sent to the landfill. Within 18 months,
the initiative was diverting more than
70% of SFU’s landfill waste and had
introduced circular economy principles
to look at purchasing, and require
suppliers to work towards recyclable
and compostable packaging.
Today, across the campus, there are
four-stream waste stations allowing
for food and compostables, paper and
cardboard, recyclables and landfill
garbage. It’s not hard to get buy-in
these days, with the media full of
reminders about things like plastic
pollution and extinction rates, but
people still need to be helped to
understand the circular economy –
that is where the Sustainability Office
steps in to educate and encourage,
affirms Kayla Blok. The team, in
conjunction with a large stakeholder
group that includes departments
across the university, is currently set to
launch an initiative to eliminate single-
use plastics and products from all three
campuses, making them the first
university in Canada to act on this issue.
Research, business expertise,
software engineering and the spur of
environmental perils have come
together in an exciting project that—
Kayla Blok,
Manager of Campus Sustainability,
Simon Fraser University“ WHEN OUR
STUDENTS
GRADUATE ARE
THEY LEAVING
WITH A HOLISTIC
UNDERSTANDING
OF SUSTAINABILITY”259http://www.businesschief.com