Dumpster diving

Canada produced 25 million tonnes of waste in 2016, ranking as one of the highest per-capita waste generators in the world. The non-residential sector, which includes industry and institutions such as universities, produces the majority of this waste. In the past year alone, McGill’s downtown campus has generated 1,454 tonnes of landfill waste and recycling, roughly 10 times the weight of a blue whale. Industry professionals are working to reduce these numbers, and achieving sustainability requires addressing this issue head-on. Since the City of Montreal does not offer waste and recycling services to institutions like McGill, the university forms its own contracts with the companies that haul garbage, recycling, and compost to nearby facilities.