By Jake Weinberger, CCNY Sustainability Coordinator
This spring, our team rolled up our sleeves and got our hands dirty—literally—for an important cause. As part of our commitment to sustainability at The City College of New York (CCNY), the Environmental Health and Occupational Safety and CCNY Sustainability Team conducted a waste audit of the Marshak Science Building to better understand what we’re throwing away and how we can improve waste diversion on campus.
Over the course of the audit, we collected and sorted a total of 78 pounds of waste. After careful categorization, here’s what we found:
- 13% consisted of metal, glass, rigid plastics, and cartons
- 14% was recyclable single-use plastics
- 20% fell into the trash category, including non-recyclable single-use plastics
- 30% was mixed paper and cardboard
- 27% was compostable materials
This audit was part of a continuing effort that began in 2023, when students in the SCIE 32701 Sustainability Engagement Internship course conducted a similar analysis of the NAC (North Academic Center) building. They analyzed 183 pounds of waste. Their findings offered valuable baseline insights, including:
- An average 94% capture rate and 11% contamination rate for paper materials
- A 78% capture rate and 11% contamination rate for metal, glass, plastic, and cartons (MGPC)
- A landfill stream contamination rate of 18%, meaning nearly 1 in 5 items in the trash could have been diverted to compost or recycling.
These findings underscore both our progress and the work still ahead. High capture rates for recyclables like paper and MGPC are promising – but contamination remains a persistent challenge. Items in the wrong bins can render entire batches unrecyclable or un-compostable, ultimately sending valuable resources to the landfill. Our work builds on that foundation, providing updated and comparative data that will help the college track progress and identify problem areas.
So, why are waste audits important?
Waste audits serve as a snapshot of what’s working—and what’s not—in our campus waste systems. By physically sorting and weighing different types of waste, we gain real insight into how much is being composted, recycled, or sent to the landfill. This information is critical in identifying contamination issues, improving signage, updating infrastructure, and ultimately supporting CCNY’s broader climate action and sustainability goals.
As part of CCNY Sustainability’s ongoing commitment to climate leadership, a larger and more comprehensive waste audit is planned for Fall 2025. With the help of student volunteers, the upcoming audit will revisit the NAC building to establish a more detailed baseline of campus waste generation and management practices. This data will help inform future programming, policy development, and engagement strategies aimed at reducing our environmental footprint.
We’re proud of the work our team accomplished and look forward to contributing to CCNY’s long-term vision for a greener campus. If you’re interested in getting involved with future sustainability projects—or want to join the Fall 2025 audit—reach out to CCNY Sustainability and become part of the solution!
