Zero waste is an ambitious goal that Charlotte鈥檚 Office of Sustainability is achieving through the Zero Waste Stadium initiative with help from volunteers, including students from the Honors College. Zero Waste is based on diverting as much waste as possible from going to the landfill, and promotes source reduction, reuse, recycling and compost as alternatives to landfilling waste. Charlotte鈥檚 Zero Waste Stadium initiative, coordinated by facilities management, business services (and contractor Chartwells) and athletics, covers all home football games, plus the day after sorting events.
At these games, cups, tubs, bottles and cans are collected for recycling, while all food waste and paper packaging goes to a compost facility. Volunteers and paid staff work together the day after the game to sort items collected. Every bag is opened, inspected and sorted into 鈥渨aste streams鈥� including several categories of recycling (cardboard, paper, bottles, cans and several plastics), compost and trash. Sorted materials are carted to dumpsters for delivery to local companies.
鈥淭hrough our efforts, we are building appreciation for both the professional staff who clean the campus and for the valuable materials we can cycle into our local economy,鈥� said Mike Lizotte, university sustainability officer. 鈥淐arrying and sorting a stadium load of waste lets students see what it takes to handle waste responsibly.鈥�