Overall Rating	Gold
Overall Score	73.80
Liaison	Pamela Mischen
Submission Date	March 2, 2023

STARS v2.2

Binghamton University
OP-18: Waste Minimization and Diversion

Status	Score	Responsible Party
	5.00 / 8.00	Martin Larocca Resource Management Coordinator Physical Facilities

"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Parts 1 and 2. Waste per person

Figures needed to determine total waste generated (and diverted):

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Materials recycled	557.99 Tons	473.83 Tons
Materials composted	56 Tons	13.50 Tons
Materials donated or re-sold	6.52 Tons	8.33 Tons
Materials disposed through post-recycling residual conversion	0 Tons	0 Tons
Materials disposed in a solid waste landfill or incinerator	1,396.85 Tons	2,376.70 Tons
Total waste generated	2,017.36 Tons	2,872.36 Tons

If reporting post-recycling residual conversion, provide:

A brief description of the residual conversion facility:

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Start and end dates of the performance year and baseline year (or three-year periods):

	Start Date	End Date
Performance Period	July 1, 2021	June 30, 2022
Baseline Period	July 1, 2011	June 30, 2012

If end date of the baseline year/period is 2004 or earlier, provide:

A brief description of when and why the waste generation baseline was adopted:

Baseline year was determined due to access to direct weight documents and creation of the Recycling and Resource Management Office.

Figures needed to determine "Weighted Campus Users”:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Number of students resident on-site	7,224	6,344
Number of employees resident on-site	33	0
Number of other individuals resident on-site	0	0
Total full-time equivalent student enrollment	16,930	14,373
Full-time equivalent of employees	2,512.20	2,186
Full-time equivalent of students enrolled exclusively in distance education	96	0
Weighted campus users	16,323.90	14,005.25

Total waste generated per weighted campus user:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Total waste generated per weighted campus user	0.12 Tons	0.21 Tons

Percentage reduction in total waste generated per weighted campus user from baseline:

39.74

Part 3. Waste diverted from the landfill or incinerator

Percentage of materials diverted from the landfill or incinerator by recycling, composting, donating or re-selling, performance year:

30.76

Percentage of materials diverted from the landfill or incinerator (including up to 10 percent attributable to post-recycling residual conversion):

30.76

In the waste figures reported above, has the institution recycled, composted, donated and/or re-sold the following materials?:

	Yes or No
Paper, plastics, glass, metals, and other recyclable containers	Yes
Food	Yes
Cooking oil	Yes
Plant materials	Yes
Animal bedding	No
White goods (i.e. appliances)	Yes
Electronics	Yes
Laboratory equipment	Yes
Furniture	No
Residence hall move-in/move-out waste	Yes
Scrap metal	Yes
Pallets	Yes
Tires	No
Other (please specify below)	Yes

A brief description of other materials the institution has recycled, composted, donated and/or re-sold:

Donated materials during campus Move out includes: kitchen appliances, books, clothing, and sealed food items.
Donations also include edible food from dining halls and market places.

Optional Fields

Active Recovery and Reuse

Materials intended for disposal but subsequently recovered and reused on campus, performance year:

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Recycling Management

Does the institution use single stream recycling to collect standard recyclables in common areas?:

Does the institution use dual stream recycling to collect standard recyclables in common areas?:

Does the institution use multi-stream recycling to collect standard recyclables in common areas?:

Yes

Contamination and Discard Rates

Average contamination rate for the institution’s recycling program:

A brief description of any recycling quality control mechanisms employed:

Quality control is done by rolling audit of all waste streams. As materials are picked up the number of containers emptied, the number of containers contaminated, and the type of contamination is recorded, he data collected is reported weekly. If a location on campus is found to have an elevated contamination level steps are taken to educate the building inhabitants including re-training of employees and students responsible for disposing of materials into different waste streams. To help reduce contamination bins and signs are updated.

Programs and Initiatives

A brief description of the institution's waste-related behavior change initiatives:

New signage, displays, and brochures have been created to foster a wider base of educated waste producers on campus. Along with updated physical media new social media platforms are being used (ex. Twitter, facebook events, campus email, listserv) to spread awareness and change cultural behavior regarding sustainable waste habits.

A brief description of the institution's waste audits and other initiatives to assess its materials management efforts and identify areas for improvement:

During all daily recycling pick ups employees of Recycling and Resource Management perform a rolling audit of each location picked up. The audits cover the location of recycling containers, number of containers collected, number of containers contaminated, type of contamination, total weight of material picked up during that shift.

A brief description of the institution's procurement policies designed to prevent waste:

Binghamton University follows New York State Executive Order #142 and #22. The executive order directs all State agencies to maximize opportunities to increase recycling, reuse, and to identify better procurement policies to prevent waste.

A brief description of the institution's surplus department or formal office supplies exchange program that facilitates reuse of materials:

Inter-office program is established for the reuse of folders, envelopes, other office materials.

Property Control office:
Property Control provides a service to all departments on campus for the pick up and re-distribution of surplus equipment throughout Binghamton University.

A brief description of the institution's platforms to encourage peer-to-peer exchange and reuse:

Campus program in place to encourage reuse of office supplies. Internal campus mail if possible must be done through reusable envelopes. An online system through internal portal is in place for the redistribution of campus office equipment.

A brief description of the institution's limits on paper and ink consumption:

All campus printers are set to double sided printing. There is no free printing on campus. Students have a set amount of starting funds for printing that they may replenish. Offices are encouraged to use network printers for whole departments, instead of individual printers per office.

A brief description of the institution's initiatives to make materials available online by default rather than printing them:

All course schedules, course catalogs, and campus directories are available online.

A brief description of the institution's program to reduce residence hall move-in/move-out waste:

Recycling runs are increased along with the placement of donation bins in residence halls, during move out week and finals week.
Donation bins are placed to collect sealed food items, kitchen items, and shoes.
Campus wide emails are sent out to students, and signs are set up in all dorm buildings.
Collaboration with several campus departments is established in order to reduce the amount of waste during this period along with and increased effort for students to donate unwanted equipment and goods.
Collaboration with Sierra Club and its Binghamton Moveout Project established to help divert donatable material from the landfill.

A brief description of the institution's programs or initiatives to recover and reuse other materials intended for disposal:

Presentations along with campus wide events are held throughout the calendar year. These events inform the campus and local community about different waste minimization techniques they can implement, along with education on current campus sustainability programs. End of year Move Out event looks to target collection of clothing, appliances, food, and other household items. These items are donated to local charities.

Website URL where information about the institution’s waste minimization and diversion efforts is available:

http://www.binghamton.edu/sustainability/

Additional documentation to support the submission:

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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

Dining hall Lean Path and Food Co programs were implemented within the last few years. These new initiatives account for reduction of compost collected.

http://www.binghamton.edu/physical-facilities/recycling.html

https://twitter.com/BingURecycle

The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.