David Zheng, Senior Photographer

Yale is implementing a new series of recycling signs across campus to help combat the ever-growing issue of waste contamination.

This effort aims to improve waste collection by making it easier for students to distinguish trash from recycling and avoid contaminating recyclable materials with food waste. These signs will be implemented campus-wide at recycling bins, laboratories and dining halls. The Office of Facilities is expected to complete the installation of the new signs and stickers by the end of September.

“The new signs are colorful and eye-catching, making it easy to know what kinds of items are acceptable in single-stream recycling, lab recycling, and food waste,” Lindsay Crum, associate director of the Office of Sustainability, wrote in an email to the News.

The miscommunication of what types of plastics, papers and fabrics are recyclable ties into the larger issue of wishful recycling.

The Solid Waste Association of North America — or SWANA — defines wishful recycling as “the practice of tossing items into the recycling bin with the hope that they will somehow be recycled, despite not being accepted by the local recycling program.”

On average, roughly 15 to 25 percent of materials that enter recycling plants are not actually recycled, and may even contaminate other recyclable materials. By throwing the greasy pizza box or used coffee cup into the garbage can instead of the recycling bins, students can prevent loads of recyclable materials from becoming contaminated. 

Crum explained that the Office of Sustainability incorporated feedback from “a variety of Yale stakeholders” in the design of the new recycling signs across campus. These new signs were designed in collaboration with the Office of the University Printer. 

“I think it’s really important that we have this clear signage to prevent and minimize wishful recycling here,” Isaiah Harvey ’28 said. “Wishful recycling turns recycling bins into trash cans.” 

According to the 2021 Consumer Recycling Habits survey, 95 percent of Americans say they recycle, but only about half of them know the basics of recycling. 

Student perceptions of sustainability efforts throughout the colleges appear mixed.

“It was kind of startling to think about how much effort is being put into composting and sustainable dining, while a lot of days there were paper plates in Stiles while the dishwasher was broken,” Sophia Zhang ’28 said.

Harvey said that it is “nice to feel” that he is not throwing away the food when scooping it into the compost. 

Fighting waste contamination is just one small part of the actions that the Office of Sustainability has been taking to increase sustainability across campus. 

In addition to efforts to reduce waste, the Office of Sustainability has also taken steps to address climate change through programs such as Yale Planetary Solutions and Zero Carbon Ready. These organizations promise to help support and develop new green technologies as well as to share those technologies internationally.

Yale’s Zero Carbon Ready policy also outlines a plan for becoming energy efficient and renewable over the next few decades.

Yet, Crum says, Yale’s sustainability efforts ultimately rely on students. 

“Yale has an opportunity to significantly increase its waste diversion rate and reduce contamination in the waste stream,” Crum wrote in an email to the News. “In order to achieve that, everyone in our community needs to do their part.”

Students can visit the Office of Sustainability website to learn more about how Yale is tackling challenges related to sustainability.

The Office of Sustainability is located at 70 Whitney Ave.