Hold the Plastic: Approaches to Reuse & Reduction on College Campuses

The Post-Landfill Action Network (PLAN) is laying the groundwork to achieve full elimination of single-use plastics from college campus dining operations. In this session, Savannah Robledo will cover the history of Reusables-To-Go programs on college campuses, the challenges leading to lessons learned and new opportunities, and the introduction of new technologies (container tracking apps) that have significantly increased the opportunity to achieve zero waste by achieving documented 96%+ return rates. She will present the outcomes of Return-on-Investment analyses conducted through PLAN’s course and dive into PLAN’s newest RTG resource – the Plastic-Free Reusable To-Go Container + Tracking Apps Database.

Plastic-Free Emory (PFE) is a student-led initiative dedicated to tackling SUPs (single-use plastics) on Emory University’s Atlanta & Oxford campuses. In June 2021, following student campaigning, Emory University’s President met with leaders of PFE and signed PLAN’s Break Free from Plastic campus pledge – a five-year plan for reducing unnecessary single-use plastics on Emory’s campuses. Ashritha Kalakuntla, PFE’s Co-President, will detail Emory’s BFFP Pledge progress including their current partnership with USEFULL, a plastic-free RTG provider. Ashritha will go over how the RTG program got started on Emory’s campus, why USEFULL was chosen, current program data, and Emory’s commitment to breaking free from plastic. The session will close with a discussion on the “why” of plastic-free reuse including costs, human health and safety, and connections to environmental justice.