As the spring semester settles in on campus, so does a new vendor that is helping Emory achieve sustainability goals. Waste Eliminator, a full-service waste management company, began working on campus this semester to increase waste diversion efforts and push Emory closer to its established sustainability goals.
“We are excited about the selection of our new vendor and their ability to help us achieve Emory’s waste reduction goals,” says Robin Morey, vice president of campus services. “The company was selected through a competitive bidding and qualifications process.”
An eye toward sustainability goals
Morey notes that continuous improvement in sustainability and waste is top of mind for decisions made at Emory.
“Our new partner will be required to take all landfill waste to landfills with gas capture technologies,” says Morey. Landfill gas capture is a process that involves using methane from decomposing waste in landfills as a renewable energy source.
In 2016, Emory adopted a new Sustainability Vision and Strategic Plan, setting out goals to create a more sustainable campus and community through 2025. One of the main pillars of this plan was waste, with goals focusing on waste diversion and strengthening opportunities to recycle and compost. The plan’s goals included:
- Diverting 95% of construction waste from landfills
- Strengthening mandates for recycling and composting by removing deskside trashcans
- Standardizing all waste equipment and signage in university buildings
- Eliminating single-use plastic water bottles at university events
- Employing waste reduction efforts through sustainable procurement
- Engaging in efforts to reuse, repair and repurpose Emory materials whenever possible.
Emory adopted a Waste Management Policy in January 2018 to outline the changes necessary to achieving the waste-related goals set out in the 2025 Sustainability Vision. This included removing landfill waste containers and only having compost and recycling containers in outdoor campus spaces.
The policy stated that landfill bins would only be provided in designated waste sorting stations in dedicated areas within university buildings; all other landfill bins across campus would be removed. The policy also redirected the deskside waste service to office occupants who became responsible for their own waste.
In June 2021, Emory signed the Break Free from Plastic Pledge, creating a five-year plan for reducing unnecessary single-use plastic on Emory academic campuses.
“Emory’s defined waste-related goals are important for many reasons,” says Ciannat Howett, associate vice president of resilience, sustainability and economic inclusion at Emory. “There are negative environmental impacts from landfill waste. Landfills, which emit methane, are a major contributor to greenhouse gas pollution, and so, by reducing the amount of landfill waste, we are helping address climate change and other negative impacts from landfills.
“Also, by minimizing the amount of waste we send to landfills, Emory is being a good neighbor to areas of our community that are already often overburdened with other large industrial facilities,” Howett adds. “There is no ‘away’ when you throw something away. It goes into someone’s neighborhood.”
Howett says that it may not be easy for individuals to understand why they must sort waste into different bins when they discard it on Emory’s campus.
“We’re all busy, and it’s easy to overlook the importance of these processes,” she says. “But if they better understand that they are helping neighboring communities and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, it’s easier to see that we at Emory must be accountable for our waste and make sure we take time to carefully sort it.”
In 2015, Emory diverted more than 50% of waste from landfills. In 2020, Emory reached its highest rate of waste diversion at nearly 75%.
Following the COVID-19 pandemic, Emory’s landfill diversion rates fell as organic materials that could’ve been recycled were instead being landfilled. This was due to infrastructure and staffing issues with contracted vendors and material processors. The vendor that followed was unable to bring Emory’s diversion rates back up to pre-pandemic levels.
Eager to raise its diversion rate and restore the efficacy of its composting program, Emory put out a call for new vendors to help achieve its goals.
“We’re serious about reaching high levels of waste diversion, and we are diligent about achieving this goal, so that’s why we wanted to bring in a new vendor,” says Morey.
Through bringing Waste Eliminator into the fold, Emory looks forward to increasing the amount of waste material diverted from landfills.
However, sustainability officials on campus urge the community to be diligent about ensuring proper sorting of materials on the front end. Contamination happens when non-recyclable or non-compostable items are mixed in bins with recyclable or compostable materials, often rendering it difficult to properly process materials.
“We ask that Emory community members carefully sort their waste and avoid contamination, because contamination rates in composting and recycling are very high,” says Howett. “We need every community member’s assistance to reach our sustainability goals.”
Influencing every corner of a more sustainable campus
The Zero Waste Ambassadors program began when the 2016 Sustainability Vision and Strategic Plan was introduced. Through the program, students, faculty and staff volunteers play a critical role in educating Emory community members about waste management and reduction.
“Research shows that the most effective way to influence behavior is peer-to-peer education,” says Howett. “These ambassadors help engage our community about how to host zero-waste events and why waste sorting is important. We get such positive feedback about the volunteers and Zero Waste Ambassadors program.”
After pausing to allow time to onboard Emory’s new waste vendor, the program is resuming this spring and is actively accepting applications for ambassadors.