CHS Waste Accountability
Hospitals and research facilities generate some of the most complex waste streams of any institution. In the U.S. alone, academic medical centers can produce millions of pounds annually, posing significant…
Hospitals and research facilities generate some of the most complex waste streams of any
institution. In the U.S. alone, academic medical centers can produce millions of pounds annually,
posing significant challenges for human health and environmental sustainability (Barmore,
2025). In the fiscal year of 2022, UCLA Health, UCLA’s academic healthcare system, produced
more than 11 million pounds of waste, and has remained consistently high in subsequent years
(UCLA Health, 2026). Consequently, sustainability efforts at UCLA remain incomplete without
addressing waste in these facilities. The Center for Health Sciences (CHS), one of the largest
facilities within UCLA Health, houses a wide range of medical laboratories, clinical facilities,
professional health schools, and more. Unfortunately, due to CHS’s size and complexity, there is
a significant gap in the understanding of non-hazardous waste generation and sorting practices
by facility managers and sustainability staff.
The CHS Waste Accountability Team aims to address these research gaps by
investigating three key questions: What are the common trends and reasons for improper
diversion in CHS’s waste management system? How can the team integrate quantitative and
qualitative data to further examine these trends? What barriers exist to proper sorting and waste
reduction, and how can these barriers be addressed through educational campaigns, structured
resource offerings, and new sustainability strategies? To answer these questions, this study draws
upon previous research in waste management, including in higher education institutions and
research facilities, which have established methods that can be adapted to the CHS building.
Stakeholder: Jade Goegebuer, Zero Waste Manager
Team Leads: Surya Man and Jessica Darfler
Team Members: Mary Koutures, Mayukha Talinki, Kyra Prasad, Sam Yu, Kevin Yang