EPA WasteWise Awards

WasteWise is a free, voluntary, Environmental Protection Agency program through which organizations eliminate costly municipal solid waste and select industrial wastes, benefiting their bottom line and the environment. WasteWise is a flexible program that allows partners to design their own waste reduction programs tailored to their needs.

Sandia National Laboratories has been a WasteWise Partner since 1997 and won several WasteWise awards in the following categories:

Gold Achievement Awards:

• Gold Achievement Award 2007
  Sandia received a Gold Achievement award in the Green Purchasing category for strides made through the site Environmental Management System and for improvements to the purchasing of recycled-content and biobased-content products.
   
• Gold Achievement Award 2007 - Honorable Mention
  Sandia received an honorable mention in the Climate Change category for ongoing conservation efforts to decrease electricity, natural gas, and fleet fuel use, and achieve corresponding reductions in greenhouse gasses.
   
• Gold Achievement Award 2005
  Sandia received the first WasteWise Gold Achievement award in the Green Building category for performance and leadership in the design and construction of resource efficient buildings and for its construction waste management program.

Federal Services Category:

• Honorable Mention 2006
  SNL/NM believes strongly in the reduce, reuse, recycle hierarchy and is always looking for new waste prevention opportunities. This year some of the significant accomplishments included waste prevention of concrete, recycling miscellaneous materials at our reapplication yard, salvaging toner cartridges, and reducing fluorescent light waste. Each of these opportunities was unrelated with the exception that they each represent new and unique sources of waste prevention at SNL/NM.
  
  
• Honorable Mention 2005
  SNL/NM completed a benchmark survey for recycling programs and affirmative procurement, opened a C&D recycling center, and worked to standardize sustainable design in on-site building construction.
  
  
• Program Champion 2004
  SNL/NM evaluated construction waste and created recycling programs for both large and small projects; a recycling opportunity assessment was completed to evaluate and prioritize additional materials for recycling; building components from a building demolition project were identified for diversion from disposal, and innovative material reuse was employed by Grounds and Road Services. SNL/NM tracks purchases of certain construction items designated by the EPA. SNL/NM hires subcontractors for nearly all its construction activities. As each contractor purchases materials directly from suppliers for their jobs, data is gathered directly from the contractors to track total purchases of items designated as Comprehensive Procurement Guidelines (CPG) whether or not they meet the guidelines. The total purchases are then compared with purchases of items that meet CPG requirements. Construction Procurement personnel began to include reporting requirements in all construction contracts which has resulted in an increase of compliant purchases.