Accelerating a zero-waste future
Zero Waste
A zero-waste future requires a systemic approach. At Harvard, we aim to sustainably manage all waste streams—including plastics, electronics, recyclables, and organics, as well as construction, demolition, and hazardous waste—while prioritizing waste prevention and reduction.
How is Harvard reducing waste?
![Recycled Paper icon](https://sustainable.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Recycled-Paper-icon-1024x1024.png)
Harvard is taking a systemic approach to waste prevention and reduction, aiming to ensure the materials that the University purchases and handles are used effectively and for as long as possible. Harvard is also strategically preventing waste throughout our value chain, while minimizing on-campus municipal solid waste (or trash) and sustainably managing other waste streams.
We are focused on piloting solutions on campus to reduce waste. The Waste Stewardship Committee is developing guidance and resources to help Schools and Business Units create their own zero-waste plans and goals.
Harvard will continue to measure and report data annually for Harvard’s major waste streams and aims to develop a strategic zero-waste plan by the end of 2024.
![Graphic that prioritizes waste hierarchy: Rethink, Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Repair, Rot, Recycle.](https://sustainable.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Reframing-the-Waste-Hierarchy-1.png)
Harvard Recycling & Waste Management
The primary campus waste hauler office at Harvard manages all waste streams across Harvard’s Cambridge, Allston, and Longwood campuses. Explore their resources:
More Resources from Harvard Recycling & Waste ManagementOpens new window
![Harvard Recycling and Surplus Center Sign on a glass door.](https://sustainable.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/OFS-Recycling-Door-Sign-876x701.jpeg)
![Volunteers put plastic bags and bottles in a bag.](https://sustainable.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Stock-Photo-Plastic-bag-recycling-1024x1024.png)
Piloting Solutions to a Zero-Waste Future
- In 2021, Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) partnered with Harvard Recycling and Waste Management to launch a plastic bag and film recycling program that has collected more than 2,000 pounds of plastic from the Harvard waste stream.
- The plastic bag pilot project has also been explored by Harvard Business School (HBS), Harvard University Information Technology, Harvard Art Museums, and Harvard University Mail Services.
2022-2023
Waste Highlights
![Yellow icon of a person throwing away trash with a magnifying glass next to it to demonstrate waste auditing.](https://sustainable.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/ICON-Waste-Audit-1200x1152.png)
4+ waste audits
![Blue icon of a gear with a wrench and screw in the middle.](https://sustainable.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/ICON-Fix-It-Clinic-1200x1152.png)
3 fix-it clinics
![Green recycling arrows with items in the middle such as a lamp, table, backpack, jacket, bike, toaster, charging plug - all to demonstrate "freecycling".](https://sustainable.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/ICON-Freecycle-1200x1152.png)
4+ freecycles
![Recycle icon with lab icons in the middle like a pipette and lab bottle.](https://sustainable.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Recycle-Lab-Plastics-1200x1152.png)
Nearly 11,000 lbs. of lab plastics recycled
![Pink icon of a recycling symbol with furniture in the middle to demonstrate furniture recycling.](https://sustainable.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/ICON-Furniture-Recycling-1200x1152.png)
80-90 truckloads of furniture
![ICON Landfill Reduction](https://sustainable.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/ICON-Landfill-Reduction-1200x1152.png)
5K lbs. of material
New life for Harvard’s compost
Compostable materials collected on Harvard’s campus are used to produce energy.
![Save that Stuff trucks deposit collected organic waste on the warehouse floor.](https://sustainable.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Waste-876x675.jpeg)
How We Operate
Harvard is accelerating new systems that enable healthier, low-carbon living—creating systems that can be scaled and adopted more broadly.
![Buses from Harvard Shuttle Services pick up students at The Science and Engineering Complex (SEC) as people pass by on Bluebikes. Kris Snibbe/Harvard Staff Photographer](https://sustainable.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/092021_SEC_016-768x576.jpg)