The 333 Bush Street project is a mixed-use, high-rise tower in San Francisco, which has office, retail, and residential spaces in the same building. Reaching zero waste at 333 Bush has been a concerted team effort, with all hands on deck, over the course of several years. The key stakeholders in the process to certification included the property management team, engineering team, janitorial team, vendors, consultant team, tenants, and residents. The entire process began through using waste auditing to more precisely measure the project’s actual waste diversion rate, and identify areas of improvement.
The property management team has led the zero waste effort and has coordinated with other stakeholders; sharing resources, collecting and sharing feedback, and taking action to improve waste management practices. There were various efforts to train and engage tenants and residents in the building, to make them aware of the project’s zero waste goal, and to garner their support in reaching the goal. The engineering team has played an important role in safely managing hazardous wastes in the building, and ensuring that the team at 333 Bush is trained on how to safely manage them. Hazardous wastes are regularly collected from tenants and residents in the building, in order to keep them out of the normal waste streams and divert them for reuse and recycling.
The janitorial team at 333 Bush is also vital in the zero waste program’s success, as they are in constant contact with the property team on waste diversion efforts and contamination, which allows the property team to relay messages to other stakeholders and adjust to improve the program. The tenants and residents onsite have also been important because they are the primary waste generators onsite, but have embraced the program and have been responsive to the project’s efforts. The project’s various vendors are also crucial in reaching zero waste, whether they be procurement vendors that supply the project with more sustainable products and materials, or waste hauling vendors which source separate and divert specific waste streams such as confidential paper shredding and landscaping.
The 333 Bush project was able to achieve a 90.1% waste diversion rate from landfill and incineration. Because of the waste hauler Recology’s rate structure in San Francisco, they are able to save thousands of dollars every month from greater waste diversion discounts as well.
"It’s important that 333 Bush is TRUE certified because it demonstrates that we are taking a leadership role in conserving all resources including consumption, reuse, recovery of products, as well as packaging and materials without burning or discharging to land, water or air thereby threatening the environment or people’s health," explained Glenn Good, General Manager for 333 Bush Street, Tishman Speyer.