Princeton recently received a national honor - the APPA Effective and Innovative Practices Award - recognizing Princeton Facilities’ pioneering, data-driven approach to sanitation waste collection. APPA, the largest national organization for facilities professionals in education, lauded the “adaptability and transferability” of Princeton’s data collection strategy, which has ultimately reduced waste overflow, saved time for staff, and elevated overall campus cleanliness. 

The seed of the idea started in April 2024, with conversations between Jason Kreyling, Geographic Information System Specialist, and Marc Navarro, Recycling and Solid Waste Supervisor, about sanitation operations. 

“In this industry, it can be very hard to show problems,” Navarro said. After seeing a presentation for an app dedicated to snow removal at a GIS conference, Kreyling was inspired to adapt the idea to Princeton’s campus context by modifying the app for the sanitation team’s use. The sanitation team had extensive on-the-ground knowledge, so the goal was to provide the tools - and data-capturing mechanisms - to help the team turn their day-to-day work into further insights.

Daniel Debelak, Assistant Director of Business Intelligence, worked in tandem with Kreyling to create an analytics pipeline. “Jason refines the app and exports the data, and then I pick it up and analyze it within Tableau, so we can operate at the right level of granularity within each tool,” Debelak said. “We want to empower Marc’s team with their data, so we can help them see their operation through a new lens and provide hard numbers to substantiate and make the case for what they see day-to-day in the field.” 

As part of closing that gap, the app Kreyling created allows team members to record a wide range of data with ease - including timestamped waste pickups and easy documentation of issues such as waste overflows or obstructions. Kreyling met with the crew members frequently throughout the design process to refine the app and ensure that it met their needs. 

“It was really a partnership. When the team saw that their feedback was valued and listened to, it made it easier for them to buy in,” Kreyling said. “Our goal was, how do we get the data we need without disrupting the work the crews are already doing. We wanted to lessen the necessary amount of screen time as much as we could, so that it simplified what the team had to do.”

As Debelak put it, “We want data to serve people, not the other way around. We want to ensure that what we’re capturing reflects reality, and we can’t do that unless the team weighs in.”

The process was especially helpful for refining the sanitation team’s approach to the Meadows Campus area. “When Meadows was being designed, it was originally designed with over 120 garbage cans,” Navarro said. However, as the data from the app substantiated, “90% of the time those garbage cans were empty.” Navarro’s team was able to move the garbage cans and replace them with dumpsters – in the process saving a significant amount of time for the team – because there was data to back up that they weren’t being used. “We also used the app to track waste at the stadium garage, where we discovered that a large percentage of the cans were not being used. Those cans were removed and relocated to high-traffic areas on campus.”

The output of that collaborative approach, and the ongoing partnership between Navarro’s team, Debelak, and Kreyling, has been well-received. “The team weighed in on the features the app should have, and these tools allow us to do scenario planning, like mapping out equipment rentals and where temporary staff are needed,” Navarro said. “The temperature of the team has changed, and I attribute it completely to this process, when they realized what they think matters.”

Looking long-term, Navarro wants to use the information collected from the app for route mapping purposes. “Our goal is to help analyze what people are doing on campus, in terms of waste output. I want to add actual tonnage data as well, so we have stats on the number of pickups and to what degree we’re cycling waste via recycling or solid waste,” he said.  

The team sees a lot of potential for partnerships with campus dining and sustainability. “Although this dashboard is primarily for sanitation operations, this could be a nice dovetail with other campus partners looking at comprehensive waste management around campus, including food waste, and how this might impact our diversion rate from landfills.”

In fact, Navarro recently taught a Wintersession largely revolving around the app and cmapus recycling processes. “There could possibly be opportunities for Campus as Lab projects within the team,” Debelak pointed out. 

“We don’t want this data to be its own silo – we want to connect it to other data relevant to sanitation initiatives across campus, and continue to refine it,” Debelak said. He credits both Kreyling and Navarro for their role in making this approach as successful as it has been. “Marc is very forward-thinking and is always analyzing how processes can improve,” he said. “Jason‘s technical ability and flexibility to quickly make changes to the different versions of the app were huge boons.” 

Above all, though, the APPA Award is a credit to the effort of the Sanitation Operations team. “The techs in the field are doing the lion’s share of the collection, and this is their process. They have taken ownership of every piece of it.”

Debelak, Kreyling, and Navarro are proud that this shines a light on the important and hard work that the Sanitation Team does every day. “One of our core values is innovation, so I’m glad that this award recognizes innovative practices.”