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Syracuse University’s Food Services switched from reusable tableware to single-use containers and silverware in dining halls during the 2020-21 academic year due to COVID-19 concerns. Now, reusable tableware has returned, but reusable takeout containers are still on hold.

The university enforced the single-use products to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus, but this modification increased waste production and decreased recycling.

“Though this waste was unavoidable, I think it is prompting a harder look at the systems we have in place and how we can change them to be safer, sanitary and more environmentally friendly and accessible,” said Laura Markley, a waste and plastics researcher in SU’s College of Engineering and Computer Science. “I feel strongly that this will force a shift in how we approach reusability in the future.”

Municipal solid waste landfills are the third-largest source of human-related methane emissions in the United States, accounting for approximately 15% of emissions, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Methane created from human action traps heat in the atmosphere to drive at least 25% of global warming.

“Landfills contribute greatly to greenhouse gas emissions, notably methane, nitrous oxides and carbon dioxide, and at a minimum, (waste management industries) are aware and concerned,” said Douglas Daley, an associate professor at SUNY-ESF whose specialties include solid and hazardous waste management.

With the return to in-person instruction and more lenient COVID-19 precautions, SU Food Services plans to enforce more of its sustainability practices in campus dining halls again.

Although the university is not using reusable takeout containers this year, it re-implemented reusable tableware in dining halls and will reassess at the end of the year, said Keone Weigl, SU Food Services’s marketing and promotions manager, in a statement to The Daily Orange.

The university encourages students to sort and compost their food scraps after each meal. Eating in a dining center in person is the most sustainable practice, SU’s sustainability coordinator Melissa Cadwell said in a statement to The D.O.

Waste at SU goes to a waste-to-energy facility, along with waste from the rest of Onondaga County, Cadwell said. At the facility, it turns into electricity to power about 30,000 homes.

Although the university does not keep data on the amount of waste among its dining centers, SU tracks campus-wide waste and recycling, including composting, Cadwell said.

In the eight-week 2019 RecycleMania competition, SU reported a 48% diversion rate, meaning 48% of SU’s waste was recycled or composted. During the pandemic, SU had seen a decrease in overall recycling and composting and an increase in waste, Cadwell said.

Some reusable containers may get damaged and become unusable and wasted, and extra labor, water, energy and equipment may be needed to cleanse the containers, Daley said. Still, the pros most often outweigh the cons when it comes to prioritizing sustainability, he said.

“There are economic, social, marketing and environmental benefits for the (food) industry to pay attention to,” he said. “A challenge, though, is that wastes have always been an afterthought and aren’t part of the core mission.”

About 9% of plastics, globally, are estimated to be recycled. These plastics sit in landfills, in the environment and even in people’s local waterways, negatively affecting human and environmental health, Markley said.

“How we deal with the plastic problem has a direct impact on the safety, health and, potentially, livelihood of our local communities,” she said. “We have a collective responsibility to protect the environment, of course, but also the people and animals that live there.”

From installing water bottle refill stations to implementing electronic vehicle charging stations, the university has initiated sustainable practices across campus to follow its Climate Action Plan and meet its goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2040.

“Due to climate change, the way we teach our students and their experience on our campus will change. Climate change is not going away, it is catching up to us each day, and everyone must adapt,” Cadwell said.

SU should place sustainability as a high priority, Markley said. Environmentally aware systems, especially those that are made easy and accessible such as the reusable tableware approach, promote a future of sustainable change, she said.

“People look to universities for innovation, research and answers on how we move forward as a society, and we simply can’t do any of that without questioning the sustainability of our practices,” she said. “We may just be individuals, but collective action motivates systematic change.”

Published on September 2, 2021 at 12:09 am

Contact Lilli: laiannel@syr.edu | @LilliIannella