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

1186 resources

Considering the Accessibility of Compostable Straws

  • Williams College (MA)
  • Post-Landfill Action Network (NH)

While plastic straws have drawn attention in the past few years as having negative environmental impacts, organizations looking to make progress at the intersection of diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility and …

  • Posted Feb. 14, 2025
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B.Y.O. Campaign and Romeoville Repair Cafe: Reducing Waste by Promoting a Circular Economy through Single Use Waste Reduction and Product Repair

  • Joliet Junior College (IL)

American throwaway culture is rapidly expanding garbage landfill around the world; majorly, it’s caused by planned or perceived obsolesces and daily disposables. Many people unknowingly throw away items that could …

  • Posted Jan. 27, 2025
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The evolution of on-campus catering through single-use plastic reduction

  • Arizona State University (AZ)
  • Aramark (PA)

Arizona State University (ASU), the largest public university in the United States, has reimagined its catering services to align with its ambitious sustainability goals. Anchored in service design methodology, this …

  • Posted Jan. 27, 2025
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ACG’s Commitment to Reducing Food Waste On Campus and the Broader Community

  • The American College of Greece (Aghia Paraskevi)

ACG is dedicated to reducing food waste both on campus and in the broader community through ongoing volunteer initiatives, awareness-raising events, and relevant research.

Since November 2018, The American College …

  • Posted Jan. 24, 2025
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“Up-cycling”: Amherst College’s Tread Shed - Our Campus Spoke Easy

The Tread Shed is a bike co-op on the Amherst College campus that is designed to collect and repair abandoned bikes from around campus and return them to students, staff, …

  • Posted Jan. 24, 2025
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Leading the Fight Against Food Waste and Insecurity: Food Recovery Heroes at the University of Pittsburgh

  • University of Pittsburgh (PA)

The University of Pittsburgh’s Food Recovery Heroes student organization has been recovering and donating surplus food from campus dining facilities and local restaurants since 2014. Over the years, the organization …

  • Posted Jan. 24, 2025
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Zero Waste Football

  • Coastal Carolina University (SC)

When the gates opened for the 2019 football season, Chanticleer fans were introduced to a brand-new game day experience inside Brooks Stadium at Coastal Carolina University. In addition to 11,000 …

  • Posted Jan. 24, 2025
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Sorting it Out: A People-Centered Perspective on a Stadium Zero Waste Program

  • University of North Carolina, Charlotte (NC)

In 2022, the Office of Sustainability at UNC Charlotte took responsibility for an existing football stadium zero waste program. This shift in leadership, along with other changes to equipment, supplies, …

  • Posted Jan. 24, 2025
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From Waste to Resource: Building a Culture of Circularity and Engagement at ISU's Share Shop

  • Illinois State University (IL)

Illinois State University (ISU) has developed and successfully implemented The Share Shop, a free secondhand store located inside the Office of Sustainability. The Share Shop has had a transformative impact …

  • Posted Jan. 24, 2025
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University of the Immaculate Conception - Sustainable Education for Culinary Professionals

  • University of the Immaculate Conception

Developed by Worldchefs in collaboration with an esteemed panel of culinary experts, educators, and scientists, the Sustainability Education for Culinary Professionals curriculum offers a transformative learning experience for chefs and …

  • Posted Jan. 22, 2025
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The ASU Eco Reps Program

  • Arizona State University (AZ)
  • Coca-Cola (GA)

The Eco Reps program is a student sustainability engagement joint initiative between Coca-Cola and University Sustainability Practices with additional funding from internal units. Spring 2025 marks the sixth semester of …

  • Posted Jan. 14, 2025
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Defeating the Plastic Monster at Bard College

  • Bard College (NY)

BardE3 sustainability students took some of the monstrous plastic that we cannot recycle and built a plastic monster as a teaching tool. pronounced Bard-ies, these sustainability students understand the interplay …


Game day at Kyle Field Stadium

  • Texas A&M University (TX)

Game day in Kyle Field where average attendance is often 100,000. This picture depicts the potential large scale impact that pro-sustainability measures leveraged in athletic spaces can have.


Food Lockers Address Food Insecurity at Pitt

  • University of Pittsburgh (PA)

New food lockers at University of Pittsburgh make grocery and meal delivery more convenient and help address food insecurity for the Pitt community. Nonperishable food items, fresh produce and extra …


Texas A&M Athletics Recycling Bin

  • Texas A&M University (TX)

Branded recycling bins in athletic facilities


Recycling containers for football game day experience

  • Texas A&M University (TX)

Recycling containers installed for football game day events outside Kyle Field Gates


Valentine's Day Arts and Crafts with the Concordia University Centre for Creative Reuse

  • Concordia University

The Concordia University Center for Creative Reuse (CUCCR) is dedicated to diverting materials from inside the university’s waste-stream and offering them to the general community free of cost. The 2023 …


Bee-yond Plastic Wraps: Concordia Zero Waste Week

  • Concordia University

Let’s face it, snack containers are bulky and annoying to carry. Concordia University Centre for Creative Reuse (CUCCR), in collaboration with the Dish Project and Concordia's Zero Waste Program, facilitates …


SNHU Eco-Reps Making Graduation Sustainable

  • Southern New Hampshire University (NH)

Southern New Hampshire University Eco-Reps volunteer at each graduation to sort through waste for recyclables.


Nova Scotia Community College: Photos for SCI 2024

  • Nova Scotia Community College (NS)

The Nova Scotia Community College has been selected to be featured in the 2024 SCI. Photos have been requested to be submitted showcasing Associate institution's overall, Waste impact area, and …


Seneca Polytechnic - Waste

  • Seneca Polytechnic (ON)

The below image is most closely related to Seneca's food & dining and waste reduction efforts.


UNC Charlotte Volunteers Posing with Data from their Zero-Waste Stadium Sorting Event

  • University of North Carolina, Charlotte (NC)

Volunteers posing with the data generated at a waste sorting event the day after a football game at UNC Charlotte. As Volunteers sort the waste, it is weighed and totaled …


American University students choose stickers to personalize water bottles during orientation.

  • American University (DC)

Incoming students at American University select stickers to personalize the AU-branded reusable water bottles they received during orientation. The Office of Sustainability worked with the Office of New Student & …


Modern life relies on plastic.

  • Florida State University (FL)

Modern life relies on plastic. This lightweight, adaptable product is a cornerstone of packaging, medical equipment, the aerospace and automotive industries and more. But plastic waste remains a problem as …


Sustainability at Connecticut College

  • Connecticut College (CT)

Images submitted for the 2024 Sustainable Campus Index.


Reclaimed Landscapes: The Art of Jarod Charzewski

  • California State University, Fullerton (CA)

Reclaimed Landscapes: The Art of Jarod Charzewski April 7 – May 17, 2018 Curators: Danielle Clark & Jennifer Minasian

About the Exhibition

Reclaimed Landscapes explores the edge between sustainable and …


Embracing Plastic-Free: Reusable Takeout at Carleton College That is Actually Reused

  • Carleton College (MN)
  • USEFULL (MA)

College campuses have an opportunity to positively impact the waste stream with reusable container programs in campus dining. Bon Appétit at Carleton College partnered with USEFULL to offer tech-enabled reusable …


Community Clean Up on Houbolt Road

  • Joliet Junior College (IL)

Joliet Junior College had a clean up on the road outside of the school. We invited 15 different businesses along the road and had 5 sign up, including a visit …


Upcycle Journal Day at Joliet Junior College

  • Joliet Junior College (IL)

Students made journals from homemade and G.O.O.S. paper.


Romeoville Repair Cafe at Joliet Junior College

  • Joliet Junior College (IL)

Joliet Junior College is a registered international Repair Cafe! We had our first Repair Cafe of the year and our on April 13th, we had our very first one for …


Auburn University Earth Day 2024

  • Auburn University (AL)

Auburn University celebrates Earth Day 2024


Weigh the Waste

  • Seattle University (WA)

Seattle University's Redhawk dining team wanted to create a visual representation of the waste that is created from students choosing a compostable to-go container instead of choosing a plate.


Un-Can-It for the Planet

  • Johnson County Community College (KS)

An annual event where student unpackage expired food from our Student Basic Needs Center and compost it, and students and staff are also able to bring expired or stale food …

  • Posted April 25, 2024
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Earth Day Recycling Drive

  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MA)
  • Casella (VT)

Student group Waste Watchers, the MIT Office of Sustainability staff, and MIT's waste hauler Casella led an Earth Day event to collect small electronics for specialty recycling. The event also …

  • Posted April 24, 2024
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Composting at EMU Dining's Facilities

  • Eastern Michigan University (MI)
  • Chartwells Higher Education (NY)

Currently, three of EMU’s dining facilities are a part of a program that diverts pre and post consumer food waste from landfill. Our teams have a contract with a local …

  • Posted April 23, 2024
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Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory - Earth Day Beach Cleanup

  • Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (NY)

Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory held a beach cleanup for their beach on the campus. This was organized through the Sustainability Committee as an attempt to bring the lab community together …

  • Posted April 23, 2024
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Happy World Earth Day 2024: Planet Vs Plastic! UM promotes its Action Plan on Single-Use Plastics and Disposable Items Reduction

  • University of Malaya

Universiti Malaya Sustainable Development Centre (UMSDC) wishes all of you Happy World Earth Day 2024 with the theme 'Planet vs Plastic'

We invite you to join us with our 4 …

  • Posted April 23, 2024
  • Photographs
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New Campus-wide Composting System Launched at Lafayette College

  • Lafayette College (PA)

January, 2024

Easton, Pennsylvania – Lafayette College launched a new campus-wide food waste composting program this fall, using an odor-controlled In Vessel composting system that automatically processes food waste into …

  • Posted March 19, 2024
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Zero Waste Strategic Visioning & Planning

  • University of Wisconsin-Madison (WI)
  • Post-Landfill Action Network (NH)

Zero Waste Strategic Visioning & Planning provides an opportunity for participants to explore the challenges and opportunities with facilitating a campus-wide strategic visioning and planning process. This will be a …

  • Posted Feb. 21, 2024
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Zero Waste Campuses

  • Post-Landfill Action Network (NH)

This is a meetup for all students, staff, companies, and professionals that are working on campus Zero Waste efforts. Whether you're helping your campus achieve Zero Waste goals, or focusing …

  • Posted Feb. 21, 2024
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Haul It to the Hall with Redbirds

  • Illinois State University (IL)

“Haul It to the Hall Program" is one of the successful environmental stewardship initiatives that play a vital role in cultivating a sustainable culture and advancing sustainability efforts at Illinois …

  • Posted Feb. 21, 2024
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Zero Waste Hero: Developing a Self-Paced Certification Program for Students

  • University of Texas at Austin (TX)

Social media, tabling events, signage , and classroom presentations….how else can we direct students to information about zero waste on campus that they can engage with and refer to throughout …

  • Posted Feb. 21, 2024
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Decolonizing Compost

  • University of the Incarnate Word (TX)

This presentation describes how composting has been integrated into the Sustainability Studies curriculum at my institution and its pedagogical benefits. We have on-site composting in our community gardens, and we …

  • Posted Feb. 21, 2024
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Zero Waste Tailgates: Creating a ripple effect of change….and having fun along the way!

  • Illinois State University (IL)

The Illinois State University Office of Sustainability hosted a “Zero Waste Tailgate” before each home football team for the last two seasons. Each tailgate was located in a prominent tailgating …

  • Posted Feb. 21, 2024
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Communicating Recycling’s Relevancy to the Campus Community

  • Northwestern University (IL)
  • Busch Systems International Inc. (ON)

Before sustainability offices existed, campuses had recycling and waste reduction programs to reduce their environmental footprint. But in recent years a perception that recycling is “broken”, or worse, a greenwashing …

  • Posted Feb. 21, 2024
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Composting: Simple Changes for Meaningful Impacts

  • University of Arizona (AZ)

Food loss and waste are global challenges; an estimated 40% of food in the U.S. is wasted. Food waste disposal practices correlate with issues such as food insecurity, poverty, and …

  • Posted Feb. 21, 2024
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Building the Equity Loop: From Campus Move Out to Community Action

  • Lafayette College (PA)

As outlined in the Climate Action Plan, Lafayette is committed to achieving a 40% diversion of waste to landfill by 2030 and a 60% diversion rate by 2035. Green Move …

  • Posted Feb. 21, 2024
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Fashion Forward: Navigating the Intersection of Sustainability and Inclusivity

  • Connecticut College (CT)

The deluge of donated clothing that many of us get during our move-out donation programs can be so overwhelming that many of us end up donating all or most of …

  • Posted Feb. 21, 2024
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Missing Pieces in Higher Education Climate Action Planning: Food, Reuse and Empowerment

  • AASHE (MA)
  • Gaia Education
  • Center for Biological Diversity (AZ)

Climate plans can help colleges and universities address climate concerns specific to the students, faculty and staff of that campus. Staff from the Center for Biological Diversity and GAIA will …

  • Posted Feb. 15, 2024
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It’s Really Free! Patriot Packout Expands to Support George Mason University Community Members’ Basic Needs

  • George Mason University (VA)

This case study focuses on George Mason University’s sustainable move-out initiative, Patriot Packout (PPO) 2023. Existing in some form (unofficial and official) since 2003, the PPO initiative was expanded in …

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