More collaboration, less litter: education and city join forces against trash

Student Jaïr waste hunting
Student Jaïr waste hunting

On a cold December morning, first-year Landscape and Environment Management students from Inholland University of Applied Sciences teamed up with the municipality for a waste excursion in Delft-West. They toured the neighborhood, picked up some litter here and there, and witnessed - with wide eyes and pinched noses - how garbage trucks dumped their haul at Avalex. Not long after, students from ProGrotius set off on their own waste safari in the neighborhood, while a TU Delft student conducted research at Avalex to improve glass recycling processes.

It’s no surprise that waste is such an important topic in various educational programs. Dumping waste has been a persistent issue in Delft for years. Abandoned furniture and other household items are a common sight near underground containers. Residents can report these piles to the municipality, which then collects the bulky waste. In the first month of 2025 alone, more than 790 reports of litter have been filed across Delft

Each Program with Its Own Perspective

Inholland student Madelief Kranz was shocked by the trash she encountered during the waste excursion. -I’m from Zeeland. If someone were to leave something on the street there, the neighbors would call them out.- Fellow student Jaïr Martes, from Rotterdam, is more accustomed to seeing litter: -I think it’s really important to go into the neighborhood and work with residents to come up with solutions for these kinds of issues.- Ultimately, the students designed an informative poster about litter, waste processing, and product reuse.

That-s one way to approach the topic. ProGrotius students and the TU Delft student tackled the issue from entirely different angles, with their own approaches and solutions. Imagine how powerful it would be if these groups worked together, each contributing their expertise, to come up with practical solutions that could immediately be implemented in the community. This way, students wouldn’t just complete an assignment for credits, but their work would benefit all’of Delft, and they would learn from each other-s perspectives on the problem.

Less Waste, More Action

There are already programs in place to combat waste, such as WINNEN! - a network where the municipality, Avalex, and Stichting Stunt collaborate to promote waste reuse and repair. They believe in less waste and more action. That action took form during an initial meeting at Stichting Stunt, where people from various schools and organizations came together to connect. Within just an hour and a half, many phone numbers were exchanged, and potential collaborations discussed. The goal is to develop a program for the coming years by the summer of 2025.

TU Delft, along with ROC Mondriaan, Inholland University of Applied Sciences, and The Hague University of Applied Sciences, is working hard to engage students. Who knows? In the future, you might not see three separate groups on waste excursions in the neighborhood but one large group of students from all levels of education, learning from each other and working together to improve the community.