Duke Dining’s Landfill Waste and Pollution Reduction Strategy:
On-Going: Constantly and consistently educate the Duke community that the first, and most effective, step in reducing waste is not to create it in the first place and that reusable foodservice ware should always be our first choice.
Phase 1: Remove non-recyclable and non-compostable disposable takeout items from all Duke Dining locations.
Phase 2: Introduce a reusable takeout container program to encourage the use of reusable foodservice ware at Duke Dining locations.
Phase 3: Survey post-consumer waste infrastructure in and around dining locations to identify the most effective locations for installing more compost and recycling receptacles.
Phase 4: Educate Duke students, faculty, staff, and visitors on how to appropriately use compost receptacles, reducing contamination as much as possible.
Phase 5: Explore and implement innovative ideas that help make the zero waste vision a reality, such as:
· Addressing disposable single-use food packaging (i.e. chip bags, candy wrappers, and other third-party packaged foods).
· Educating customers on how to properly sort their recyclable and compostable items.
· Encouraging customers to choose “reduce” and “reuse” first. · Helping Duke Dining’s compost and recycling infrastructure operate more efficiently.
· Training food service operators on zero waste.