Nova Scotia Community College
OP-23: Waste Diversion

NSCC is committed to waste reduction at all of its campuses. Recycling and composting programs are active and additional waste diversion programs have been implemented at some of the campuses (ie, on-site composting, re-use of wood scraps, sawdust being collected and donated to local farms, etc.). In October 2015, Waste Diversion Rates were calculated following waste audits at each of the 17 locations throughout Nova Scotia, with a combined average of 74%, with individual campuses ranging from 42% to 94%. Each campus has its own Waste Management Plan. Each campus has sorting waste stations where students and staff can sort their waste accordingly. In an effort to better the Waste Diversion Rate, bi-annual waste audits are conducted where staff and students learn how to sort waste by assisting in the audits (ie., compost, recyclable, refundable, paper, etc). Additionally, all of the campuses have a "Pack it in, Pack it out" policy where staff and students are required to take their waste to recycling stations throughout the campus instead of providing each classroom with a waste receptacle. Each year many different education efforts are conducted at various campuses across the province. For example, our campus in Yarmouth started a "Waste 101" program where the municipal education officer from Waste Check comes to the campus and teaches a waste management course to all the students providing them with a certificate at the end of the session.

The NSCC cafeterias try to eliminate as much surplus as possible. Where possible,what is leftover is given away to the students at the end of the day. At the Pictou campus surplus food leftover from meetings and events are donated to a local women’s shelter. At the campuses that have a restaurant, the student staff members are given the extra food.

All of the NSCC campuses have a composting program and all food waste produced pre-consumer is composted and is picked up on a regular basis by a waste management contractor. All NSCC campuses follow the provincial-wide green bin program where all food waste is composted, including meat waste, and composted by the municipality. Our Burridge and Shelburne campuses compost all food waste from cafeteria food preparation on site and use the compost for their greenhouses.

Four of our campuses use Aramark to cater the cafeteria. Aramark follows the same standards at each campus and composts all food waste. All NSCC campuses follow the provincial-wide green bin program where all food waste is composted, including meat waste, and composted by the municipality. Our Burridge and Shelburne campuses compost all food waste from cafeteria food preparation on site and use the compost for their greenhouses.

NSCC has many different trades programs (pipe fitting, electrical, auto body repair, carpentry, etc) all of our trades shops sort the unique waste that is produced from these programs.