Pitt students may think they’re being sustainable when they toss their coffee cups into campus recycling bins, but in reality, they could be doing more harm than good.
On Pitt’s campus, many recycling bins are contaminated daily with non-recyclable waste. Recycling contamination reduces the likelihood that actual recyclable materials will be properly processed and increases the chance that the entire bin’s contents will end up in landfills.
According to the Pitt sustainability webpage, paper, metal, plastics and glass can be recycled at Pitt’s single-stream recycling locations. Disposable hot coffee cups, plastic bags, cartons, small lids, straws and styrofoam, however, cannot be recycled.
Cassidy Laffey, a senior environmental engineering student, said that although the University does have ample recycling bins, sustainability education among students may be insufficient.
“They do have recycling cans everywhere, but I don’t know if the education aspect is there enough to make them useful,” Laffey said. “I think [the University is] offering the outlet, but not teaching students how to use it.”
According to Laffey, including photographs of acceptable materials on recycling bins can make the recycling process clearer. Visual signage is often included on recycling bins across campus, but this signage is not always clear or visible.
“I like whenever the [recycling bins] have the pictures,” Laffey said. “If you say plastic can go in the recycling, but not a plastic fork, that gets confusing. So photos help.”
Nonrecyclable items might get mistaken as recyclable because of a lack of markings or clarification. Items that may appear to consist of paper, such as coffee cups, often consist of mixed materials that contain plastic and therefore cannot be recycled.
According to Allie Neidert, a senior psychology major, bins that have a visual component make recycling easier and more efficient.
“More accessible signage that is easier to read, quick, won’t take much of your time and convenient to students would be helpful,” Neidert said. “I think imagery is definitely better because it takes less thought.”
Emily Potoczny, sustainability engagement manager in the Office of Sustainability, said when in doubt about whether a certain item is recyclable, students should make the decision to throw away the item to avoid contaminating bins.
“If the recycling bin has a lot of items that can’t be recycled, like food, plastic bags and coffee cups, then that material cannot be placed in the recycling dumpster as the hauling company can reject the entire load,” Potoczny said.
Potoczny recommends that students look at Pitt Sustainability’s Zero Waste page to find recycling and compost drop-off information for items including textiles, electronics, batteries and more.
Despite ongoing city-wide contamination concerns, campus sustainability efforts aimed at educating the student population and reducing waste are currently underway, according to Potoczny.
In January 2018, the University published the Pitt Sustainability Plan in an effort to determine target areas that align with the University’s sustainability goals. The goals of this plan are centered around community and culture, stewardship and exploration. To reduce consumption and waste, Pitt has also adopted reuse programs, single-stream recycling, composting and new recycling opportunities.
“Though pandemic-influenced, the University first met the Pitt Sustainability Plan goal to reduce landfill waste 25% below 2017 levels in 2020 and 2021,” Potocynzy said. “The great news is that since then, we’ve been able to continue to meet this goal every year since 2020, even given growth in campus population.”
Priya Patel, a senior exercise science major and vice president of Students for Sustainability, described her own experience with recycling at Pitt.
“Even as a senior here — and I’m a part of a sustainability team — I’m still confused about certain areas, including where to recycle,” Patel said.
Patel remarked that although information on where to recycle specific materials is accessible to students, she feels that this information is not properly promoted around campus.
“The Student Office of Sustainability provides the information, but I feel like it’s not spread out to the campus,” Patel said. “I know they promote on their Instagram and send out emails and all of that — it’s just that the University, as a whole, has to promote that and promote the SOOS’s information.”
Patel also feels that recycling bins can be difficult to physically locate on campus, despite information provided by SOOS about specific campus recycling locations.
“The SOOS has provided us with locations where you can recycle things like clothing, batteries and electronics, but in general, sometimes, they [recycling bins] are just hidden,” Patel said.
According to Patel, many recycling bins on campus could be made more visible and accessible to students.
“Honestly, I think the University needs to promote sustainability as a whole,” Patel said. “I know here and there they do, but it needs to be more prominent.”