Sand Creek Station Golf Course Near Newton, Kansas, Recognized as WasteWise National Partner of the Year Honorable Mention
Environmental News
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EPA’s WasteWise program encourages organizations and businesses to achieve sustainability in their practices and reduce select industrial wastes. Participants in the program work to prevent and divert waste that would otherwise be disposed of in landfills or incinerated.
“As we begin to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, it is fitting to highlight these WasteWise partners for their dedication to waste reduction, environmental stewardship, and sustainable materials management,” said EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler. “These efforts not only provide environmental and cost savings benefits, but they also increase the efficiency of these businesses and organizations positioning them for greater success.”
The Sand Creek Station Golf Course has a waste management program involving recycling of aluminum, cardboard, glass, plastic and paper. The city of Newton provides recycling bins for placement and pickup.
“This is a good example of how all facilities, regardless of their use, should be recycling,” said EPA Region 7 Administrator Jim Gulliford. “The Sand Creek Station Golf Course’s approach demonstrates what is possible when companies prioritize their ‘green’ future.”
A KemperSports property, Sand Creek joined the WasteWise program in 2009. KemperSports takes an active role in waste prevention – all properties are asked to recycle. Under their program, “Green to a Tee,” all golf courses are required to disperse grass clippings throughout the course rather than bagging.
When asked about Sand Creek’s decision to recycle, KemperSports Regional Manager Chris Tuohey said, “The real question should be ‘Why not recycle?’ We have an overwhelming garbage crisis and by administering a mandatory recycling program, we will help reduce unnecessary waste.”
During 2018, Sand Creek diverted 4½ tons of materials, including 1 ton of golf cart batteries sent back to their battery provider for reuse; 1¼ tons each of recycled and donated aluminum cans collected at various golf course locations; and 3 tons of grass composted on-site. This is especially significant considering only a half-ton of Sand Creek’s waste went to a landfill during 2018.
With more than 26,000 annual visitors, Sand Creek promotes sustainable materials management in a visible way, recently hosting an Earth Day golf tournament. To mitigate their biggest challenge, managing trash placed in recycle bins, staff sift through recycle bins and move trash to its proper bins. Sand Creek is setting an example companywide and to all public golf courses to encourage higher recycling rates.
WasteWise is one of EPA’s longest-running voluntary programs and celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2019. EPA’s WasteWise program encourages organizations to achieve sustainability and to reduce waste. In 2018, our WasteWise partners, including today’s award winners, collectively reported preventing and diverting over 1.9 million tons of municipal solid waste that would otherwise be disposed of in landfills or incinerated, saving close to $100 million in avoided landfill tipping fees. Of this amount, WasteWise partners reported preventing (also called source reducing) over 890,000 tons of waste, meaning that no waste was created in the first place, which is EPA’s most preferred waste management method.
Every year, EPA recognizes WasteWise partners in several categories who report the best overall improvement in waste prevention and recycling activities, when compared to the previous year.
The 2019 National Award winners are:
Regional winners and information about each winner’s efforts and results are available online.
Learn more about the 2019 WasteWise National Award winners and the 2019 Regional Award winners.
Background
The WasteWise program is part of EPA’s Sustainable Materials Management efforts that promote the use and reuse of materials more productively over their entire life cycles. All U.S. businesses, governments, academic institutions and nonprofit organizations can join WasteWise as a partner, an endorser or both. Partners demonstrate how they reduce waste, practice environmental stewardship, and incorporate sustainable materials management into their waste management practices. Endorsers promote enrollment in WasteWise as part of a comprehensive approach to help their stakeholders realize the economic benefits to reducing waste.
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