TRUE Zero Waste certification forces campuses to take a long hard look at (and dig through) their waste. This session features presenters from Georgia Institute of Technology and University of California Berkeley discussing the path to zero waste, utilizing TRUE as a tool to evaluate challenges and opportunities. While UC Berkeley has a fully certified TRUE building and another in the works, Georgia Tech has just started the journey with precertification of five campus buildings with different functions. Participants will hear two unique perspectives: a veteran zero waste program with established composting on its campus and a newer, highly ambitious initiative battling a lack of municipal composting, in a location where landfill is the cheapest option available.

Presenters will briefly share their journeys through zero waste, from building circular economy programs to convincing their universities to pursue the certification to, finally, achieving certification. However, the session will focus primarily on lessons learned from the process, changes made to waste systems, and making the business case for pursuing landfill reduction strategies. The session will also bring up key questions and considerations universities should ask as they develop their circular economy strategies and strategic alliances that may help the process.

We will also highlight the health and environmental justice issues inherent in waste management and how this can also be used as a motivator for zero waste. Often located in marginalized communities, landfills are an environmental justice issue, and universities typically generate massive volumes of landfill waste, contributing to the problem. Landfills contribute to methane production, increasing greenhouse gases, and can often cause issues with adjacent soil and groundwater.