We aim to examine the waste composition from the Bryan Center to investigate Duke University's relationship to compostables and waste in light of the dramatic increase in waste production caused by pandemic-conscious safety measures (particularly take-out container mandates). We will be dealing with the consequent aftermath of the pandemic and these regressions for years. As a venerable model institution, Duke must demonstrate diligence and a comprehensive environmental outlook amidst the concurrent climate crisis. In other words, where waste cannot be mitigated, it should be properly managed.
Completing this audit will determine contamination rates and waste composition, identify opportunities for improved waste education, clarify whether a larger investigation should be undergone, and quantify the amount of compostables produced in student study and leisure spaces that can be diverted from the landfill. Improving waste infrastructure and how the Duke community engages with waste sorting will benefit campus carbon neutrality goals and divert resources from the landfill.
How will we be using data from the audit?
Given our resource and time constraints, we predict that our data will suggest at the very least that a larger study is warranted to produce more accurate and widely applicable data. Our data will attempt to quantify the proportion of waste produced in study and leisure areas that makes up each of the waste streams, as well as how much waste has been mis-sorted by the student population.
We hope to translate these quantities into momentum for actionable change in waste practices on campus. The percentage of items that are mis-sorted alongside our notes of commonly mis-sorted items will inform sustainability and waste education given to both current students and incoming freshman (O-Week presentations, for example).
The hypothesized high percentage of compostables making up the materials gleaned from the Plaza area would demonstrate the need for accessible composting resources to be provided to students in these study and leisure spaces. This infrastructure, however, can only be implemented after a student body has demonstrated its ability to sort waste. Contamination interferes with the ability for compost and recycling plants to function to capacity. In the case of composting, a load that is too heavily contaminated will be landfilled and the university would have to pay an additional contamination fee. It is up to the students to show Duke what we can do!