University Times

A foray into the trash bags of the Pittsburgh campus has revealed what might already be suspected: the University community could be recycling more.

Will Mitchell, Facilities Management’s senior manager of custodial services, and Sony Rane, marketing and sustainability coordinator for Dining Services, were part of a team of staff and student volunteers who sorted through trash samples from nine Pitt buildings earlier this month, all in the name of research. (See Feb. 9 University Times.) The trash audit was designed to raise awareness for recycling opportunities as part of the Pittsburgh campus’s participation in the 2012 RecycleMania competition, which runs through March 31.

Donning hazmat suits, the volunteers separated banana peels, coffee cups, old newspapers, take-out containers and other trash into piles representing recyclables, compostable and true trash in front of passersby on the busy Schenley Quad.

Rane said the trash audit revealed that only 22 percent (by weight) of what was tossed into the trash was not recyclable or compostable.

Recyclables totaled 26 percent of the trash and compostable items made up 51 percent. For the audit, paper and cardboard were regarded as compostable, although those could have been counted as recyclables, Rane said.

Rane said she would survey Pittsburgh campus food services areas to ensure there are recycling containers near trash receptacles.

Mitchell said the findings show “it is evident that everyone within the University community needs to be more diligent in the disposal of waste,” given that much of the material was recyclable under the University’s current programs.

“That means that some of us are still not recycling paper fiber or co-mingled aluminum, glass and plastic. If we sit in our offices or dorm rooms and refuse to participate then we are doing a disservice to the sustainable initiatives of the University, when all it takes is a concerted effort to pay attention to what containers we dispose of material into,” he said.

With regard to the amount of compostable material including food waste and coarse paper collected from restrooms, Mitchell said, “We have not determined what to do with these materials. However, the audit does provide us with some food for thought and therefore we can continue the discussions and explore the possibilities on what we can offer the community moving forward.”

—Kimberly K. Barlow