Getting to Zero Waste: Waste Audits

Project Leads: Lin King, Julie Brown, Hanna Miller, Brenly Stapley, Melissa McDowell, Chika Kondo, John Ezaki

Sponsor: Campus Recycling & Refuse Services

TGIF Grant: $17,424

Project Theme: Waste Reduction

Project Location

2012 Application Submission

Status: Complete

Project Description: Funding will allow CRRS to standardize and perform week-long waste audits in collaboration with student interns, providing needed metrics for UC Berkeley’s zero waste plans.

Goals: Standardize and perform waste audits on campus in conjunction with student groups in order to arrive at a more defined and accurate set of data from which we will plan projects and programs aimed at reaching Zero Waste by 2020. Conduct waste audits of campus buildings, departments, cafes, and operational units. Ensure audits are conducted in consultation with organizations that would use the data as metrics for their program. Identify what the campus community is disposing of, where, and how much, data which is critical for identifying buildings and departments to target for waste diversion as well as to assess current programs and inform future projects. Train students in the CRRS, Compost Alliance, Building Sustainability at Cal, and the Plastics Disclosure Project, on these standardized waste audit techniques.