Cintas Chicago Facility Earns Zero Waste Certification

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Cintas has announced that its direct sale and rental distribution centers (DCs) located in its Chicago facility have achieved zero waste. For this, the company has been awarded Gold level under the TRUE (Total Resource Use and Efficiency) certification. Administered by Green Business Certification Inc. (GBCI), TRUE helps facilities define, pursue, and achieve zero waste goals while becoming more resource efficient.

How they did it

Cintas’ Chicago DCs were certified Gold as a result of diverting more than 90% of its waste stream from landfill and incineration, having a zero-waste policy in place, and meeting the TRUE certification requirements over the past 12 months. The facility services the regional Cintas rental locations and includes large production areas dedicated to shipping and receiving all types of products, including garments for its largest direct sale and rental customers in the hospitality, gaming, healthcare. and airline industries, among others.

TRUE certified spaces are environmentally responsible, more resource efficient, and help turn waste into savings and additional income streams. By closing the loop, they cut greenhouse gases, manage risk, reduce litter and pollution, reinvest resources locally, create jobs, and add more value for their company and community. TRUE also certifies events to improve their sustainability.

More and more companies from varying industries are striving to become zero waste. In February, Perdue Farms‘  harvest operation in Lewiston Woodville, North Carolina, received GreenCircle Zero Waste to Landfill certification. This marks the first time a poultry company has achieved that type of certification in the United States, according to Perdue.

All of the waste materials that leave the Lewiston Woodville facility avoid the landfill via GreenCircle’s acceptable means of diversion, Perdue said. That includes reuse, recycling, and waste-to-energy.

And in January, Vanderbilt University committed to achieving zero waste by 2030. The university anticipates reaching a 90% diversion rate from landfill through a master plan that accelerates current efforts.

Vanderbilt reports having already reached a 47% diversion rate. According to the university’s Zero Waste Master Plan published in January 2019, the school’s per capita annual waste generation in 2018, including landfill trash and recycling — and excluding construction and demolition waste — was 660 pounds or 1.8 pounds per day. Vanderbilt noted that this was substantially lower than the national average of 4.5 pounds per day per person.