Zero waste

Direction: Achieve zero waste by 2035

Waterloo operates more than 20 unique waste diversion programs and initiatives, providing opportunities to reuse, reduce, and recycle many types of materials across campus. Many of these are longstanding, dating back to the 1980s and the early days of the recycling industry.

In addition to diversion programs, many efforts have been made to integrate educational campaigns into student residence experience, upgrade receptacles and signage to make sorting as easy as possible, and provide online resources to train students and employees on campus waste programs and services.

Despite these efforts, Waterloo’s overall waste diversion rate remains persistently low. A large amount of waste continues to be sent to landfill, due to contamination at various levels of collection and sorting. Annual waste audits consistently find that a large majority of items currently landfilled could have been diverted through other programs. Waterloo also tracks overall waste generation as well as waste per capita, both of which have seen increases over the last several years after declining during the pandemic.

Waterloo will continue to formalize the current Shift:Zero waste action plan, and explore additional opportunities to strengthen waste programming, policies, and engagement efforts.

Indicators

Recycling line icon
25.6% waste diversion rate
Garbage bin line icon
91.8 kg waste generated per capita

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Academic mission

Operational practice

Campus engagement

Related links:

Actions and accomplishments

Two people repairing a sewing machine at repair workshop
Green Residence ambassador promoting Waterloo's waste initiatives in CMH

Historic actions and accomplishments

Actions from various departments and teams at Waterloo to advance this objective have included, but are not limited to:

2024

  • Focused efforts on piloting strategic interventions in residences

2023

  • Formalizing a concrete recycling program for heavy lab waste
  • Launched the Free Store to rehome items that are still in usable condition

2022

  • 4RepairKW launched the Repair Hub to continue building a culture
    of repair on campus
  • WUSA launched the Thrift Store, creating a new space for students to buy and return gently used clothing
  • Launched a move-out program during winter move-out to recover a large portion of items, and offered them to incoming students at a free upcycle pop-up during fall term move-in
  • Hosted inaugural Zero Waste Fair

2021

  • Launched new Shift:Zero Sorting App to improve student and employee sorting efforts
  • Launched PPE recycling program for clinical and lab spaces
  • Began preliminary efforts to track construction and demolition waste through capital projects
  • Implemented an organic waste collection pilot in UWP

2020

  • Completed library waste receptacle fit-out
  • Standardized waste receptacles and centralized sorting were completed for TC, EV1, EV2, EV3, and RCH
  • Hosted virtual Zero Waste Week programming

2019

  • Expanding organics collection in food service areas and lunchrooms
  • Standardized waste signage with photo descriptions
  • Developed a waste receptacle standard to ensure consistency in design, layout, and colour
  • Math 3 became first building to fully implement centralized waste sorting
  • Began collection of monthly building-level waste data

2018

  • Shift:Zero Action Plan developed
  • Completed annual audit with Waste Reduction Group
  • Procured Clean River as standardized recycling bin provider
  • Developed standardized recycling program
  • Tendered and awarded new waste hauling contract for waste, recycling, cardboard, paper, and organics to Waste Connections of Canada; includes future waste audits
  • Launched standardized bins with organics in food service areas
  • Launched standardized bins in outdoor areas
  • Began tracking all surplus sale and furniture donation statistics
  • Expanded eco-container program to all residence cafeterias​
  • Phased out plastic straws

2017

  • Created Waste Working Group to bring together all stakeholders
  • Completed annual waste audit with Waste Reduction Group
  • Hired Environmental Services Manager

 An accessible version of the data can be downloaded here: Waste 2026 (Excel)

Methodology

Boundary

All campuses, including Affiliated and Federated Institutions of Waterloo.

Methodology

Limitations and Exclusions:

  • Does not include information on mixed containers or paper recycling through the blue bin program from 2010-2015, or organics recycling through the green bin program, as this data is not available even though recycling programs existed.
  • Hazardous waste includes chemical waste, PCB, and biohazard waste.
  • The numbers below do not include waste and recycling from the University of Waterloo’s annual Canada Day celebration.

Calculations:

Individual waste streams are calculated as follows:

  • Campus Compost weighs all organics placed in the tumbler.
  • Garbage, hazardous waste, cardboard, batteries, scrap metal, paper, light bulbs, and e-waste numbers are all based on weigh bills provided by the respective service providers.
  • Garbage and cardboard at the Stratford, Kitchener, and Cambridge campuses did not receive weigh bills prior to 2019, but the hauler supplies an industry standard for weight per cubic yard, which is multiplied against the number of bin pickups. This was included in the aggregate garbage total for 2016 (and onward), but was absent in previous years.
  • Containers and mixed papers recycling before 2019 was based on bin counts conducted by Custodial Services and Residence Cleaning Services. Staff developed weekly reports of the number and fullness of recycling bins that have been placed out for collection, which were multiplied by average weights for those bins. Numbers for 2017 were extrapolated for the full year based on weekly averages for weeks during which collections were taken. Due to variability in completeness of the reports, there is a wide range of uncertainty in this methodology, but it does provide some indication of recycling activity. As of 2019, these will be weighed reports from the waste hauler.
  • Scrap untreated wood and brush are processed into mulch on North Campus and reused in gardens. To estimate weight, staff conducted a visual inspection of the approximate number of cubic yards of wood and brush collected, and third-party auditors retained by the University to conduct its annual waste audit multiplied this against industry standards for weight. There is a wide range of uncertainty in this methodology.
  • Yard waste such as grass clippings and leaves is processed in compost windrows on North Campus and reused in gardens. To estimate weight, staff conducted a visual inspection of the approximate number of cubic yards of yard waste collected, and third-party auditors retained by the University to conduct its annual waste audit multiplied this against industry standards for weight. There is a wide range of uncertainty in this methodology.
  • Organics were estimated based on bin collection volumes for 2016 and 2017. In 2018, Waterloo entered into an organics hauling contract as a pilot, which provided weigh bills for materials collected. The hauling contract launched in January 2019 will also weigh all organics going forward.
  • Central Stores began measuring reuse programs through the surplus sale, for furniture that was repurposed, resold, or donated. These items were weighed. Several large donations of furniture to Habitat for Humanity were also weighed on the trucks.
  • Reduction programs such as the Eco-Container and Lug-A-Mug programs through Food Services began reporting measurements for the number of uses in 2018. These were multiplied against average weights for plastic take-out containers and paper coffee cups, respectively.

Diversion rate is calculated as follows, with each variable in terms of weight:

(ReducedorAvoided+ReusedorDonated +Recycled+OrganicsDiverted) / TotalWeightofallMaterialsGenerated (IncludingLandfill)

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