In an effort to increase waste diversion to align with Niagara College’s sustainability goals, waste receptacles will be removed from all classrooms, offices, and meeting rooms on April 1.
Students are asked to take their waste to common receptacles located nearby in common spaces. Waste receptacles will remain in labs and office kitchenettes. Event organizers are asked to make a plan for waste.
Waste management is a core priority for Niagara College, and this decision is an alignment of both Niagara campuses to centralized waste management. This change builds upon a similar initiative when waste bins were phased out of classrooms at the Daniel J. Patterson Campus in NOTL in 2012 and will support our goal of a 65 per cent diversion rate. Learn more about our waste diversion goals.
The College’s annual waste audit measures materials that end up in the wrong bin. Data from that audit, as well as feedback from cleaning staff, tells us that much of this contamination comes from classroom and office bins.
Every choice at the bin has a massive downstream impact. When recycling is contaminated, entire loads often end up in landfills. A centralized waste management program supports improved sorting and reduced contamination, which is more cost effective and better for the environment.
New Oscar Sort bins
The College recently introduced Oscar Sort, an AI Recycling Assistant, to campus to help take the guesswork out of recycling. Using real-time scanning, Oscar identifies waste items and guides users to the correct bin, providing instant feedback to improve recycling habits.
Four bins are available (two at each campus) for you to try!
Daniel J. Patterson Campus in Niagara-on-the-Lake:
- Cafeteria near the entrance
- Outside of Yerich/E102d
Welland Campus:
- Cafeteria cross from Tim Hortons
- Applied Health across from Tim Hortons
For questions, please contact:
- Welland Campus: Jeff Collee, Associate Director, Facilities Management Services
- DJP-NOTL Campus: Tom Mussari, Associate Director, Facilities Management Services
Thank you for your cooperation and support of College sustainability efforts.
