With a campus as large as Cornell's, using reusable mugs or recycled toner cartridges can reduce the waste stream by several tons. So it's essential that the university have strong programs to make sure waste is handled responsibly. The 30,000 people who make up the Cornell community generate about 11,000 tons of waste a year. But less than half of it ends up as garbage. The rest - over 60 percent! - is composted or recycled. Of course, to reduce that garbage even more is to generate less of it in the first place. With dedicated "reduce, reuse, and recycle" programs, along with mandated and voluntary waste-reduction policies, Cornell continues to decrease how much trash it contributes to the waste stream.
Agricultural composting
This is important at Cornell, with its agricultural and veterinary research and teaching activities generating about 6,000 tons of animal bedding, crop leftovers, and greenhouse waste a year.
Dining hall waste
About 320 tons of food scrap are composted a year from Cornell's dining halls. This not only reduces waste, it generates valuable compost that can replace chemical fertilizers and enhance the soil.
Solid waste
Where does Cornell's waste come from? Where does it go? It's all tracked and measured as part of an aggressive program to cut it to a minimum while maximizing reuse, recycling, and composting.
