The sustainability office is celebrating waste reduction week with an event, a contest and a giveaway! 

E-Waste Drive from October 21-25: This event allows staff and students to responsibly dispose of unwanted electronics, accessories, and small appliances. Drop-off locations include:

NDC: Library Hallway

EDC: Outside Roblin Centre Shipping and Receiving (W101)

Circular Economy Contest: We are also promoting a battery recycling contest through our partners at Call2Recycle: Enter Now – Circular Economy Contest. They are giving away cash prizes of up to $5000 just for recycling your batteries! Not bad! We’ll have battery recycling boxes and QR codes for entering set up alongside our E-waste bins, located across from the library in the mall at NDC and beside shipping and receiving (W101) in the Roblin Center (EDC).

Chair Giveaway: On Wed, Oct. 23 starting at 10:30 AM the Sustainability team will be giving away a selection of the College’s excess used office chairs.  Chairs will be available in the hallway outside room B105.  One chair per person please. All chairs are pre-loved, but still functional and may be just what you need for your home office upgrade. There will also be a selection of office supplies to be re-homed and free binders in every colour of the rainbow! 

Waste Reduction Week at RRC Polytech: Embracing a Circular Economy Through Waste Diversion

As we celebrate Waste Reduction Week, it’s a perfect time to reflect on how we can minimize our environmental footprint and adopt more sustainable practices. This week offers an opportunity to rethink our consumption habits and explore ways to reduce, reuse, and recycle. At RRC Polytech, we’re committed to fostering a circular economy through robust waste diversion efforts and ensuring that materials are kept in use as long as possible

The concept of a circular economy is built on the idea of extending the lifecycle of products, reducing waste, and regenerating natural systems. Unlike the traditional linear model—where resources are extracted, used, and then discarded—a circular economy focuses on reducing waste at the source, reusing materials, and recycling them into new products. By adopting this approach, RRC Polytech aims to build a more resilient, environmentally friendly future, creating value while minimizing harm to the planet.

Prioritizing Waste Diversion at RRC Polytech

At RRC Polytech, waste diversion is a cornerstone of our sustainability efforts. Our goal is to reduce the amount of waste we generate and divert as much as possible from landfills. This not only helps manage waste more efficiently but also supports conservation efforts, preserves resources, and cultivates a more environmentally conscious campus community.

At the core of our waste management strategy is the “Waste Diversion Pyramid,” a framework that helps us prioritize waste reduction methods with the lowest environmental impact. This hierarchy guides our efforts, focusing on prevention, reuse, recycling, and—only as a last resort—disposal. Here’s how RRC Polytech puts these principles into action:

1. Reduce/Prevent: At the top of the pyramid is the goal of reducing waste at its source. Preventing waste before it is generated can significantly cut down the materials that need management. RRC Polytech supports this through initiatives like Water Bottle Refill Stations, the PaperCut Program, and a Sustainable and Socially Responsible Procurement Policy.

2. Reuse/Repair: Extending the life cycle of products through reuse and repair is another key part of waste diversion. This prevents items from becoming waste prematurely and allows them to serve new purposes. Programs like the Furniture Reuse initiative and NDC Campus Free Shelf exemplify how RRC Polytech is encouraging the reuse of resources, helping to keep materials in circulation longer.

3. Recycle/Compost: While lower on the hierarchy these processes are still essential to our waste management strategy. They convert materials into new products, easing the pressure on landfills and conserving natural resources. Our programs include:

• Hallway Recycling Program: This program ensures that materials like paper, plastics, glass, aluminum cans, and more are sorted and processed at the appropriate facilities. This helps recover valuable materials and reintegrate them into the production cycle.

• Compost Programs: Composting plays a crucial role in RRC Polytech’s organic waste management. At the Notre Dame Campus, we run a pre-consumer compost program, while the Paterson GlobalFoods Institute includes post-consumer waste. The compost produced is used to enrich the soil on our grounds, closing the loop on organic waste.

4. Disposal: When items can’t be reduced, reused, or recycled, we ensure they are disposed of responsibly, especially when dealing with hazardous or chemical waste. By keeping this step as our last resort, we reduce our overall environmental impact.

Recycling 101 at RRC Polytech: Ten Things You Should Know  

1. Coffee cups: Hot coffee & drink cups go in waste bins. Clear-plastic iced coffee cups (#5 plastic) are recyclable. Better yet, put your drink in a re-useable mug!  

2. Recyclables: Plastics #1-5 and #7, glass, aluminum/tin cans, tetrapaks/juice boxes, & milk cartons/jugs go in green hallway recycling bins. No styrofoam, #6 or black plastic!  

3. Paper: Recycle paper, books, magazines, catalogues and flyers in blue hallway bins. 

4. Cardboard: Please flatten ALL boxes and place behind hallway blue bin.  

5. Pens/Batteries/Plastic bags: You can recycle these items in our Re-bins! Located at NDC: outside the Campus Store, Building T (south entrance) & library. At EDC: in Roblin Atrium, 4th fl. PGI residence and second floor at Manitou a bi Bii daziigae. 

6. Staff desk-side recycling & trash bins: Staff are responsible for emptying their own bins into hallway recycling bins. Email the Recycling Team if you need a desk-side bin.  

7. Staff office clean/move-outs: Email the Recycling Team for pickups, or to borrow clean-out bins (textbook recycling, free shelf donations, e-waste, document shredding)  

8. Confidential materials: Use the shredding console in your area. For large shred volumes, contact the Recycling Team for a temporary rolling shred cart. See Confidential Material Guidelines for more info.  

9. Office battery bins: Are located in most office spaces, email the Recycling Team for battery bin pickup. Email Safety & Health Services for damaged or industrial sized batteries. Email Sustainability if you need a battery bin.  

10. E-waste: Email Materials Management to collect any College asset (look for RRC tag and ID number). Email the Recycling Team for pickup of personal & non-asset tagged e-waste.  

Join us in celebrating Waste Reduction Week by taking steps towards a circular economy. Together, we can make a difference—one small action at a time. Let’s use this week to reflect, take action, and work towards a more sustainable future for our community!