Recycling Practices Questioned

Although Exonians may believe they help the environment by recycling as many items as possible, currently, Grill staff throw away approximately four out of five bags designated as recycling due to non-recyclable contaminants.

“The trash bags labelled ‘recycling’ nearly never contains only recyclables,” Susannah Smith*, a worker in Grill, said. “Only rarely can we actually throw them into ‘recycling’—I’d say less than one for every five bags.”

“My personal goal as the Environmental Compliance Manager is to keep raising awareness regarding recycling and the global issues and impacts of contaminated recycling streams,” [DeGenova] said.

Many Exonians, while conversing with friends or rushing to the next class, unknowingly throw non-recyclable items, including food scraps and plastic products, into the recycling bins. These bags, ostensibly named “recycling,” are thrown into the landfill.

In the wake of the United Nations’ Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5 degrees, Exonians have questioned the school’s efforts towards sustainability and environmental consciousness. The report claims that “there [are] only a dozen years for global warming to be kept to a maximum of 1.5 C, beyond which even half a degree will significantly worsen the risks of drought, floods, extreme heat and poverty,” according to The Guardian.

When the recyclables and compostables are contaminated, Grill staff have no alternative but to send them to the landfill. “There are multiple categories where trash is thrown away at Grill, but a lot of it ends up going into the trash because it doesn't match recycling requirements,” Smith said. “Grill employees aren’t paid to sort through trash.” This same issue also occurs in the Mail Room—bins labelled “paper” contain non-paper items.

Environmental Compliance Manager Tegan DeGenova noted the prevalence of “Wish Recycling,” a phenomenon that describes how people “throw the wrong things into the recycling container because it feels better to think these items are being recycled,” she said. Common examples include plastic straws, plastic utensils and foam-based coffee cups.

Eight out of the 12 students interviewed said that they go to Grill at least seven times a week. When further questioned, only nine said they look at the labels of waste receptacles before tossing their waste into them.

Although DeGenova did an all-school presentation on recycling earlier in the term, she acknowledged significant challenges in educating everyone on recyclable versus non-recyclable items.

“Like any other large residential campus, it is very difficult to capture all of the recyclable material, because it requires everyone on campus to know exactly what is acceptable in the recycling process and which container to place it in,” DeGenova said. “Add to this the fact that many of our collection containers are accessible to the Exeter Community, it is near impossible to be ‘perfect.’” Exeter’s recyclables have never been contaminated, however, to a degree where our waste management service, Casella Waste Systems, would have to reject them.

In order to raise awareness about proper recycling methods, DeGenova is working with Casella Waste Systems on an initiative to create signs that illustrate which items can be recycled. This strategy has been tested out in the past, however, with some negative consequences.

“Many [signs] get written on, moved or destroyed,” she said. “It is hard to keep up with the physical and financial burden of reprinting and reposting signage.”

DeGenova is determined, however, to work through these difficulties. “My personal goal as the Environmental Compliance Manager is to keep raising awareness regarding recycling and the global issues and impacts of contaminated recycling streams,” she said.

DeGenova noted that Exonians do not consume more and are not more oblivious than the rest of the United States. According to Casella Waste’s Recycling and Diversion Progress Report for the 2017-18 school year, though 38 percent of PEA’s waste was pure trash, the school still helped reduce 724 metric tons of greenhouse gas by recycling and sending non-recyclables to landfills that turn biological waste into electricity. If these measures had not been in place, the school would have added 491 metric tons of greenhouse gas to the atmosphere.

In addition to this success, Exeter’s Dining Hall compost system is succeeding. According to DeGenova, the Academy has had a robust composting program for more than six years. “There is a waste pulper machine in Elm that processes the food, before it is sent out to composting,” she said. Food from Wetherell and Grill is gathered here for processing twice a week.

“We work closely with Dining Services to provide composting at major events throughout the academic year. There are also a few dormitories that participate in the composting program as well as faculty across campus,” DeGenova said.

The student-run Environmental Board started dorm composting programs last year. Senior Catherine Griffin, a member of the board, explained that the board first piloted the composting program in Hoyt, Dunbar, Bancroft and Langdell Halls.

“Part of the job of the E-Proctors was to take out the composting on certain days of the week. Our composting bins are pretty efficient because they are essentially compostable trash bags so all the E-Proctors have to do is swap out the bags. These bins also have charcoal filters so that they don’t release bad odors.”

When asked about student awareness of climate change, Griffin noted a disconnect between those who spend a lot of time doing research about the issue and the rest of campus.

“I definitely think that there are some people that are very aware of climate change but then some of those people who participate more passively,” she said. “I definitely think that there could be a greater emphasis on sustainability in classes and more general knowledge about the importance of it. This needs to extend beyond Climate Action Day.”

In a similar vein, senior Nyaila Newbold spoke to students’ need for constant reminders about what is recyclable. “I have a general idea of what's recyclable—plastic, cardboard, paper—though I’m not very sure. It’s easy to forget,” she said.

*Asterisks denote name change to protect anonymity.