The Pitch In program is designed to make recycling and discarding waste as easy as 1-2-3. Waste and recycling are now three bins found together in hallways and nicknamed trios. Each bin is labelled either Paper, Containers, or Landfill and complemented by a colorful sign that lets you know what goes where. This sets people up to make the right decision every time! This program was a finalist for the AASHE Sustainability Award 2017. Waste haulers and what they accept differ at campus locations, so signs may vary.

Sorting it Out

Containers. This bin is for items with the recycling symbol and corresponding number accepting everything but #6, glass, or coffee cups. Acceptable materials often consist of milk cartons, plastic bottles, and food tins.

Paper. This bin is for paper, boxboard (cereal  & Kleenex boxes etc),  books, magazines, and flyers (even glossy). We separate this stream from containers to ensure that our paper is uncontaminated, so it can live on for many more lives. We ask that all large cardboard boxes are flattened and slide behind the bins.

Landfill. The bin of last resort. Anything that can’t be diverted through Paper or Containers, like single-use coffee cups, goes here.

For the Hall it! program, we removed all garbage and recycling bins from classrooms and offices so that students and staff use the trios in the hallway.

This keeps classrooms and offices cleaner and leads to a more thoughtful disposal process.

When food waste goes into the landfill, food scraps ferment and emit large amounts of the dangerous greenhouse gas methane.

Composting properly manages this decomposition eliminating methane from producing. Waste such as fruit and veggie scraps, eggshells, coffee grounds, fish, meat and dairy are all collected through two different programs:

Notre Dame Campus: Pre-Consumer Compost Program

Pre-consumer composting is often prep waste and unserved leftovers from kitchens. Culinary Arts students and Food Services collect the waste that is then weighed by the Recycling Team and transported to an on-site compost pile managed by the Grounds Department. The finished compost is used to fertilize the College’s grounds and flower beds.

Here’s a look at our annual compost weights over the years:

NDC Annual Organics Collection

	2016	2017	2018
Annual Totals (kg)	22,507	21,314	19,961

Paterson GlobalFoods Institute: Pre and Post-Consumer Compost Program

PGI Campus has both a pre and post-consumer composting program. Not only are food scraps gathered from kitchens, there is also a compost waste stream for customers. These bins are in the Annex and accept that last bite you just couldn’t finish, your napkins, wood stir sticks, and even your take-out container!

Thanks to you, Food Services, Culinary Arts kitchens, Culinary Exchange kitchen and cafeteria, and Jane’s restaurant, our compost weights continue to grow:

RRC Polytech PGI Campus Annual Organics Collection

	2016	2017	2018
Annual Totals (kg)	73,300	61,290	64,780

Recycling your writing instruments such as pens, markers, highlighters and mechanical pencils, as well as small household batteries and plastic bags help divert waste from the landfill. All these items can be toxic to the environment. Here’s how you can help:

ReBin

Our ReBins collect markers, pens, and pencils that then get sent to Staples Recycling Program, to be made into new recycled products like these here. Plastic bags can also be disposed here and go to Winnipeg Harvest’s Bag It Forward Program, supplying emergency food kits to over 64,000 Manitobans monthly.  

Notre Dame Campus Locations:

• Outside the Campus Store, Mall Level
• In the Library, Mall Level

Roblin Centre Locations:

• Outside the Campus Store, Atrium

Battery Recycling

You can keep batteries out of the landfill by putting them in battery bins. These boxes are intended to collect small, household batteries only. Unsure? Click here. Contact RRC Polytech Health & Safety for any industrial, non-household or damaged battery disposal.