Recycling and Consumption Reduction
Waste Diversion and Reduction
Waste diversion initiatives at Newfields have led to staggering amounts of material recycled annually. In December 2023, Newfields received a Community Recycling Grant in the amount of $34,793.00 from the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM). The grant provides support for additional recycling and trash receptacles and educational signage across Newfields' campus, including in The Café, Indianapolis Museum of Art, and The Virginia B. Fairbanks Art & Nature Park.
This followed a Summer 2023 waste audit that revealed the need for additional recycling receptacles and consistent signage across the campus. Through the new educational signage, guests will leave with a better understanding and appreciation for recycling that they can use beyond Newfields. In the Summer of 2025, a second waste audit was conducted to test the new receptacles.
Our McKinney Climate Fellow Caroline Pennington performed the second audit of the IMA and The Café at Newfields to determine our progress on diverting the amount of waste sent to the landfill.
Key project staff Lisa Milton, Director of Natural Resources (left) and Caroline Pennington, McKinney Climate Fellow (right).
More about our 2025 waste audit:
In early July of 2025, new recycling and trash receptacles funded by the Community Recycling Grant were installed in The Café. Using the 2023 audit results as a baseline, the 2025 audit aimed to test a change in the diversion and contamination rates of the receptacles.
This audit included waste from the Café dining and kitchen areas, IMA waste, and waste from a large catered event. The audit consisted of weighing, sorting, and characterizing each bag of waste generated through waste streams. The waste was collected from all areas, including office trash cans, public-facing waste receptacles, bathrooms, etc.
Waste was classified into three major categories: landfill, recyclable, and compostable, further broken down into smaller categories such as cardboard, glass, plastic, etc.
On average:
The IMA at Newfields recycles 29.67% of its waste
The Café at Newfields recycles 24.62% of its waste.
Compared to 2023 contamination rates, The Café landfill stream decreased from 7.22% to 3.04% and the Café recycling stream decreased from 19.92% to 16.10%. Contamination in the context of this audit is waste in the recycling stream, or recycling in the landfill stream. These results show that the new waste receptacles have had a positive effect on waste reduction in the Café.
This audit specifically focused on identifying barriers to implementing compost on the Newfields campus. According to the 2025 audit data, if compost were available, The Café at Newfields could divert 85.21% of its waste to a recycling or composting facility, and the IMA at Newfields could divert 64.50%. Using this knowledge, Newfields is now taking steps to remove these barriers and work towards implementing compost on its campus, starting with organic waste from The Garden and The Virginia B. Fairbanks Art & Nature Park.
Following the 2023 audit, The Café at Newfields has introduced 100% commercially compostable packaging to support the future implementation of compost. Paired with the new waste receptacles, implementing compost is becoming more obtainable for Newfields.
The 2023 waste audit:
By assessing the progress of waste management and establishing a baseline of data for future projects, the 2023 audit helped us to identify areas of growth and where to prioritize changes across campus to find the most sustainable options for waste management at Newfields and in the city. In addition to a week-long waste audit, Newfields undertook recycling facility tours and sustainable waste research. This audit supported Newfields’ future efforts in improving sustainability on campus and researching compost initiatives.
Updated August 2025
