ket with a local  recycler willing to en-
   ter into a contract  based on  a fixed
   price plus a  fixed percentage of cur-
   rent market price.
 Exhibit 2. Office Paper Recycling

Commodity/Price
     Mixed Office Paper
       •  Reduce computer paper usage by es-
         tablishing duplex-printing  policy, us-
         ing electronic mail, and limiting distri-
         bution lists.
       •  Establish a  paper recycling program
         and enter into a long-term paper re-
         cycling contract indexed to the  paper
         market.  If the office paper is recycled
         as mixed paper,  recyclers generally
         pay between $50 and $150 per ton.
         However, if the  computer  paper  is
         separated from the mixed paper, the
         computer paper may  receive  up to
         $200 per ton. Mixed-paper  recycling
         can often maximize  the  amount of
         paper recycled, but  it can lower the
               Option 1:
         Mixed Paper Recycling
    revenues derived. Exhibit 2 pre-
    sents  a  summary  of  different
    mixed-paper recycling  options
    available to the facility.
  • Train employees on the kinds of
    paper that should be recycled.

Materials Distribution Center
  The  MDC   pays  approximately
$36,000 in annual waste  disposal
costs.  Exhibit 3 presents  a summary
of the MDC's wastes, the current man-
agement practices for each, and rec-
ommended  pollution prevention  op-
           Option 2:
Computer Paper Recycling/Mixed
       Paper Recycling
Annual Paper Waste Generation

White Paper (estimated 25% of waste stream)

Mixed Paper (estimated 75% of waste stream)

Price per ton


Total
              18.75 tons





             $100' per ton


                $1,875
          18.75 tons

          4.75 tons

           14 tons

 $200 per ton (computer paper)
   $100' per ton (mixed paper)

           $2,350
 ' May 1995 paper recycling figures.
 Exhibit 3. MDC Waste Generation


Waste
                                      Current Management
                                                  Opportunities
Obsolete, damaged or
defective equipment

Corrugated cardboard
Computer printout


White paper

Mixed paper

Magazines

Toner cartridges

Pallets


Plastic stretch wrap

Strapping

Dunnage
USPS logo removed/defaced; auctioned or sold as
scrap

Some  hauled to Republic Recycling by Topeka
Waste Management for net cost of $180 per
compactor load

Some  collected for recycling by Hunter; some
discarded as waste

Some  collected for recycling; most discarded as waste

Some  collected for recycling; some discarded as waste

Discarded as waste

Refurbished and reused

Reused then discarded as waste


Discarded as waste

Discarded as waste

Discarded as waste
Reduce generation
Improve economics of scrap sales

Reduce incoming boxes
Improve diversion for recycling
Improve economics of recycling

Reduce generation
Improve diversion for recycling

Reduce generation, divert for recycling

Reduce generation, divert for recycling

Reduce generation divert for recycling

Combine into single program

Reduce variety, establish recycling
options

Reduce generation, divert for recycling

Divert for recycling

Reuse, divert for recycling

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tions. Several  options  are discussed  in
more detail in Exhibit 3.

Packaging
  •  Reduce  multiple  layers of packaging,
     whereever product  integrity will not
     be threatened.
  •  Utilize reusable mail transport equip-
     ment rather than  single-use  corru-
     gated  cardboard boxes  and/or jiffy
     bags whenever possible.

Paper
  •  Minimize the number of printed items
     that  become obsolete.


Exhibit4. LPC Solid Waste

Waste
  Label Printing Center
    Exhibit 4  presents a summary of the
  wastes generated by the  Label  Printing
  Center, the current management practices
  for each, and recommended pollution pre-
  vention opportunities.
    Other pollution  prevention opportunities
  for the Label Printing Center include
    •  Seek an alternative mechanism, such
      as bar  code  system,  to label mail
      bags,  boxes and reusable mail distri-
      bution equipment.
    •  Specify tag paper with recovered con-
      tent in new procurement.
    •  Modify the label printing  process to
      reduce reject rate.
                                          Current Management
  - Replace  degreasers  and  cleaners
    containing  ODCs  and  EPA  33/50
    chemicals.
  • Replace chemicals in pressure sensi-
    tive printing with nontoxic alternatives.
  • Replace petroleum-based inks with
    soy or aqueous-based inks.

Central  Repair Facility (CRF)
  A  summary  of the  wastestreams,  the
current waste management practices  for
each, and a description of recommended
pollution  prevention  opportunities  for the
CRF is presented in Exhibit 5.
                                               Opportunities
 Corrugated cardboard



 Computer paper


 Mixed office paper


 Test runs and defective
 printed label stock

 Banded label stock

 Cores and ends

 HOPE bottles
 Hauled to Republic Recycling by Topeka
 Waste Management for net cost of $180
 per compactor load

 Some collected for recycling by Hunter;
 some discarded as waste

 Discarded as waste
 Recycled


 Recycled

 Discarded as waste

 Recycled
  Reduce incoming boxes
  Improve diversion for recycling
  Improve economics of recycling

  Reduce generation
  Improve diversion for recycling

  Reduce generation
  Divert for recycling

  Reduce generation
  Reduce generation

  Divert for reuse or recycling

  Reuse
Exhibit 5. CRF Waste Sources

Waste
                                          Current Management
                                              Opportunities
Cardboard

Foam

Plastic film

Tape

Strapping

Metal


Batteries


Paper

Oil

Computer parts
Discarded as solid waste

Discarded as solid waste

Discarded as solid waste

Discarded as solid waste

Discarded as solid waste

Collected for recycling
Discarded as solid waste

Accumulated for recycling through MDC
Discarded as solid waste

Discarded as solid waste

Collected for recycling

Sold as scrap
Discarded as solid waste
 Replace with durables, reuse, recycle

 Replace with durable, reuse

 Reduce, recycle

 Eliminate

 Reduce, recycle

 Improve source separation for
 recycling

 Source separate
 Recycle

 Reduce paper use, recycle

 Dike drums to prevent runoff

 Sell to computer recycler
Lead Solder
                                          Discarded as solid waste
                                                                                        Less toxic substitute

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   Other pollution prevention opportunities
 for the CRF are  highlighted below.
   •  Use the procurement system to track
     hazardous materials throughout the
     facility.
   •  Change purchasing  specifications to
     stop  purchasing materials  containing
     chemicals on EPA 33/50 list.
   •  Purchase  reusable foam templates to
     replace the  Instafoam packaging ma-
     terial.
   Exhibit 6 presents the  pollution preven-
 tion opportunities that offer the  USPS sig-
 nificant economic benefit  in addition to
 reducing  pollution.
                        Recommendations and
                        Conclusions
                          The USPS has encouraged  reduction
                        and recycling activities in its facilities. By
                        implementing many of the source reduc-
                        tion and recycling options identified in the
                        assessment, the Topeka Materials Distri-
                        bution Center may be able  to  improve
                        facility-wide environmental management,
                        improve  record  keeping,  reduce  waste
                        disposal costs  and generate additional
                        revenues from the sale of paper,  paper
                        products and other recyclables. On a fa-
                        cility-wide basis, the Topeka facility should
                        focus on appointing a single environmen-
                        tal  coordinator and purchasing software
                        to coordinate purchasing and waste man-
                                                  agement throughout the facility. Addition-
                                                  ally, the MDC should focus on methods to
                                                  reduce the disposal of obsolete forms and
                                                  other printed material and the CRF should
                                                  make  it a priority to eliminate the use of
                                                  Instafoam and replace this with reusable
                                                  foam templates.
                                                    The full report was submitted in partial
                                                  fulfillment of Contract No. 68-C2-0148,
                                                  Work  Assignment No. 3-10 by  Science
                                                  Applications International Corporation un-
                                                  der the  sponsorship of the U.S. Environ-
                                                  mental Protection Agency.
 Exhibits. Cost-Saving Pollution Prevention Opportunities
Item(s) of Concern    Facility
                                       Current Practice
                                              Pollution Prevention Opportunity
                                                             Estimated Potential Savings/Revenues
Old Corrugated
Cardboard (OCC)
MDC Warehouses
LPC
CRF
Obsolete forms,       MDC Supply
publications, catalogs  Warehouse
Mixed office paper     MDC, LPC, CRF
Banded labels
                     LPC
Disposable shipping   MDC, LPC, CRF
containers
Instafoam
                    CRF
Some OCC is recycled at a
net cost of $180 per
compactor load every other
month

Recycled through local
recycler
                   Most disposed in trash; small
                   amount of computer paper is
                   recycled
                   4,000 pounds of excess
                   banded label stock is
                   recycled through local
                   recycler monthly;  no revenue

                   Purchase thousands of single-
                   use corrugated boxes and
                   jiffy bags to ship printed
                   labels, supplies and
                   equipment to other USPS
                   facilities.

                   Sprayed into shipping
                   containers to protect contents
                   from shifting and breakage
Establish and enforce a corrugated
cardboard source separation policy
Continue with same recycler or
contract with another firm

Seek a long-term contract for paper
recycling with a per-ton payment
indexed to the paper market

Establish paper recycling program
and seek long-term contract for
paper recycling with a per-ton
payment indexed to the paper market

Stop banding test runs
Identify a substitute for the plastic
bands
Total potential savings from avoided
disposal costs and increased
recycling revenues are estimated
between $21,900 and $60,900.

Estimated revenue increase of
$6,000 to $10,000 per year
depending on market fluctuations.

Total estimated revenues range from
$1,875 - $2,350
                            Maximize use of existing Mail
                            Transport Equipment Inventory
                            Purchase additional reusable
                            shipping containers
                            Establish equipment tracking
                            system

                            Reusable foam templates
                            Modify process to preserve boxes
                            for reuse and recycling
Reduction in contaminated label
stock will reduce waste and
potentially increase recycling
revenues.

Additional investment in capital
equipment will yield long-term
 savings in reduced purchasing, labor
and disposal expenses.
                                                                                                   Reduced liability and improved
                                                                                                   worker safety. Investment in capital
                                                                                                    equipment will yield long-term
                                                                                                   savings in reduced purchasing, labor
                                                                                                   and disposal expenses

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  Carole O. Bell, Mary Hoe/, Henry Huppert, and Steven Rolander are with Science Applications
    International Corporation, Newport, Rl 02840
  James S. Bridges and Theresa T. Hoagland are the EPA Project Officers (see below).
  The complete report, entitled "Pollution Prevention Assessment U. S. Postal Service Materials
    Distribution Center Topeka, KS"(OrderNo. PB97-100069; Cost: $38.00, subject to change)
    will be available only from:
          National Technical Information Service
          5285 Port Royal Road
          Springfield, VA 22161
          Telephone: 703-487-4650
  The EPA Project Officers can be contacted at:
          National Risk Management Research Laboratory
          U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
          Cincinnati, OH 45268
United States
Environmental Protection Agency
Center for Environmental Research Information (G-72)
Cincinnati, OH 45268


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