Toward Zero Waste – A Study in Reducing and Managing Lab Waste

In the last 30 years, mixed recycling and organics composting initiatives have drastically reduced the total amount of landfill waste generated in North American communities, and despite these encouraging trends, communities continue to experience land shortages for sanitary landfills. Zero-Waste initiatives offer a potential way forward to further reduce the amount of landfill waste generated by communities and they offer a way to switch how waste is perceived. The University of Calgary has established a strategic goal to become a Zero-Waste community and one of the main challenges to overcome is the high volume of non-hazardous waste that the research labs generate. The Zero Waste Hierarchy developed by the Zero Waste International Alliance offers a conceptual framework which can guide the implementation of a zero-waste initiative at the University of Calgary research labs. This project will offer support for research labs (and potentially health related laboratories) to achieve zero-waste by: reduced consumption, creative re-use through waste marketing, increased recycling using thoughtful system design, and material and energy recovery using waste management technologies. My proposed project is coordinated by local Calgary non-profit Nature’s Ride (https://natures-ride.com/), and along with progressing the University’s Zero-Waste objectives, my study findings will be used to develop a school program that explores our perception of waste, introduces the concept of system wide waste management initiatives (such as Extended Producer Responsibility and consolidated recycling management), along with giving practical ways students can exercise zero-waste habits in their own lives.

Faculty Supervisor:

Poornima Jayasinghe

Student:

Partner:

Nature's Ride through Art Society

Discipline:

Business

Sector:

Sustainability & the Environment; Education; Energy and Utilities

University:

University of Calgary

Program: