WSRA "Recycler of the Year" Award

Motor Pool Operations received the "Recycler of the Year" award together with UW Surplus Property from the Washington State Recycling Association. An excerpt from the presentation ceremony illustrates why we achieved this honor:

"This business deals in industrial repair and generates a lot of potentially environmentally unfriendly waste... finding recycling options for may of these items is a difficult task... But their perseverance paid off with environmentally friendly results and great new programs.

Some examples include removing the latches from fuel nozzles at the fuel island to reduce spills. They changed from toxic solvents to hot soapy water for their vehicle parts washer. They worked with King County to remove mercury switches.

And when waste could not be eliminated - they found ways to handle it better. Like recycling antifreeze on site and switching from deliveries of individual containers to bulk - significantly reducing the number of disposable plastic bottles. They crush oil filters and even use waste oil to heat the shop which had the added benefit of significantly reducing heating costs! ...instead of purchasing repair manuals and books they started using online repair guides. The online information is more accurate and eliminated the need to store, replace, and recycle books when they expire.

They recycle 100% of may items like steel, oil, lead, tires, batteries, oil filters, antifreeze, and even paper. They also use sphagnum moss to effectively encapsulate any oil-based spills. They demonstrate proactive environmental leadership by sharing technology and [their] recycling program with other fleet managers and organizations in Washington state and nationwide, and they continually work with vendors to improve service and look for new opportunities to improve."