Pratt Institute maintains 6 residence halls and 26 townhouses, accommodating over 1,900 students. Together with all of the studios, classrooms and food service areas, the university generates a lot of waste on a daily basis. Additionally, at the end of the spring semester students leave many items behind as they prepare to return home or abroad for the summer. The items become Prattʼs responsibility to dispose of, and this can be a costly and labor intensive process.

With the overall goal of reducing waste and to create a circular economy at Pratt, we examined the systems in the residence halls and looked for interventions that could reduce what is sent to landfill, redirect usable goods to those in need, and to lower labor and costs for Facilities Management. In order to gain insight on Prattʼs residence hall waste management systems, we met with the Director of Administrative Sustainability, toured two of the residence halls with Facilities staff members, and sent a questionnaire to the Willoughby Hall Director.