Longtime University Building Services Leader Dedicated to Cutting Waste, Costs

The director of the Building Services Department at the University of Washington, Gene Woodard, was recently featured on the school's website in an article celebrating his 32-year career at the university.

Woodard, who has worked at the UW since 1985. His department is responsible for cleaning the 11.5 million square feet of campus buildings.

Another key focus is — through recycling and composting — preventing waste from going to landfills.

“We have a big incentive to divert waste because the cost is $160 a ton versus composting or recycling which is about half that: $70 or $80 a ton,” Woodard said in the article.

The university currently operates at about 64-65 percent waste diversion and Woodard wants to get to 70 percent by 2020.

“Before I retire, I’d like to see us at zero.”

Click here to read the full article.

Woodard currently serves on the Advisory Board for Facility Cleaning Decisions magazine and shared his waste/composting story in a recent article.