Harvard students improve recycling
Students from the Faculty of Arts and Sciences’ Resource Efficiency Program (REP) and staff from Harvard Recycling conducted the 13th annual waste audit on Nov. 11. The audit assesses how well undergraduate residents separate recyclable papers, cardboard, bottles, and cans by measuring the weight of these items discarded as trash and not recycled. The team audited a random sample of 34 trash bags generated by undergraduate residences between Nov. 7 and Nov. 10. Dressed in protective gowns, dust masks, goggles, and gloves, auditors separated the refuse into five categories: single-stream recyclables (paper, cardboard, bottles, cans, cups, and containers made of plastics 1-7); reusables; compostables; liquids; and other residuals (trash). Results showed that recyclables comprised 25 percent of the sampled trash. Last year, 32 percent of Harvard’s trash was recyclable. This is the lowest fraction of recyclables in the trash since the audits began in 1999. “Boxes, water bottles, and coffee cups were the...