If the Nunavut hamlet of Arviat improves its landfill, it may have a group of University of Windsor students to thank.

A team of civil and environmental engineering students completed a capstone project with recommendations for solid waste management in the community of about 3,000, located on the shores of Hudson Bay. It was one of 16 teams of the department’s fourth-year students to present their final reports Friday.

“It would be cool to hear they actually take our report into consideration when they make a decision,” said Josh Power, who—like his teammates David Brown, Ryan Frouws, Jillian Hicks and Anthony Travaglini—will graduate this fall.

The students worked under the supervision of professor Edwin Tam and with professionals located in Arviat to recommend a location for a new landfill, as well as processes to reduce the waste that ends up there. The current practice involves the open-air burning of much of the town’s refuse. The group’s recommendations included recycling and composting programs, as well as expansion of the landfill appropriate for the permafrost substrate of the area.

Other projects involved the design of a bridge to take pedestrians safely across Wyandotte Street between the Odette Building and the Centre for Engineering Innovation, a wastewater treatment plant for residents of North Essex, and an expressway linking the EC Row and Highway 401.

Professor Iris Xu praised the student presentations, saying they showed a real ability to draw on classroom instruction for application to real-world situations.