Looking for a win with increased recycling measures at home football games

Football season is underway, and fans may have noticed redesigned recycling/waste stations throughout Ross-Ade Stadium. Purdue Athletics and the Office of Campus Master Planning and Sustainability have partnered to increase recycling rates by game attendees inside the stadium in an effort to reduce waste and follow recycling trends among peers.    

In total, 13 recycling/waste stations are now located at the center bay of the concourse, and stations include landfill and recycling receptacles as designated by black column wrap signage labeled “Landfill” and gold column wrap signage labeled “Recycling.” The receptacles are color-coded to match the signage  -- black bins for landfill and gold bins for recycling. Detailed signage is posted to help attendees know what to do with various food and beverage packaging that is purchased during the game. Student volunteers will be available at each waste station to provide guidance and assist with sorting items into the appropriate bins.   

Individuals may be surprised to learn the proper disposal of certain materials. For example, the brown napkins provided by all vendors in the stadium are recyclable because of their product makeup. On the other hand, paper coffee cups in the stadium must be sent to the landfill as they contain a waxy layer on the inside that prohibits the recycling process.

Though the goal is to have a zero-waste football game, Purdue is first looking for success by improving the recycling rate to 30 percent as compared with 12 percent during the 2017 football season. This season's new efforts have shown promise; the recycling rate for the home opener was 20 percent, compared with 7 percent for last year’s home opener.

To increase attendee awareness, a video  playing during home games will feature the Purdue Student Government president and Boilermaker quarterback Aaron Banks, and recycling results also will be displayed.

The enhanced recycling program will continue to be measured to determine whether it should be expanded to other areas of campus.

Source: Max Driscoll, assistant director of sustainability, madrisco@purdue.edu