We will be measuring the weight of pre- and post-sorted waste streams including landfill, composting, and recycling taken from the Big Belly bins and Brute trash cans in the Plaza area. We will be measuring the proportion (percentage) each stream of waste makes up within the total amount of waste collected. We will make note of the most common items that appear throughout the audit and keep track of commonly mis-sorted items.
We aimed to perform this audit in an outdoor public space in order to accessibly engage students in proper waste sorting, raise campus waste consciousness, and de-stigmatize waste management. We also aim to call for transparency in Duke's waste infrastructure, information on which is not publicly available.
What is the post-audit process?
We will be performing a preliminary observational study using data gleaned from the audit. Using the random sample of trash obtained from the Bryan Center, we will be attempting to quantify how much waste is compostable and how much waste has been mis-sorted by the student population.
Students with statistics experience are working with staff and faculty members to oversee our analysis and write-up process to ensure credibility. We worked with these same faculty members to ensure accurate, efficient data collection during the waste audit.