Record Year for Game Day Recycling

For the 2014 football season, more than 25 tons of recyclable materials collected during Georgia Tech’s six home games were diverted from the landfill, setting a new record for the Institute’s Game Day Recycling Program. The diverted materials were collected inside Bobby Dodd Stadium and at tailgating areas around campus.

“This has been our breakthrough year for collaboration with everyone across campus: from the fans, to Sodexo [food services], to the Athletic Association,” said Cindy Jackson, associate director, Solid Waste Management & Recycling at Georgia Tech. “Establishing a strong relationship with Athletics has made all the difference.”

To collect game day recyclables, student volunteers distribute plastic bags to tailgaters with instructions on how to separate recyclable items, such as bottles and cans, from other trash. Solid Waste Management & Recycling and the Georgia Tech Athletic Association place green and white barrels around the outside of the stadium so fans can recycle bottles and cans as they enter.

Recycling barrels also are placed inside the stadium, and food waste from the suites is collected for composting. After each game, the cleaning staff first collects recyclables — plastic, bottles, and cups — before removing other trash.

The season total for recycling collected was 18.29 tons for the stadium and 6.73 tons for tailgating. That put the overall diversion rate — the percentage of waste kept out of landfills — at 27 percent.

The game day weather and kick-off time affect how long fans tailgate and generate recyclables. This is the first year the collection statistics were better for the stadium than the tailgaters, according to Maria Linderoth, campus recycling coordinator, Solid Waste Management & Recycling.

Jackson has ideas for further improving the program.

“We need to conduct a waste audit to tell us what type of waste is going to the landfill and how much more of that can be captured and recycled,” she said. “We also want to reach out to fans of our opposing teams to let them know what type of recycling program they will be participating in while they are at Georgia Tech.”

Georgia Tech began the Game Day Recycling Program in 2008 and has become a leader among universities. The nonprofit organization Keep America Beautiful  awarded Tech first place in waste minimization in the Game Day Recycling Challenge in 2013, and first in the ACC for organics reduction in 2014. 

Georgia Tech has a Special Events Recycling Program. Anyone planning an event can request recycling bins at www.recycle.gatech.edu