Campus Race to Zero Waste 2023
This year, several higher education institutions across America are taking part in the Campus Race to Zero Waste 2023 campaign. To help universities address contamination in recycling streams, the National Wildlife Federation and Rubicon Technologies Inc. have united to provide an online seminar. Through this forum, they will show practical methods for dealing with this issue on college campuses.
At Rubicon, senior sustainability analyst, Emily Roberts, is devoted to helping provide customers with circular solutions for enhancing personal recycling operations. She comments, “A big reason why [a strong and resilient recycling system] is important is so we’re able to make the shift from looking at waste as just waste—a byproduct of production and consumption—to a resource or a set of resources that are recirculated.”
According to her, it is particularly critical in the United States to make this shift, as huge amount of “single-use or disposable” products are still being used.
Last year in June, the Department of Interior declared that they would be inhibiting single-use plastic items and packaging on public lands by 2032. However, besides prohibiting single-use products altogether, Roberts states, “Recycling is a really important part of this transition from a linear to a circular economy.”
Contamination in Recycling Streams
The potential for contamination in recycling streams can be caused by a variety of issues. This could include an absence of guidance on correct disposal methods, the mixing of consumer and employee bins, or simply not enough time or space to properly sort items.
These results can have serious implications mainly effecting safety, quality, and the longevity of machinery.
“It adds cost, time and confusion,” Roberts said. “That could be the cost of extra labor, extra equipment, and confusion for all stakeholders. If I’m a consumer and I see a contaminant inside [a recycling bin], that may cause me to think, ‘Hey, actually maybe this type of plastic does go in here.’”
Potential Solutions
According to Roberts, it is possible to combat the issues associated with contamination in recycling streams. One way to do this is by monitoring contamination at its source. For example, that could range from a residential curbside bin to a dumpster in a supermarket.
“What’s important when we’re thinking about how to overcome this is really what is the [specific] contamination problem,” she stated. “We need to define what specific problems are occurring, find a way to provide feedback on those, then see if that has an impact, whether that’s positive or negative”.
Roberts emphasized that manual methods, such as “a good old fashioned waste sort,” can still be used to identify contaminants in addition to technology-driven solutions.
Smart Bins
When it comes to technological solutions, Roberts suggested leveraging a “smart bin” to assist with recycling. One popular example is the Bin-e smart waste bin, which can identify, sort, and compress materials.
Bin-e, a Polish startup, has developed an AI-powered smart bin with the purpose of addressing waste management in public areas. The receptacle is intended to effectively sort and compress materials as it fills up, while monitoring the types of substances it processes. To assist customers with data management, Bin-e offers an app that provides technical status updates on the bin itself.
Currently, smart bins are being utilized in Asia, Australia, and Europe.
“Obviously, a similar effect can hopefully be achieved with signage and training for people that are interacting with this bin,” Roberts said.
Another modern solution many companies are turning to is the installation of bin sensors in commercial dumpsters. These sensors can detect contaminants, and when identified, send an alert to employees so they can take corrective measures.
“It takes data points at set intervals, then uses the camera,” Roberts explained. “It can alert that employee, and that employee can remediate it before it’s picked up. They could send someone to get it or, if that’s unsafe, they can log that piece of information to see if it keeps happening and come up with a training or education program for employees or consumers at the location.”
Carrot Tech
At the point of collection, utilizing apps for recycling feedback has become more common, particularly regarding curbside recycling. Carrot Tech, a company based out of Oslo, created software that can gather information with the intention of inspiring and rewarding individuals and organizations to recycle, and be involved in the closed-loop economy.
Carrot Tech’s mobile app helps households keep track of the amount of waste they produce, and provides useful information on changes and improvements that have been made over time.
“Those users can see the impact of their actions over time,” she said. “They can see their history of what types of solid waste they have generated [and] recycled, [and] a similar feedback mechanism could be used on a college campus or at a smaller scale to really give feedback to the consumer on what the impact of their actions has been over time”.
Further stating, “I think this is a good example of an education or feedback tool that could hopefully be implemented before the point of collection or at the point of collection to educate consumers on what they can [recycle] and what would end up being a contaminant”.
Chatbot Technology
The Recycling Partnership in Washington, or TRP, has developed a real-time interactive “chatbot” to help answer consumer questions about what can be recycled in their local area. Currently, this service is offered through TRP’s website as a beta version.
RUBICONSmartCity
RUBICONSmartCity technology is the perfect solution for waste and recycling fleets. Not only does it provide a tracking and feedback platform, but also enables identification of contamination, verifies collection services, provides driver behavior metrics, furnishes real-time route progress data, and offers operational insights. This comprehensive suite of tech tools is an ideal choice for improved fleet performance.
Roberts commented about Rubicon’s technology stating that, “The idea is that it’s taking a picture of all the waste going into that hopper … [and] identifying things that shouldn’t be there … and allowing the public works team to see that information and aggregate it over time”.
At the moment, RUBICONSmartCity technology cannot distinguish compostable bags from other kinds of plastic bags. However, she stated that businesses are working hard to further develop the technology in order to combat this unique challenge.
How2Recycle Labels
An effective way to ensure consumers understand how to recycle an item is by implementing How2Recycle labels on the product. Roberts pointed out that this low-tech solution can achieve great results at the point of sale. Additionally, product design can play an important role in decreasing contamination levels.
From the product design phase onward, Roberts stressed the importance of creating items and packaging that are easy to recycle. She also noted how designers must aim to minimize any potential confusion on consumer products.
“Recycling really works best when producers of new products and packaging really design with recyclability in mind,” she said.
Campus Race to Zero Waste Results
Results of this year’s Campus Race to Zero Waste in 2023, including data on diversion, per-capita recycling and food organics categories, will be officially announced in April. However, preliminary numbers can already be accessed here.
