Student Blog - Calling on uOttawa to Innovate Plastic Recycling

This semester we are featuring a series of blog posts from students in the ENV 2301 course "History of Environmental Thought". We are super happy to highlight the thoughts and ideas of these bright young individuals.

A student working with Poly plastic recycling machine, (Poly Plastics, 2020).

The University of Ottawa is dedicated in its mission to create a sustainable campus that uses innovation and technology to push towards a green future. The Office of Campus Sustainability is a pillar in this mission. They engage students by creating interactive campaigns that are hard to miss on campus, all while generating conversation around how to be more environmentally conscious. 

Campaigns often focus on waste diversion and engage the community where students have the chance to show off their favourite reusable mug for a free coffee or connect with local farmers while picking up a weekly produce box.

Although the University of Ottawa has made sustainable steps towards a waste-free future, the campus continues to ignore a serious waste issue: recycling. Recycling in Canada seems to be a myth. When you do your part, the job is not over once you recycle your plastic bottle in the blue bin.

Reports from Environment and Climate Change Canada show that only 9% of plastic waste in Canada is actually recycled (Environment and Climate Change Canada, 2018). The remaining waste is either burned for energy, sent to landfills, or leeches into the environment (Environment and Climate Change Canada, 2018). With plastic production at an all-time high, campus recycling infrastructure must be updated to keep recyclable waste out of landfills. Addressing this issue is crucial to allow the University of Ottawa to continue working on its mission of creating a sustainable campus.

Despite having accessible garbage and recycling facilities across campus, this infrastructure alone is simply not enough. The University of Ottawa must update and innovate recycling infrastructure to ensure that plastics and other forms of recyclable waste are properly dealt with. This mission is not impossible and there are dynamic solutions available to help with uOttawa’s waste diversion goals. In response to the plastic waste crisis, emerging companies have worked towards addressing the issue of plastic recycling, or lack thereof. 

Terracycle is a dynamic company that aims to innovate waste solutions by providing consumers with waste collection boxes that can be returned for recycling. There is a range of recycling boxes that help divert waste from landfills by providing recycling solutions for specific products such as personal protective equipment, cleaning supplies, and office supplies (Terracycle, 2021). 

Terracycle could help the University of Ottawa work towards a zero-waste campus by providing solutions where recycling can be difficult to manage. For example, recycling boxes could allow the University to divert waste from laboratories by allowing students to recycle personal protective equipment such as latex gloves and protective eyewear. 

Terracycle isn’t the only solution on the market. Student lead initiatives may also help uOttawa improve its recycling infrastructure. Poly Plastics, a student lead organization, aims to keep water bottles out of landfills by producing products with recycled plastic (Poly Plastics, n.d.). The University could partner with this organization to continue to create new products out of old waste all while keeping plastic out of landfills.

Improving recycling infrastructure on campus is a crucial step towards a waste free future. The time to act is more important now than it ever has been, as the lack of students on campus due to COVID-19 gives the University the time needed to install better recycling facilities. With the plastic crisis continuing to dominate conversations about sustainability, calling for the University of Ottawa to address and improve campus recycling will push the school to remain dedicated to its promises of creating a sustainable campus. 

As members of the University of Ottawa community, we must ask ourselves, “How much of campus waste is included in the 9% of plastic that is truly recycled?”

~ Erika Brummell

References

Environment and Climate Change Canada. (2018, July). Economic Study of the Canadian Plastic Industry, Markets and Waste. Government of Canada Publications. http://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2019/eccc/En4-366-1-2019-eng.pdf

Poly Plastics. (n.d.). About Us. Poly. https://www.polyplastics.ca/about-us

Poly Plastics. (2020) [Photograph of student working with Poly Plastics recycling machine]. Telfer School of Management. https://telfer.uottawa.ca/en/latest-news/enactus-uottawa-in-second-place-at-the-virtual-enactus-nationals-2020/

Terracycle. (2021). Recycle Your Waste. Terracycle. https://www.terracycle.com/en-CA/about-terracycle/recycle_your_waste

University of Ottawa. (n.d.). Activities on Campus. Office of Campus Sustainability. https://sustainable.uottawa.ca/