Waste

Introduction

Waste reduction mitigates the need to extract virgin materials from the earth, such as trees and metals. Reducing the generation of waste reduces the flow of waste to incinerators and landfills which produce greenhouse gas emissions, can contaminate air and groundwater supplies, and tend to have disproportionate negative impacts on low-income communities. Source reduction and waste diversion also save institutions costly landfill and hauling service fees. In addition, waste reduction campaigns can engage the entire campus community in contributing to a tangible sustainability goal.

Featured Resources

1149 resources

Improving Recycling with an Existing 83% Diversion Rate: Solving Iowa State University's Recycling Enigma

  • Iowa State University (IA)

Recycling opportunities are a challenge for a university that collectively diverts 83% of its campus waste by partnering with a city refuse-derived fuel system. As a result, current campus wide ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Owning Your Recycling Infrastructure: How to Understand It, Manage It, & Improve It

  • The Ohio State University (OH)

At many institutions large and small it is difficult to understand, manage, and improve your recycling infrastructure. It is especially difficult, if you entered the picture after it already started ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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How Green is Your Move-In? Maximizing Your Opportunities During Student Move-In Operations

  • Baylor University (TX)

Move-In operations for colleges and universities offer a unique opportunity to immediately engage the student, faculty, and staff communities in sustainable practices. Uniting a diverse set of on-campus groups with ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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The Bearathon: Striving to be America's greenest student-run half marathon

  • Baylor University (TX)

The Bearathon is a student-led half-marathon and 5k held every spring semester and serves as the Student Foundation's main fund raising event. Over the course of the last two ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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On-Campus Food Scraps Composting: Sustainability in Practice

  • Kean University (NJ)

It has been suggested that "harvesting food waste as a reusable resource is the next frontier in recycling."" This presentation will highlight the steps involved in creating a highly successful ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Beyond Paper and Plastic: A New National Trend in Textile Recycling on College Campuses

  • West Virginia University (WV)

On average, Americans dispose about 68 pounds of clothing per person per year. Annually, this represents 4% of solid waste generated in the United States and trending upward. Today, new ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Paper Steps on Campus - 9 Steps to Protecting the Climate and Reducing Waste through Campus Paper Policies

  • Environmental Paper Network (ID)

Paper is changing the climate. Paper's impact is one of our planet's most significant environmental challenges. The industry uses vast amounts of fossil fuels and chemicals, prevents forests ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Hoosier to Hoosier: Reducing Student Move-out Waste with the City

  • Indiana University Bloomington (IN)

Student move-out is one of the busiest times of year, and students at Indiana University find themselves pressed for time with an apartment full of items they no longer need ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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The Cost of Printing vs. iPads: A Paperless Student Union at University of British Columbia

  • University of British Columbia (BC)

As touchscreen technologies continue to advance in functionality and decrease in cost, more organizations will need to carefully examine their ability to replace paper use with such devices. A group ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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The Campus Re-use store: What's Old is New Again!

  • Bowling Green State University (OH)

The campus re-use store opened in spring, 2011 to huge popular acclaim and participation by the student body. Conceived, organized and implemented by students with the support, guidance and advice ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Moving Beyond the Hole: From Waste Stream to Resource Stream

  • Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick Campus (NJ)
  • GreenerU (MA)
  • Waste Management (TX)

Solid waste management on campuses has gone from containers on the curb hauled to a hole in the ground, to iterations of recycling, to the once previously unfathomable and now ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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How to close the loop for your campus' surplus books

  • Better World Books (GA)

Almost every campus has paper recycling but many still do not consider books in this process. With the variety of difficult considerations to be made, books do not seem to ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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A Feasibility Study of Bio-Gas Digesters and Composting Systems for A University Campus

  • Carnegie Mellon University (PA)

Our research examines the feasibility of building and operating a biogas digestion unit for Carnegie Mellon University as a way to compost organic waste, offset energy use, and output a ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Collaboration, Partnership, and Community - Development and Implementation of Waste Focus Team

  • Cornell University (NY)

Proposed briefing is to discuss the Waste Focus Team; part of the Focus Team initiative developed at our university in response to the institution's 2010-2015 Strategic Plan which calls ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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From Policies to Practice: Moving Departments to the Digital Realm.

  • Indiana University Bloomington (IN)

In academic environments, unnecessary paper use has significant environmental and economic impacts. With advances in technology, there are growing opportunities for reducing printing in the future. Existing paper documentation, however ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Industrial Scale Composting at James Madison University

  • James Madison University (VA)

This project aims to provide James Madison University (JMU) with a sustainable means of recycling food waste generated at the dining facilities on-campus. To this end, an aerobic composting reactor ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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College and University Recycling Coalition Workshop

  • Keep America Beautiful (CT)

The College and University Recycling Coalition is hosting a half day interactive workshop on collegiate recycling topics.

The presentations will be followed by facilitated small group discussions lead by collegiate ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Zero Waste at Macalester College

  • Macalester College (MN)

To fulfill Macalester College's Zero Waste by 2020 goal, Macalester College has completed a waste sort, developed a work plan for the college, as well as developed a vermiculture ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Do Posters Really Matter?

  • Missouri University of Science and Technology (MO)

Effect of Signage on Recycling At Missouri University of Science and Technology

Missouri S&T's recycling program has been in place for many years. A recent campus wide waste audit ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Who's Responsible for My Waste - Part II

  • Missouri University of Science and Technology (MO)

Effects of Changing Behavior

At Missouri University of Science & Technology

Responsible Waste Management

Changing behavior requires a change of attitude. A change of attitude comes from heightened awareness and ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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The importance of food waste recycling on campus

  • North American Trading House, LLC (NY)

Greening campuses through energy saving, implementing water efficiency and recycling is having a positive impact on our environment. When greening a campus there is one area that is regularly overlooked ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Waste: the Cornerstone of the Environmental Movement

  • Northern Arizona University (AZ)

My presentation will discuss why waste must be the first problem in universities and cities to combat before other campaigns can be successfully complete. Waste is at the foundation of ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Developing a Comprehensive Recycling and Waste Reduction Program: A Multi-Campus District-Wide Approach

  • Portland Community College (OR)

Portland Community College has been involved in recycling and waste reduction efforts for over a decade. The College serves over 83,000 students per year and spans over a wide ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Evaluating Your University's Waste and Recycling Billing Rates

  • CHA (NY)

Today, universities are grappling with how to fund ever expanding and much sought after recycling programs. As university waste management programs grow to include larger volumes and additional types of ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Revamping Your University Waste and Recycling Program

  • Resource Recycling Systems (RRS) (MI)

Creating sustainable waste and recycling operations throughout large universities is a daunting task as you deal with a variety of audiences and system users. This task can be especially challenging ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Trashformation: Creating Sustainable, Collaborative Campus Communities Through Interactive Art and Education

  • RuckusRoots, Inc. (CA)

This presentation describes an innovative co-curricular event that engages students in a collaborative, creative process focused on sustainability. Trashformation is an interactive and educational art experience in which students collaborate ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Adopting the "Swamp": Creating a Sense of Ownership through a Litter Prevention and Maintenance Program

  • University of Florida (FL)

The University of Florida campus provides a beautiful collegiate atmosphere for students, staff and faculty to study and learn. Amidst the over 900 buildings housed on campus are numerous ecologically ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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The Resource Recovery Pilot: A Recycling Rehab

  • University of Minnesota, Twin Cities (MN)

Although the recycling rates have been slowly increasing over the past few years, we are not satisfied with the current rate and began to look for new ways to jump-start ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Does Your Campus Recycling Program Need Recharging?

  • University of Missouri (MO)

According to the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education, universities throughout the country have expanded their recycling efforts contributing to an 11.5 percent decrease in overall ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Football Gamedays: Maximizing recycling and awareness

  • University of Notre Dame (IN)

The University of Notre Dame Gameday Recycling program is in its fifth season and has met with substantial success as well as many challenges. Each year various strategies have been ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Successful Composting-University of Tennessee-A Collaborative Compost Partnership-ARAMARK Volunteer Dining

  • University of Tennessee at Knoxville (TN)

The food service industry produces large amounts of food during daily production. Although food service businesses strive to create minimal amounts of waste, items such as lemon peels, apple cores ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Can UCompost?: Research and development of a residential composting program for college campuses

  • Ursinus College (PA)

Food waste can be a significant component of the waste stream at colleges and universities and could entirely avoid disposal in landfills with proper composting systems in place. Several colleges ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Move Out: Creation of a campus-wide infrastructure designed to curb waste through reuse and responsible processing

  • Ursinus College (PA)

Effective waste reduction and management are primary challenges towards achieving sustainability. Colleges and universities across the country grapple with such issues at the end of each academic year, as large ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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EcoMug™ History and Continued Program Evaluation

  • Western Michigan University (MI)

The EcoMug™ program began in 2009. It is, as far as we know, an unprecedented waste reduction initiative. During the first few weeks of school, each incoming student is given ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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The Zero Waste Campus

  • University of Ottawa (ON)

Whether it is a single-stream or multipart recycling system, the staple environmental achievement for a post-secondary institution is typically its tailored recycling program. The success of a waste diversion program ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Utilizing a Community Partnership to Distribute Mattresses in the Community

  • Elon University (NC)

With hundreds of lightly used mattresses to remove from campus, the university took the opportunity to partner with a community non-profit organization to keep them out of the landfill and ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Campus Sustainability as a Driver of Social Justice

  • Harvard University (MA)
  • Rio Salado College (AZ)
  • University of Wyoming (WY)
  • Better World Books (GA)

Oftentimes, we think of our sustainability efforts independent of social justice.

This panel will discuss innovative ideas for combining recycling while funding social justice initiatives. The panelists, representing both private ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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The impact of "No Impact Week" in ENVS 101

  • Denison University (OH)

The syllabus for ENVS 101 (People and the Environment) at Denison University typically involves the examination of issues like climate change, food security, impacts of agriculture, water quality and scarcity ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Protecting the Climate and Reducing Waste through Campus Paper Policies

  • University of Colorado Boulder (CO)
  • National Wildlife Federation (VA)

The RePaper Project, a project of the Environmental Paper Network, recently

released a new resource that complements the theme of conference. "Paper

Steps on Campus: Nine Steps to Protecting the ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Office Supply Tote Program

  • University of Notre Dame (IN)

The University of Notre Dame has partnered with Office Depot to launch the first reusable Tote Program in the Midwest and only the second in the nation. The majority of ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Implementing and Studying an Innovative University Food Waste Reduction Program

  • Loyola Marymount University (CA)

This session will describe the processes of planning, implementing, and studying an innovative food waste reduction program at Loyola Marymount University (LMU). With the challenges of limited space and the ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Who's Responsible for My Waste?

  • Missouri University of Science and Technology (MO)

Changing behavior requires a change of attitude. A change of attitude requires awareness and recognizing the need to change.

Why should I empty my own trash can? We pay people ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Collaborating for success: Developing a Recycling Program in the Middle East

  • Hamad bin Khalifa University (Ad Dawhah)

Qatar Foundation is an organization focused on building capacity for the State of Qatar and the Arabian Gulf region. It accomplishes this goal by supporting a higher education campus called ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Composting in the Residence Halls: Stories of the Worm-keepers

  • Luther College (IA)

Luther students have started disposing of fruit and vegetable waste in worm composting bins installed Jan. 15 in seven of Luther's residence halls by students from the Luther Sustainability ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Community Partnerships for Sustainable Materials Management

  • Harvard University (MA)
  • Indiana University Bloomington (IN)
  • Ohio University (OH)
  • University of Oregon (OR)

Can campuses help our neediest neighbors and reduce greenhouse gas at the same time? Yes we can. This session will offer several examples of how schools partner with other non-profit ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Sustainability Commitments, Actions & Economics: Managed Print Services

  • Cleveland State University (OH)
  • FirstMetrix Corporation (OH)
  • Xerox Corporation (MN)

Cleveland State University committed to a goal of developing, designing and implementing an enterprise wide document output strategy that is consistent with the Unviersity's mission and commitment to environmental ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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CHEFS: Advancing the Carbon Footprinting of Food in North America

  • New York University (NY)
  • Aramark (PA)
  • Clean Air-Cool Planet (NH)

Dining plays a central role in campus life, as has been reflected in a plethora of recent dining-related initiatives—from trayless cafeterias to composting to community gardens on campus. A ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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4 Rs: Residents Reduce, Re-use, & Recycle

  • University of Wyoming (WY)

The main goal for our presentation is to educate and inform attendees that young adults are leading the way on the UW campus in recycling, reducing and re-using. This discussion ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Improved Methods for Measuring the Efficacy of Waste Diversion Programs

  • Western Colorado University (CO)

Campus recycling and other waste diversion programs have been growing rapidly over the past several decades. However, surprisingly little empirical evidence exists for assessing the efficacy of these programs in ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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It Won't Decay, Don't Throw It Away!

  • Indiana University Bloomington (IN)

Building on the success of an electronic waste collection campaign the previous year, Indiana University organizers expanded the planning, promotion and implementation of the 2010 Electronic Waste Collection Days to ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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This tab provides access to data collected through AASHE’s Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System™ (STARS). STARS is a transparent, self-reporting framework for colleges and universities to measure their sustainability performance. STARS enables meaningful comparisons over time and across institutions using a common set of measurements developed with broad participation from the campus sustainability community.

All responses reference content from reports under the latest version of STARS, version 2.2. AASHE membership and log-in is required.

OP 18: Waste Minimization & Diversion

OP 19: Construction & Demolition Waste Diversion

OP 20: Hazardous Waste Management

Additional analysis on scores and quantitative fields can be conducted using the STARS Benchmarking Tool.

Waste Partners