Sunila Gupta, Program Manager at Haley & Aldrich, presented “Changing Behaviors: A Lean Approach to Developing Sustainability Strategies” as part of the Sustainability Seminar Series at the Stevens Institute of Technology. The seminar discussed how a Lean process improvement approach was used to help the University of Pennsylvania (Penn) develop a Solid Waste Management Plan.
Penn took a collaborative approach to better understand the whole system together and develop a robust process to effectively tackle waste management holistically. Penn’s staff (from facilities to institutional leaders) and students from across campus actively participated in examining resources, processes, workflows, behaviors, and obstacles. The outcome was ownership of the plan by everyone: stakeholders have developed “eyes for waste,” ensuring that the plan is successfully being implemented across campus. The group’s award-winning work is helping to streamline and standardize efforts so that the whole campus is communicating better and delivering a consistent message, making it easier for the Penn community to understand how waste systems work at the University.
Watch Sunila’s entire seminar below:
