In 2019, UTK’s Chancellor Plowman signed the Zero Waste Commitment and pledged to divert 50% of its waste from landfills by 2030. Our current diversion rate in 2022 is 26%, which when calculated as growth percentage (from 2017 to 2021) is -0.56%.

Plastic waste is a major problem on UT’s campus and in the world. Single use discards make up 10% of US wastestream. Packaging is the heaviest component of US waste, and 29% of GHG emissions come from the way we make, consume, and throw things away. 

Many countries, cities, and college campuses have been making moves to ban single-use plastics. The Post Landfill Action Network’s (PLAN) Break Free From Plastics Pledge has mobilized universities across the country, from California to Maine to West Virginia to Florida, to ban single-use plastics.

We want UT Knoxville, and eventually the entire UT system, to sign the BFFP pledge and commit to phasing out single use plastics in all dining locations and departments. Litter is a major problem on our campus and in surrounding neighborhoods, and the Tennessee River which flows through our campus is one of the most polluted in the world.

Use your voice as a Volunteer and demand that UT administration signs the Break Free From Plastic pledge! Vol is a verb!