By SLOANE GRINSPOON
A large amount of compostable waste is generated at Cornell each year. However, approximately 50 percent of material coming from retail dining locations and waste from major events is rejected due to a high concentration of inorganic contamination, according to Claire Siegrist ’15, an intern in the Campus Sustainability Office.
Cornell collected 835.7 tons of just dining compost in 2013, according to Spring Buck, manager of R5, which stands for “respect, rethink, reduce, reuse, recycle,” Operations, the facilties department that oversees Cornell’s recycling and solid waste operations.
Sierra Helmann ’16 chooses to compost her leftovers in Trillium. (Kelly Yang / Sun Senior Photographer)