Streamlining Recycling at Duke West Campus Dorms

Timeline

2025

Description

Affiliated Course: ENV 790.41 - Sustainable Operations and Supply Chains

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Summary: A group of five students collaborated with Arwen Buchholz, Associate Director of Sustainability, of Housing & Residence Life (HRL) at Duke to research student recycling practices in the West Campus undergraduate residence halls. As improvements to recycling in East Campus housing ramped up in fall 2024, West Campus residence halls could benefit from further research to inform improved recycling education and implementation methods. Through interviews, site visits and research, the student team identified opportunities to increase clarity for students and staff members regarding recycling processes.

Goals:

1. Identify pain points in the West Campus recycling process.
2. Recommend ways to increase waste diversion rates and reduce contamination in housing recycling bins.
3. Propose programming to improve the recycling behavior of students in West Campus dorms. 

Experience and Learning Outcomes: The team interviewed key stakeholders, including Arwen from Duke HRL, two Resident Assistants (RAs), a few student residents, and a Wake County recycling educator. The team also toured four West Campus dorms —Edens, Crowell, Keohane, and Kilgo— to identify existing waste infrastructure and visited the Sonoco Material Recovery Facility in Raleigh for insights on how recyclables are processed. Additionally, the team developed a student survey to assess student recycling knowledge and interest. For waste audits, the team analyzed secondary data from an East Campus audit conducted a semester prior and conducted another waste audit in a West Campus dorm. From these methods, the team learned that additional recycling bins co-located with existing trash bins and improved bin signage are needed to both educate students on what can be included in recycling and increase convenience for students to recycle. Furthermore, the research highlighted the need to improve communications to instill trust that recycling at Duke is diverted from landfills. 

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Recommendations: To advance the project’s goals of increasing recycling rates and reducing contamination on Duke’s West Campus, the team recommended strengthening collaboration with recycling partners such as Sonoco to provide educational programs, tours, and access to data that can build student trust in the recycling process. Furthermore, students suggested that implementing a semi-automated waste tracking system in select dorms could help monitor recycling behavior, reduce contamination, and inform targeted interventions. Enhancing bin infrastructure and signage across dorms was another suggestion to address student confusion and improve waste sorting in residences. The team also recommend launching dorm-level recycling competitions—both within Duke and potentially against UNC—to harness school spirit as a motivator for sustainable behavior, with RA engagement and meaningful incentives. Finally, leveraging digital platforms such as Duke’s sustainability-related social media accounts, updated website content, and student-written articles in The Chronicle could promote transparency and build campus-wide engagement. Additional research is needed to understand which messaging strategies most effectively change behavior, to improve transparency around the final destination of Duke’s recyclables, and to evaluate the long-term impact of pilot interventions for potential campus-wide scaling.

Students: Wynona Eurj Curaming, Lizzie Olson, Cecilia Su, Anisah Zarif, Mia Wang 

Client: Arwen Buchholz, Associate Director of Sustainability, Residential Student Services 

Other stakeholders: Shannon Parker, course instructor (Nicholas School of the Environment); Emily Bilcik (Office of Climate and Sustainability); Sonoco Recycling