Green Schools

Emory University is pledging to "break free from plastic"

The pledge reinforces the university’s commitment to divert 95% of its waste from landfills by 2025 and achieve net zero emissions by 2050.
July 2, 2021

Emory University in Atlanta is pledging to "Break Free From Plastic" to better the environment.  

The student-led initiative, Plastic Free Emory Project, outlines a five-year plan for reducing unnecessary single-use plastics on Emory’s Atlanta and Oxford campuses. 

By 2026, Emory University and Oxford College pledge to:

  • Establish a Plastic Free Task Force to engage stakeholders to enact the pledge.
  • Carry out a year-by-year single-use plastics reduction strategy.
  • Continue to use viable alternatives and establish purchasing guidelines to eliminate the procurement of unnecessary single-use plastics.
  • Further invest in education, resources and infrastructure to reduce single-use plastics on individual and institutional levels.
  • Increase efforts to eliminate plastic bags, plastic straws and styrofoam in accordance with the City of Atlanta’s ordinances.

Emory is the first higher education institution in Georgia to make a pledge of this kind, according to Post-Landfill Action Network. The  pledge reinforces Emory’s commitment to divert 95% of its waste from landfills by 2025, reduce Emory’s total greenhouse gas emissions by 45% by 2030 and achieve net zero emissions by 2050.

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