Waste Reduction Awards Program (WRAP)

WRAP Talk 2000

Download this WRAP Talk 2000 (Adobe Acrobat PDF, 490 KB)

• Introduction
• Why Worry About Waste Reduction?
• Looking Back
• Highlighting WRAP Winners
• A Tribute to WRAP Promoters
• Looking Ahead—New Staff
• Application Information
• Tips

As we wrap up a millennium, how appropriate to reflect on the past and look forward to the future. The Waste Reduction Awards Program, WRAP, was originated in 1993 by the Board to recognize businesses for their accomplishments in reducing the amount of waste sent to landfills.

Since 1993, more than 1,200 businesses have won WRAP awards. These businesses have saved money on avoided procurement and disposal costs by implementing resource-efficient practices and aggressive waste reduction, reuse, and recycling activities.

In 1995, the CIWMB began recognizing WRAP winners that stand out for their exemplary and creative waste reduction programs. The Board selects 10 WRAP winners annually and honors them with "WRAP of the Year" awards. Forty WRAP of the Year awards have been presented to California businesses. 

Why Worry About Waste Reduction? After All, it's Just Garbage
California's business sector, one of the world's leading economies, generates roughly 50 percent of all the waste in California. With an estimated 56 million tons of solid waste generated in California each year, it's more than just garbage! 

Waste reduction translates into savings for both the environment and the business. In 1999 alone, WRAP winners diverted more than 1.5 million tons of waste from landfills and enhanced their bottom lines by nearly $30 million. 

But there is room for improvement and there are more businesses to recognize for their waste reduction programs. With approximately 1 million businesses in the state of California, there are success stories to be told. Let us hear from you so we can tell your story and encourage others to reduce their waste too!

Looking Back
In 1999, WRAP recognized 566 businesses as winners, more than in any prior year. Over the years, a total of more than 2,300 WRAP awards have been presented to businesses in California with many businesses having won awards for several consecutive years. Profiles of each of the WRAP winners can be viewed on the WRAP Web site, and examples of media coverage may be found in the Board's Press Room (search for WRAP). For 1999, the top 10 businesses honored as WRAP of the Year winners were:

• Autry Museum of Western Heritage
• Kraft Foods, Inc., Visalia
• Cagwin & Dorward Landscape Contractors
• Pebble Beach Company
• Memorial Hospitals Association (MHA)
• Straus Family Creamery
• Trips for Kids/Re-Cyclery
• UNISYS Corporation
• Swinerton & Walberg Company
• Investec

All WRAP winners receive a letter from the CIWMB Chair, a winner certificate, a window decal, and the WRAP logo, which can be used by winning businesses to promote their environmental awareness. In addition, CIWMB provides sample news articles and disseminates press releases to the media about the WRAP winners. 

Winners have used the WRAP logo in a variety of creative ways, for example:

• Pacific Bell Corporation uses the WRAP logo on the back of its telephone directories and Smart Yellow Pages sent to 15 million California homes and businesses. 
• Fender Musical Instruments Corporation in Corona, a WRAP winner for 7 consecutive years, displays the WRAP logo on its packaging, which is made from recycled material. 
• WorldWise, Inc. in San Rafael, another 7-time WRAP winner, uses the WRAP logo on its Web site.
• Yost Printers & Lithographers in Monrovia prints the WRAP logo on its stationery. Yost has won a WRAP award for 6 successive years. 

Highlighting WRAP Winners
The Board publicizes all of the WRAP winners by publishing their business information on the WRAP Web site, issuing press releases to the general media, and encouraging publicity at the local level. In addition to these promotional activities, occasionally the WRAP program will feature winners who have implemented creative and/or exemplary waste reduction programs. Feature businesses for this update are Albertsons, Inc. and 49er Pet, Inc. 

Albertsons, Inc. is one of the largest retail food and drug stores in the United States and currently operates more than 1,000 stores in 25 states. In California there are nearly 180 Albertsons stores. Albertsons continues to recycle more than 50 percent of all solid waste generated by the company. These efforts kept approximately 206,000 tons of waste out of landfills, saved millions of dollars in disposal costs, and brought revenue to the company from the sale of recyclables. 

Albertsons continues to explore new avenues and new concepts to reduce/reuse/recycle. In 1999, Albertsons, Inc. submitted one application for multiple sites throughout California and was awarded a multi-site, multi-award WRAP designation.

49er Pet, Inc. of Rohnert Park is a locally owned, 17,000 square foot pet superstore. The store rewards customers with a discount if they refill their existing cat litter containers instead of purchasing a new one. Customers love the large variety of bird foods available in bulk, which reduces packaging waste. 

Since implementing a recycling program several years ago, this company has been able to decrease the amount of trash it sends to the landfills. This has resulted in both cost reduction and increased awareness for employees and customers. 49er Pet, Inc. has received a WRAP award for the last three years.

A Tribute to WRAP Promoters
The success of the WRAP program at identifying businesses worthy of recognition depends greatly on getting WRAP applications into the hands of worthy candidates. There are many folks who help distribute WRAP program information and even assist businesses in filling out the application. We would like to take this opportunity to recognize a few of the exceptional promoters we are aware of and to publicly thank them for their efforts in promoting the WRAP program to their constituents.

• Jaime Lozano, Carson
• Scott Larson, Waste Solutions
• Michele Sackman, formerly Stanislaus County
• Dianne Dryer, Menlo Park
• Leslie Stobbe, Milpitas
• Bill Wright, Industrial Recycling Services, Inc.
• Lewis Pozzebon, Vernon
• Becky Shaw, Arcata
• Jon Root, Edelman Worldwide Public Relations
• Lisa Harris, Long Beach
• Leslie Kline, Fresno
• Allen Welbourn, Los Angeles County
• Rebecca Brown, Woodland
• Amy Garden, Napa County
• Karina Chilcott, Sonoma County
• Karen Higgins, Los Angeles
• Eugene Tseng, UCLA
• Deborah Shultz, El Segundo
• Myra Nissen, The Sutta Company
• Susan Patane & Rex Richardson, NORCAL for San Bernardino
• Hope McAloon, Burbank
• Heather Abrams, Central Contra Costa Solid Waste Authority

Looking Ahead—New Staff
You may have noticed that there are new WRAP program coordinators. After four years with WRAP, Linda Hennessy has moved into recycled-content products. Many of you have talked to Linda about WRAP in the past and we will all miss her contributions to the program! 

The new program coordinators for WRAP are Brenda Smyth and Piper Miguelgorry, who will champion the program in the new millennium. There will be exciting changes ahead as more and more businesses implement waste reduction programs that protect the environment and result in substantial operational savings. WRAP looks forward to identifying and recognizing all worthy candidates. 

WRAP Coordinators
Brenda Smyth Piper Miguelgorry
(916) 255-2445 (916) 255-2497
bsmyth@calrecycle.ca.gov pmiguelg@calrecycle.ca.gov
(916) 255-4580 fax

Application Information
The WRAP application period is open annually from April 1 through June 30. Businesses and nonprofit organizations are eligible. Program coordinators are busy preparing the WRAP application for 2000 and are interested in receiving your suggestions and general comments about the program. (See "Why Apply" for more information.)

Remember...

• Prevent waste by being resource efficient.
• Grasscycle or compost green waste.
• Purchase reusable not disposable.
• Donate unwanted items.
• Make double-sided copies.
• Eliminate or minimize packaging.
• Purchase recycled-content products.
• Recycle metal, glass, paper, cardboard, etc.