3/19 Zero Waste Newsletter

Author

Zero Waste Coalition
March 19, 2024

Coalition Updates

  • Thank you so much to those who came to our first Zero Waste Retreat on Sunday! You can check out the notes from the meeting here and the slides here! We had an amazing discussion about where we’re at with all of our Zero Waste related campus policies & how we can collectively work towards them.

  • Because of spring break, our next Coalition Meeting of the semester will be on Monday 4/8 from 5-6PM in the SERC Space! You can also join online at this link. Remember that our meetings are required for coalition members and a great chance to promote events, build community, and participate in the discussion on Zero Waste at Cal. We’ll send another reminder about it closer to the date!

  • Ongoing projects!

    • Something we discussed at the retreat was the creation of a spreadsheet to track all of our ongoing projects, so that there is one place to find them and people who miss our meetings can still give their updates!

      • *****PLEASE check it out and add any information you’re aware of (of projects from your orgs or other orgs’ projects that you are aware of), and continue to add any updates as you get them!!!!! *****

      • Even adding existing or completed projects from the past would be super useful, that way we know if things have been attempted already (or if a project was abandoned) and we won’t repeat ourselves!

Weekly Waste Wisdom!

What are the UC Berkeley Zero Waste Policies?

A lot of people on campus are pretty unaware of what exactly our zero waste goals are. There has also been a bit of a lack of accountability when it comes to reaching our goals, and we’re a bit behind on accomplishing many of them.

  • At the highest level (all the UC schools): University of California Office of the President Sustainable Practices Policy - Zero Waste

    • Includes goals to:

      • Prohibit the sale, procurement, or distribution of packaging foam such as food containers and packaging materials

      • Reduce per capita MSW generation by: 25% per capita from FY2015/16 levels by 2025, 50% per capita from FY2015/16 levels by 2030

      • Divert 90% of municipal solid waste from the landfill

      • Prohibit plastic bags in retail and food service

      • Replace disposable SUP foodware and accessories with reusable or locally compostable alternatives no later than July 1 ,2024

      • Provide reusable foodware for food consumed on-site at dine-in facilities and to-go facilities no later than July 1, 2024

      • Phase out the procurement, sale and distribution of SUP beverage bottles

  • At the UC Berkeley level: UC Berkeley Sustainability Plan - Waste

    • By 2020:

      • Prohibit the sale, procurement, or distribution of packaging foam, other than for use for laboratory or medical supplies, packaging, and products

      • Eliminate plastic bags in retail and food service

    • By 2023:

      • Eliminate SUP foodware and beverage bottles in food service

      • Phase out SUP beverage bottles in other venues/services

      • Update campus ZW plans to identify next steps towards SUP Elimination

      • Reaching 90% diversion of MSW from the landfill

  • More specifically, signed in 2020, the SUP Elimination Target aims to non-essential single-use plastic by 2030

    • Phase-out and eventual ban of all campus purchases and purchases by third-parties on campus in these sectors:

      • Office Supplies / Administration

      • Food Service

      • Retail

      • Labs

      • Facilities

      • Promotional Items

      • Athletics

      • Universal Waste

      • Packaging

      • Emergency Preparedness