Concordia Waste Management Data
December 12th, 2020
The following data was derived from analytical research of the waste audits conducted by Zero Waste Concordia between 2015-2020, alongside a 1-month online survey that asked Concordia University members about their plastic consumption and waste habits. It showcases how plastic waste is handled at the university, future efforts, and barriers to addressing the plastic crisis.
The research was done by Sara Ordonselli
Plastic waste at Concordia, is currently evaluated together with glass and metal (PGM waste) during annual waste audits conducted by Zero Waste Concordia.
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The full-time equivalent (FTE) population of students and staff decreased compared to other years in 2014-2015, however, the total yearly waste handled increases drastically in 2015-2016, thus our habits towards plastic recycling must have changed.
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From the most recent audit conducted in 2018-2019 by Zero Waste Concordia, there was 1,259.6 MT of total waste handled, of which 69% or 388.0 MT was considered recyclable materials.
This includes paper, PGM waste, organic waste, reused items, and e-waste. Of the total amount of recycled waste, 8.7% was considered PGM waste.
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In 2019-2020, the total cost for all waste compactors was over $200,000, where 11.9% of the compactor costs were allocated to recycling waste including PGM items and 18% of the total makes up recycling cost.
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It is also worth mentioning that there was an additional charge of ~$500 this year, for recyclable waste compactors that were contaminated.
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If there was a sorting center within the university or some of the waste was repurposed directly on campus, this cost could be reduced significantly or better yet eliminated.
Student Survey
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CP3 survey was answered by students, faculty, and staff, giving the following demographic. The types of plastic most used were type 1, 2, and 5 (Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET), High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE), and Polypropylene (PP), respectively), as shown in Figure 5. These types of plastic can all be found in common items and easily recycled into new products.
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Using the theory of planned behavior, the recycling habits of participants were analyzed. This includes the attitude participants have towards recycling, their intention to recycle, and their moral and social norms.
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From this survey, 60.4% of participants said they always recycle at Concordia and 72.9% said they always recycle at home.
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As well, 50% of participants said they always clean their plastic waste and 46% said they always sort their plastic waste by type into the appropriate bins on campus. Finally, 31.3% of participants worry about the contamination of their recyclable items.
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When asked if participants knew about Concordia’s current efforts towards plastic waste, 88.5% said they were not aware that ~$200,000 is spent per YEAR on waste management.
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However, 77.1% said they would be willing to pay for better recycling efforts or a new internal recycling system at Concordia, and of those 32.3% said that they pay between $0.50-$1.00 in fee-levy cost.
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Most participants feel the biggest barriers are inadequate information or education about the subject, the overall cost for operations for a new recycling system, and contamination of the recycling waste which then cannot be processed and will end up in a landfill.
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For future efforts, 78% of participants would allocate time for education and 63.5% would allocate time for research, while 59.4% would attend workshops about plastic recycling and best habits to practice. It was also shown that 47.9% would like to see curriculum changes to give students a better understanding of the total life-cycle of plastic items and considered the possibility of recycling during the design phase.
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