Getting SFU to Zero Waste
In 2014, SFU launched the Zero Waste Initiative. The initiative, which was developed by the Sustainability Office in partnership with Facilities Services (and now Ancillary Services), aims to double the amount of waste we recycle or compost by 2015, while diverting 70% of our waste from landfills. This goal, which forms an important part of the SFU Sustainability Strategic Plan (2013-2016), mirrors the targets of Metro Vancouver in both the percentage and timeline, making the SFU Zero Waste Initiative part of a bigger, regional goal to have one of the highest recycling rates worldwide.
The Zero Waste Committee is formed of members from across the university and works to develop and support the university’s Zero Waste goals. As a learning and research initiative, community feedback and student course work forms an important part of the program and is used to improve and update it as we progress.
SFU is pioneering standardized recycling stations across all its campuses and becoming a leader in zero waste best practice. What’s more, we are going beyond waste diversion to tackle waste at the source, by embedding zero waste practices throughout university operations and aiming to minimize all waste produced.
Beside the very impactful change this committee is implementing one of its greatest successes is that it this committee works effectively as a cross-unit team demonstrating the power and effectiveness of collaboration and a partnership built on shared goals and mutually beneficial outcomes. SFU’s approach to sustainability is built off this method of mutual engagement and the Zero Waste Committee is the exemplar of this approach.
Members of the Zero Waste Committee are: Rachel Telling, Grady Ott, Frank De Vita, Todd Gattinger, Mark McLaughlin, Candace Le Roy, Dan Traviss, Laura Simonsen, Mebs Lalani, Roxann Bury, John Flipse, Brady Yano, Joshua Cairns, Chris Hodgson, Marie Schneider, Craig Changfoot, Dale Mikkelsen, Adriano Silva, Nicholas Tiganis, Eric Olson, Jessica Jutras and Lynda Hewitt.