One of the biggest concerns for Carleton environmentally, is the contamination of waste, according to Philip Mansfield, the manager of the sustainability program at Facilities Management and Planning.
“We have seen lower diversion rates in food courts and audits have shown that up to 22 percent could have been recycled,” Mansfield said in an email. “When waste goes into the wrong stream, [such as] garbage into recycling bins, not only are we reducing the amount we can divert, but we also risk recycling waste being rejected by our waste collector and ending up in landfill.”
Diverted waste refers to waste that is not going to landfill and is instead being recycled in some way. Contamination of waste is caused by things such as food waste being put into paper recycling.
This results in the university’s waste collector potentially having to put waste into landfill, most of which could have been recycled had it not been for the food waste. According to Mansfield, this is something students are responsible for, and can act to prevent.
“One of the biggest environmental actions that we can all make, day to day, is to think about where our waste goes and to use the right bin on campus,” he said.
According to Mansfield, Carleton typically diverts about 60 per cent of its waste from landfill. The university collects over 2,300 metric tonnes of general waste per year. Of this, around 900 tonnes is sent to landfill and 1,400 tonnes are recycled or composted, he said.
As well as waste that’s thrown directly into disposal bins, Mansfield said there is a big task to be dealt with in regards to the waste from construction sites on campus.
With several large projects on the go, such as the new Health Sciences Building, the ARISE (Advanced Research and Innovation in Smart Environments) Building project near Loeb Building, and plans for a new Sprott School of Business building, there are large amounts of waste Carleton must deal with, Mansfield explained.
“We are focusing on maximizing waste diversion and recycling from these projects ensuring all such projects evaluate recycling efforts both prior and after construction. Recent efforts has seen diversion and reuse of up to 80 percent, and given the weight of such waste this adds to our overall diversion efforts,” he said.
Outside of these two major concerns, Mansfield said the sustainability program has tried to expand Carleton’s capability to recycle a wide variety of goods, making it easier to divert waste from landfill.
A new program that started last year was the introduction of Electrobac bins to campus, which accept small electronic waste and print cartridges, and are available in Athletics, in Residence Commons, and the University Centre. According to Mansfield, since its inception this program helped recycle over 19,000 kilograms of electronic waste at Carleton.
“This year perhaps the biggest change is the new recycling and composting centre in the seating area of the University Centre food court that was developed and built over six months,” Mansfield said. “The station is unique in North America and designed specifically for Carleton. The new station emphases recycling and compost options and aims to reduce contamination rates and get users to use the right bin for the waste being thrown away.”
“Working with food partners, packaging changes were made to increase what can be recycled. We have also added liquid and food waste compost streams. Our aim is to work towards zero waste in such areas,” he added.
Photo by Aaron Hemens
