As takeout containers pile up across college campuses, universities are struggling to balance sustainability goals with a growing culture of convenience.“It’s all a nightmare,” said Carla Iansiti, Student Life and Engagement sustainability officer at Michigan State University. “The ever-growing retail and food pickup combinations — the Sparty’s, the Starbucks on campus, the Grubhub — that’s a culture shift.”Students turned to takeout dining during the COVID-19 pandemic because dining halls closed or limited indoor seating, but many students kept those habits after restrictions ended, Iansiti said. The reliance on grab-and-go meals, mobile ordering and food delivery apps has led to more single-use containers ending up in trash bins instead of recycling streams, creating new challenges for schools like Michigan State University and the University of Michigan as they try to reduce waste without disrupting student routines.
According to MSU data, waste generation on campus fell sharply during the COVID-19 shutdowns, dropping from nearly 11.5 million pounds in 2019 to 8 million pounds in 2020, before rebounding to more than 14.5 million pounds in 2022 as campus activity resumed and then leveling off at around 13.5 million pounds in 2025.
