University of California, Santa Cruz
IN-2: Innovation 2

Through these interactions, we have been particularly impressed with UCSC’s transition to a cutting edge weight-based charge system, which leads to several triple bottom line benefits including: • Labor cost reductions as collection operations switch to an on-demand service model. • More accurate service charges, where departments and buildings are billed for the true, weight-based cost of collecting materials generated rather than the less accurate, industry -standard volumetric, static pickup method. This also helps campus users reduce the total amount of waste and recycling materials generated. • More accurate monthly reporting on each individual department or building’s progress towards attaining campus-wide zero-waste goals. • The ability to free up labor for complementary activities such as UCSC’s new on-campus composting operation, which employs existing personnel. • A resulting agency budget model that embraces the economics of conservation, where operations do not suffer catastrophic losses as users reduce their "unsustainable" activities.