Green Eagles
Class 5:
Don’t Get Wasted:
Waste Audit Results and Follow-Up
Office of Sustainability
October 6, 2010
About the Waste Audit
October 5th, 2010: Green Eagles,
volunteers, and staff performed a waste
audit on trash from a 24-hour period from
the Letts and Centennial Hall collection
areas in order to see and measure what
sort of waste we are throwing away so that
we can start to make better, smarter plans
for reducing, reusing, and recycling it.
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Waste Audit: Stats
 Total waste sorted
– 1,135.50 pounds, over half a ton
– 585 lbs from the Letts Hall waste collection area
– 550.5 from the Centennial Hall waste collection area
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Waste Audit: Waste Breakdown
2010 Res Hall Waste Survey
2010 Res Hall Waste Survey
400
400
350
350
300
300
Lbs
200
Lbs
250
250
200
150
100
150
100
50
0
50
0
Waste Material
Waste Material
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Waste Audit: % Breakdown
Textiles, 0.9%
Wood, 0.1%
Trash, 22.5%
Paper, 31.8%
Other, 1.1%
Glass, 4.4%
Metal, 1.7%
Plastic, 21.4%
Organic,
8.4%
Cardboard, 7.6%
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US Waste Breakdown
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Waste Audit: % Breakdown
- Finer categories
2010 Res Hall Waste Audit; Narrow Categories
300.0
250.0
200.0
150.0
100.0
50.0
0.0
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Waste Audit: % Breakdown
- Finer categories
Waste Electrical Batteries, EPS, 0.1%
and Electronic 0.1%
Equipment, 0.1%
Other (Please state),
0.9%
Trash, 22.5%
White Paper, 1.2%
Newspaper, 5.6%
Tissue Paper , 13.3%
Wood, 0.1%
Other Paper, 11.7%
Clothes, 0.9%
Food Waste , 8.4%
Other metal waste,
0.3%
Flat & Corrugated
Cardboard, 7.6%
Glass, 4.4%
Aluminium, 1.4%
Plastic, 21.4%
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Next Steps
 Based on the various wastes identified, create
strategies for eliminating or diverting all of our
trash
 I.e: Compost food waste and paper towels/tissue
papers coming out of the dorms;
 Talk with food providers about eliminating to-go
boxing and other packaging waste
 Create more clear instructions as to how to recycle
cardboard
 Strategies will be part of AU’s Zero Waste Plan
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