Waste at UF
The University Physical Plant Department (PPD) Solid Waste Management Office manages the collection and disposal of all solid waste generated through University operations, including medical waste. It also manages the University's Recycling Program and provides collection and recycling services for paper, corrugated cardboard, glass, aluminum, and plastic beverage containers, scrap metal, wooden pallets, concrete, masonry, yard waste and other widely used materials.
Through waste reduction and recycling initiatives, UF achieves a waste recovery rate of nearly 35%, and recycles over 5,500 tons of material annually. Throughout campus, divisions are doing their part to divert waste streams. For example, all yard waste generated on campus is re-purposed into mulch at a local recovery facility, all wastewater treatment sludge is applied locally as a soil amendment, and dining services collects cooking-oil waste for biodiesel production. Even the animal bedding in the Vet school is being decontaminated and composted for commercial forestry.
All of these efforts are an important part of waste reduction at UF, but none of them is possible without the cooperation and commitment of the UF community. To help UF reach its goal of Zero Waste by 2015, it is important that divisions do their part to divert waste streams. You can help reduce waste by remembering that all four “R’s” in the Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Re-buy chain are important. All of us need not only to recycle, but also to think about how we can lower our consumption of disposable goods, reuse or share items, and purchase items with recycled content. Check out the following topics for more information: Paper, Reduce-Reuse-Rethink, and Recycle.
