More composting in Loyalist’s future

By Syerra Turry

BELLEVILLE – An apple core may have a new future at Loyalist College.

Loyalist College can expect to see more three-stream disposal units being replaced to include an organic waste stream across campus, says Loyalist’s director of facilities and information technology services Mark Kirkpatrick. 

The units were introduced with the renovations on the third floor Northumberland wing of the college, as well as a composting station in the centre of the dining hall. 

An evaluation of how well the compost streams are used by students and staff in the college will determine the need for more four-stream bins,  he says. 

The college will have a better idea on their impact after the annual waste audit takes place early next year, but the objective is to roll them out across the whole campus, he says. 

He says he didn’t want to rush into replacing all the tri-bins if people weren’t going to use the organics stream when it became available.

“I think people have noticed them and they are being used. It is still one of those things we need to work on at the institution and improve our composting,” he says. 

The question is less about the number of bins but making sure students, faculty and staff sort stuff.

The issue does not lie entirely with the number of bins available, but how they are being used, says acting sustainability co-ordinator and information technology and facilities project manager Jay Taugher.

Acting sustainability co-ordinator Jay Taugher says the focus at the college is to improve contamination rates before adding more disposal units with an organics stream. Photo by Syerra Turry, QNet News

The reason the Northumberland Wing got the four-stream units isn’t because that’s where the most organic waste is, but because there was funding to put them in with the renovations, he says.

And, the administration is considering moving one of the four units on the third floor to the Link Lounge, where more people eat, he says. 

The contamination rates are currently high, he says. So student volunteers, known as eco-reps are working on ideas to educate the student body on properly sorting waste. They are advocates for environmental awareness and plan initiatives on campus.

If the recycling or composting stream is contaminated with items that don’t belong there, the whole bag gets sent to landfill, he says.  

“I think it’s one of those things that’s a bit contagious. If people see other students (composting), they tend to do it too,” he says. 

Taugher says he would like to see 80 per cent of the tri-bins replaced with the four-stream disposal units over the next two years. 

Students living in residence also have the option to compost the organics they throw away in their apartments, he says. They’re provided with small compost bins and liners that can later be disposed of in the green bins near the dumpsters. 

Organics are also collected in the kitchens of the dining hall and Resto 123 kitchen and labs, he says.