Any serious effort to improve waste management at the University should emphasize the re-use and reduction of waste. For example, deposit bottles are better than recycled plastic or aluminum. Our society has trouble dealing with environmental problems because the focus is on profits and revenue. There are few market incentives to use recycled products unless external costs are considered. This is the case with plastic Coca-Cola bottles.
Plastic is cheaper, but it is very difficult to recycle plastic, and the process causes pollution.
Unfortunately, the University is often more concerned about revenues than about its role as a progressive academic institution. Coca-Cola and the University Bookstores have been given monopoly status on campus, yet each fails to serve the needs of students in the most responsible manner. The Bookstores, for example, should make greater efforts to increase sales of recycled notebooks. We are able and willing to use recycled products, but we still don't use enough recycled paper in our copy machines and printers, and many paper products are still bleached. We could use washable dishes like other universities around the world without any problems.