Paper towel composting pilot program launches

Did you know that paper towels and compostable paper make up about 20% of the waste collected from UNC Charlotte buildings? This is the largest single item that the campus community can divert from the landfill.

UNC Charlotte’s Office of Sustainability and Facilities Management Building Environmental Services and Recycling have launched a new recycling composting pilot program in the Fretwell Building. Special bins are in each restroom to help faculty, staff, students and visitors separate trash from paper towels.

If you frequent Fretwell, keep an eye out for the new bins and think twice before throwing out your paper towels.

Paper towels collected from the bins, along with food waste collected from Thoughtful Cup coffee shop, will be sent to Earth Farms Organics, a commercial composting facility, which will make the material safe for return to the soil.

The bins for the pilot program were purchased via a grant from the Charlotte Green Initiative, a student-led effort that allocates funds from the University’s student green fund to projects that enable UNC Charlotte to use renewable energy, become energy efficient and operate in a sustainable manner.

For more information about this new program, contact Shannon Caveny-Cox, solid waste coordinator.