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According to our best estimate, the university produces roughly 7 tons of waste per day on average, or 2,555 tons of waste per year. Over the spring semester, the Sustainability Unit conducted a comprehensive audit of all campus canteens and found that the waste from these establishments accounts almost half of the total waste, or a little more than 3 tons per day. The remainder is split between the waste from academic buildings and waste from residence halls and staff quarters.
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Location
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Best estimates
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Staff Quarters
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0.8 tons / day
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Residence Halls
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0.7 tons / day
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Catering (LG1 refuse chamber)
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0.4 tons / day
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Catering (LG7 refuse chamber)
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1.2 tons /day
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Catering (all other)
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0.6 tons / day
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Academic Buildings
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1.8 tons / day
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Government collected dry waste
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1.0 tons / day
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Special waste (big events, furniture)
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0.5 tons / day
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Total
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7 tons / day (average)
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Estimates of the total waste generated five years ago indicated that the university was producing roughly eight tons of waste per day. To generate seven tons now – even with more staff, more buildings, and more students – suggests that the university is doing better in reducing and reusing materials.
The performance of the university's recycling efforts is mixed. Recycling data shows that the amount of paper collected has declined over the past few years, while the collection of metals and plastic are creeping up. As a measurable benchmark, the recycled items divided by the overall waste gives us a recycling rate of 4.6%.
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