Green Campus Chronicles: Sustainability at CCNY

Materials Management

At this point, CCNY has taken and completed various measures to advance responsible materials management (RMM) on campus. The list below contains all of CCNY’s completed goals in RMM from CCNY’s webpage. CCNY has mainly focused on two topics within RMM — recycling measures and how they procure goods:

  • Installed hydration stations to decrease the use of plastic water bottles while promoting the use of refillable bottles.
  • Sent repaired computers and other electronic equipment to be reused, rather than send to dismantlers.
  • Installed of electric hand dryers in restrooms, reducing paper waste.
  • Trained facilities and custodial staff in recycling and conservation practices.
  • Partnered with the NYC Department of Sanitation (DSNY) to track all waste generated to analyze consumption habits and explore more sustainable practices.
  • Recycled used cooking oil into biodiesel fuel.
  • Launched recycling campaign through posters and advertisements in key locations (offices, computer labs, restrooms, cafeterias.)
  • Implemented the use of green cleaning products only.
  • Increased the purchase of recycled items from 15% in 2010 to 18% in 2011.
  • Purchased current computers, carpets and furniture that can be recycled.

Recycling is a big part of RMM. When speaking about managing the disposal of materials in a sustainable way, there is no concept of “away” because waste must go somewhere. It only feels like “away” because people can’t see what happens to it after it’s in a trash bin. However, it has to go somewhere, which begs the question:

Where does our trash go?

Solid waste management — the process of managing what’s thrown “away” — at CCNY is a constantly adapting and improving area. The campus has recycling centers generally located on every floor of a campus building. Each recycling center includes a bin for trash, a bin for mixed paper, and a bin for metals, glass, plastics, and cartons (MGPCs):

Recycling Stations in Shepard Hall.
Recycling stations in the NAC library and in the engineering building: Steinman Hall.
Recycling stations in the art building: Compton-Goethals Hall.
Recycling stations in the NAC buildings.

To dispose of these waste streams, CCNY first stores its refuse in six thirty-cubic yards compactors across campus. These are collected by the DSNY. Although MGCP refuse is a separate section in recycling centers, there is currently no designated set-out location for its separate collection.

A trash compactor found in the NAC. The recyclables that end up in the general trash waste stream end up here.
Roll-on, roll-off dumpsters for bulk waste. These can be found at Shepard Hall, directly across the entrance of the Grove School of Engineering.

So where does all this garbage go? It’s taken by truck to a marine transfer station in Manhattan, where it is transported to the Covanta Essex Plant in Newark, New Jersey. At this location, refuse is converted into energy via incineration. Bigger garbage is sent by truck to the Harlem Yards rail transfer station in the South Bronx where it’s transported to the Atlantic Waste Disposal Landfill in Waverly, Virginia.

Recyclables — such as mixed paper, bulk metals, and cardboard — are all taken via truck to the Sims Metal facility in Hunts Point, The Bronx. While paper and cardboard is processed on that site, metal is transported via barge to the Sims Municipal Recycling facility in Sunset Park, Brooklyn.

A map outlining where the majority of CCNY’s waste goes.

Recycling is one of those measures where change can almost instantly be seen appreciably. By the entire campus body doing their part to correctly recycle their waste, CCNY can make greater strides towards a sustainable future.

Want to learn how to recycle?
How is CCNY trying to sustainably manage energy consumption?
What is CCNY trying to do now?