Simon Fraser University
IN-1: Innovation 1

In January 2014, SFU’s Sustainability Office, in partnership with Facilities Services, launched a new ‘Zero Waste’ initiative at SFU. Existing waste bins in public spaces were replaced with new, 4-stream Zero Waste Stations. Stations now sort disposables into four streams: food scraps and organics; mixed paper; recyclables; and landfill garbage.

SFU’s Initiative aims to double the amount of waste recycled or composted by 2015, while diverting 70% of waste from landfills. This goal was adopted in the SFU Sustainability Strategic Plan 2013-2016, and mirrors Metro Vancouver’s target in both percentage and timeline, making the program part of a wider, regional goal to have one of the highest recycling rates worldwide.

Visual cues for each material stream are consistent with the streams, colours and signage adopted by Metro Vancouver. Organics recycling has been introduced well in advance of Metro Vancouver’s landfill ban, meaning that more materials can now be recycled at SFU, and we are pioneering standardized recycling stations across all three SFU campuses – making recycling at SFU consistent, convenient and easier.

The program launch in January featured a fun music video on Zero Waste at SFU with a local musician; a new comprehensive Zero Waste website listing materials suitable for each bin, as well as the lifecycles for each stream; social media activity; on-campus zero waste events; and in-person orientations to the new system conducted by staff and volunteer student ‘Zero Waste Educators’.

Progress is being monitored through community feedback mechanisms such as surveys, on-site waste audits, and data from waste haulers. The results of these allow us continually to adapt the program to improve performance. For example, the signs at the stations will be were changed at the beginning of the Summer semester, in May, to reflect what we have learned.

Since the launch of this Initiative, we have been contacted by several other universities in North America looking to incorporate aspects of our initiative (e.g., our signage and even our particular bins) into their programs. Our ultimate aims are to create a no-waste culture while making SFU a leader in waste management best practice; sharing our knowledge and experience with other institutions is an important start.

The Zero Waste program is about much more than just separating waste into different bins. We know that the best way to reduce waste is to reduce consumption of items that become waste. One timely example is to find and embrace alternatives to single-serving coffee machines, an activity we are currently working with SFU’s Procurement Office, the UniverCity Trust and student groups to implement. Also in development is a “green certification program” for food vendors to encourage them to move away from the use of Styrofoam and toward more sustainable food packaging, especially less packaging.

In the five months since the launch of the Zero Waste Initiative, SFU has gone from a 29.8% diversion rate in November 2013 to a 47% diversion rate in May 2014. Between January and May 2014, 198 tonnes of waste was diverted from the landfill, accounting for $19,273 savings in landfill disposal fees because of this diversion.