Emory University
OP-23: Waste Diversion

Emory University has had a successful on-campus recycling program, Emory Recycles, since 1990 and a growing composting program since 2009. Emory Recycles program supports waste management on Emory University’s campus and satellite locations and Emory Healthcare’s Clifton Road Clinics by collecting recyclables for recycling. Recycling containers are located in residence halls and classrooms for student recycling; offices, clinics and labs for faculty and staff recycling and compost collections. In 1998, a Material Recovery Facility (MRF) was built on campus. With the addition of the MRF, Emory Recycles is able to extend services to surrounding organizations. Currently, Emory Recycles provides recycling service for the Carter Center, the CDC, neighboring apartment complexes and neighboring retirement homes. Program commodities include glass, paper, aluminum, cardboard, e-waste, construction and demolition waste, scrap metal, and most recently, food waste and animal bedding. In fiscal year 2013, the program recovered 2069 tons of material for recycling, 656 tons of material for composting, diverting 40 percent of University waste. Since the inception of a food waste and animal bedding composting program in October of 2009, the program’s diversion rate has increased by 15 percent. The composting program at Emory is a closed loop system whereby food and wood waste are composted and returned to the university as a soil amendment used for capital projects, semi-annual plantings, and in Emory’s sustainable gardens.
Emory recently began establishment of “Zero Waste Facilities” on campus. Currently, there are twelve campus buildings that have invested in becoming zero waste facilities. A Zero Waste facility provides containers for recycling and compost in locations such as bathrooms, break rooms, lobbies, classrooms, mail and copy rooms.
Recovery rates have been steadily increasing since the composting program’s inception.

Formed in spring 2014, Campus Kitchens Emory is a student-run organization that repurposes and donates unused food from several campus dining locations (with plans to expand to catering and additional campus locations) to local kitchens and food pantries. Approximately 350 pounds of bread and pastries were collected and donated during the group's first month of operations in April 2014. This group is a branch of the national Campus Kitchens organization which operates on multiple campuses across the nation. Campus Kitchens Emory partners with Volunteer Emory, Emory Dining, Sodexo, Office of Sorority and Fraternity Life, and the Office of Sustainability.

Emory has partnered with Southern Green Industries (SGI), the leading organic recycling company servicing the Southeast, to establish a comprehensive composting program for Emory's campus. Pre-consumer food waste is collected in Emory's Dining Service facilities and deposited into 32 gallon bins that are serviced by SGI. SGI transports the material to Wilbros Composting in Toccoa, Georgia where the material is processed into compost. The compost produced at the Wilbros facility is then purchased by the Emory Grounds Department and used for semi-annual planting beds, capital projects, and to amend existing landscape beds including the Educational Gardens on campus. Pre-consumer composting is taking place in the DUC Residence Dining Hall, Cox Hall, Fraternity Row dining facilities, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University Hospital cafeteria, and Wesley Woods’s hospital.
Food, fiber, and compostable services residuals that can be composted in either pre-consumer or post-consumer composting streams include:
*meat, poultry, fish
*shellfish and bones
*eggs and dairy products
*table scraps and scrapings
*fruits and vegetables
*bread, dough, pasta and grains
*coffee grounds, filters & tea bags
*paper towels, napkins and plates
*paper take-out containers
*pizza boxes
*paper cups
*waxed cardboard and paper
*products made from bagasse (sugarcane fibers)
*PLA products (corn-based)

Emory has partnered with Southern Green Industries (SGI), the leading organic recycling company servicing the Southeast, to establish a comprehensive composting program for Emory's campus. Post-consumer food waste is deposited into dedicated composting bins or scraped off plates and collected by Emory's Dining Services, Building and Residential Services (BRS), and Emory Recycle’s staff. The materials are deposited into 95 gallon bins that are collected and sent to Southern Green Industries (SGI) for sorting. SGI transports the material to Wilbros Composting in Toccoa, Georgia where the material is processed into compost. The compost produced at the Wilbros facility is then purchased by the Emory Grounds Department and used for semi-annual planting beds, capital projects, and to amend existing landscape beds including the Educational Gardens on campus. Post-consumer composting is taking place in the DUC Residence Dining Hall, Cox Hall, Fraternity Row dining facilities, Rollins School of Public Health, Health Sciences Research Building (HSRB), Administration Building, 1599 Clifton Rd, 1762 Clifton Road, Claudia Nance Rollins, The Depot, Law School, Goizueta Business School, Miller-Ward Alumni House, Student Athletics and Activities Center (SAAC), School Of Medicine , School of Theology, Woodruff Residential Hall. Animal bedding is being collected in the Division of Animal Resources locations at the Emory Clinic B, Whitehead Biomedical Research, and HSRB.
Food, fiber, and compostable services residuals that can be composted in either pre-consumer or post-consumer composting streams include:
*meat, poultry, fish
*shellfish and bones
*eggs and dairy products
*table scraps and scrapings
*fruits and vegetables
*bread, dough, pasta and grains
*coffee grounds, filters & tea bags
*paper towels, napkins and plates
*paper take-out containers
*pizza boxes
*paper cups
*waxed cardboard and paper
*products made from bagasse (sugarcane fibers)
*PLA products (corn-based)
*Animal bedding (corn and cotton based)

Books, textiles, ice packs, grease traps, e-waste