Sorting through the University’s garbage just got easier, says an environmental engineering grad who led an audit of waste from Macdonald and Laurier halls and the Centre for Engineering Innovation on Monday.

Environmental Services launched a pilot project earlier this year using clear plastic bags to collect from recycle bins in campus residences.

“It makes it much easier to identify the materials,” said Taylor Purdy (MASc 2014).

She worked outside the maintenance compound on Union Avenue with volunteers from the UWindsor Green club sorting the waste by type—metal, plastic and paper recyclables, organic compostables, and that properly headed for a landfill.

“We generate a lot of waste,” Purdy said as her team combed through dozens of bags collected over a 24-hour period. Last year, she produced a report recommending ways to divert more materials from garbage to recycling.

In this year’s sample, she noted less cross-contamination by people mixing what they discard: “People are doing a better job of sorting their recyclables.”