Wells College
OP-23: Waste Diversion

We instituted a comprehensive recycling system in Fall 2014. We began our first campus-wide move-out collection at the end of the academic year, reprising this with a fall semester "mini-move-out" collection, to divert materials before winter break. The tonnage of materials diverted from landfill above reflects only the actual weights of collected commingled recyclables in 2015. We currently divert many other materials from landfill trash, but we do not have mechanisms in place to measure the weights of those materials. Our grounds crews have long gathered and composted yard waste. Our dining operation collects cooking oil and this is removed by an outside contractor. Other long-standing diversion programs include collection of motor oil, tires, appliances, scrap metal, pallets, e-waste. We recently instituted collection for plastic bags, batteries, light bulbs, toner cartridges, and books. We have reuse programs internally for clothing, costumes, housewares, room furnishings, arts and crafts, recreational reading matter. We also have an exchange for office supplies. We instituted a moveout collection program to divert unwanted clothing, textiles, housewares and non-perishable foods from landfill waste, offering them to local food pantries, schools, thrift stores, and reuse programs. Usable furniture is donated to local organizations. White goods (appliances) and scrap metal are saved on campus until sufficient volume is accumulated to warrant pick up a scrap metal hauler/processor.

We do not yet do prepared food donations from the dining or catering operations. During move-out collections, we do accept non-perishable food items and donate these to a local food pantry.

The dining hall staff are currently separating and collecting preparation waste, in preparation for us to "close the loop" on establishing our own on-site composting operation or contracted off-campus compost processing. Those separated compostable materials are, at present, being added back into our landfill waste stream. We hope to change that in the near future.

We collect coffee grounds from the student-run GRIND Cafe and transfer these to a vermiculture composting arrangement near the organic garden behind McGordon House. In our dining hall, we separately compostable food waste but have not yet been able to "close the loop" to establish our own on-site composting operation or made arrangements with a hauler/processor to accept our food waste for processing.