Overall Rating | Platinum - expired |
---|---|
Overall Score | 88.14 |
Liaison | Tonie Miyamoto |
Submission Date | Dec. 6, 2019 |
Executive Letter | Download |
Colorado State University
OP-19: Waste Minimization and Diversion
Status | Score | Responsible Party |
---|---|---|
5.17 / 8.00 |
Carol
Dollard Energy Engineer Facilities Management |
"---"
indicates that no data was submitted for this field
Parts 1 and 2: Waste Minimization
Performance Year | Baseline Year | |
Materials recycled | 1,650 Tons | 1,006.65 Tons |
Materials composted | 3,169 Tons | 9,267 Tons |
Materials donated or re-sold | 157 Tons | 316.40 Tons |
Materials disposed through post-recycling residual conversion | 0 Tons | 0 Tons |
Materials disposed in a solid waste landfill or incinerator | 3,488 Tons | 2,914.49 Tons |
Total waste generated | 8,464 Tons | 13,504.54 Tons |
If reporting post-recycling residual conversion, provide:
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Start and end dates of the performance year and baseline year (or three-year periods):
Start Date | End Date | |
Performance Year | July 1, 2018 | June 30, 2019 |
Baseline Year | July 1, 2013 | June 30, 2014 |
If end date of the baseline year/period is 2004 or earlier, provide:
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Figures needed to determine "Weighted Campus Users”:
Performance Year | Baseline Year | |
Number of students resident on-site | 7,871 | 6,443 |
Number of employees resident on-site | 31 | 603 |
Number of other individuals resident on-site and/or staffed hospital beds | 642 | 0 |
Total full-time equivalent student enrollment | 28,846 | 24,888.04 |
Full-time equivalent of employees (staff + faculty) | 6,937 | 6,521 |
Full-time equivalent of students enrolled exclusively in distance education | 3,012 | 3,218 |
Weighted campus users | 27,195.75 | 22,904.78 |
Total waste generated per weighted campus user:
Performance Year | Baseline Year | |
Total waste generated per weighted campus user | 0.31 Tons | 0.59 Tons |
Percentage reduction in total waste generated per weighted campus user from baseline:
47.21
Part 3: Waste Diversion
58.79
Percentage of materials diverted from the landfill or incinerator (including up to 10 percent attributable to post-recycling residual conversion):
58.79
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 | Yes |
White goods (i.e. appliances) | Yes |
Laboratory equipment | Yes |
Furniture | Yes |
Residence hall move-in/move-out waste | Yes |
Scrap metal | Yes |
Pallets | Yes |
Tires | Yes |
Other (please specify below) | Yes |
A brief description of other materials the institution has recycled, composted, donated and/or re-sold:
CSU Surplus Property captures a broad variety of materials leaving campus & diverts them by redistributing, reselling, recycling & repurposing. While they do not have a scale at their facility, the weights of the items were generated from a detailed list of all the items processed.
Optional Fields
Active Recovery and Reuse
157
Tons
Recycling Management
Yes
Does the institution use dual stream (two separate containers for recyclables, e.g. one for paper and another for plastic, glass, and metals) to collect standard recyclables (i.e. paper, plastic, glass, metals) in common areas?:
No
Does the institution use multi-stream recycling (multiple containers that further separate different types of materials) to collect standard recyclables (i.e. paper, plastic, glass, metals) in common areas?:
No
Contamination and Discard Rates
8
A brief description of any recycling quality control mechanisms employed, e.g. efforts to minimize contamination and/or monitor the discard rates of the materials recovery facilities and mills to which materials are diverted:
CSU continuously works to control contamination of streams through labelling and an annual waste audit to raise awareness.
Programs and Initiatives
Signage and educational sessions including a web-based "recycling game" (played on an iPad or online) where participants have to separate items into recycle, trash & compost. CSU also participates in RecycleMania each year and sponsors a “Pack-It, Store It, Donate It” to collect unwanted items during move-out to reduce materials heading to the landfill.
Campus-wide signage for recycling, compost, landfill, and techno-trash helps educate the campus community.
A brief description of the institution's waste audits and other initiatives to assess its materials management efforts and identify areas for improvement:
The university conducts a waste audit every year in conjunction w/ RecycleMania. One truckload of trash and one truckload of recyclables are dumped on the Lory Student Center Plaza and volunteers (students & staff) sort the materials. Specific weights are gathered from the re-sorted materials to record the percentage of materials that could have been diverted (recycled or composted), and to determine the contamination rate in the recycle stream.
A brief description of the institution's procurement policies designed to prevent waste (e.g. by minimizing packaging and purchasing in bulk):
Environmentally and Socially Preferable Procurement Policy outlines specific guidelines - http://www.procurement.colostate.edu/policy/documents/EPP.pdf
A brief description of the institution's surplus department or formal office supplies exchange program that facilitates reuse of materials:
Surplus Property, an institution on campus, is responsible for the handling and disposition of all property that the University no longer has a use for. Their main objective is to provide an opportunity for the reallocation of still-usable items from one area of the University to other areas that have a need for them. In addition, an outlet for the disposal of property that the University no longer has a use for is provided either through walk-in sales to the public, vehicle auctions and surplus auctions as needed, or recycling for items that no longer have a market value.
A brief description of the institution's platforms to encourage peer-to-peer exchange and reuse (e.g. of electronics, furnishings, books and other goods):
Many departments on campus have listservs and/or a surplus table to encourage the exchange of unused/unwanted items from peer to peer within a department before the item is sent to Surplus.
In addition, Surplus Property, an institution on campus, is responsible for the handling and disposition of all property that the University no longer has a use for. Their main objective is to provide an opportunity for the reallocation of still-usable items from one area of the University to other areas that have a need for them. In addition, an outlet for the disposal of property that the University no longer has a use for is provided either through weekly walk-in sales to the public, vehicle auctions and surplus auctions as needed, or recycling for items that no longer have a market value.
A brief description of the institution's limits on paper and ink consumption (e.g. restricting free printing and/or mandating doubled-sided printing in libraries and computer labs):
All printing labs set limits on printing per student except for the main library where students must pay for individual printing. The exact limits are defined by the colleges each semester. Departmental student computer labs and the computer lab in the Morgan Library all practice duplex-printing as the default setting.
A brief description of the institution's initiatives to make materials (e.g. course catalogs, course schedules, and directories) available online by default rather than printing them:
The University uploads almost everything from policy handbooks, to maps, to course catalogs online. Printed materials are only produced upon request and at a fee. Some materials, such as the (sizeable) course catalog, are no longer available in print.
A brief description of the institution's program to reduce residence hall move-in/move-out waste:
In an effort to divert solid waste from the landfills, unwanted items are collected by CSU's Integrated Solid Waste Department, Surplus, the Live Green Team, and the Eco-Leaders during residence hall and university apartment move-out. Items collected include clothing, shoes, towels, dishes, lamps, desks, couches, coffee pots, plants, and more. The program, called "Pack It, Store It, Donate It" collects materials to be donated and distributed to three dozen nonprofit agencies.
During move in each year, the Eco-Leaders host Cardboard Corrals to collect boxes, Styrofoam, and thin-film plastics, most of which would be thrown away without this very visible collection program. In the fall of 2019, 27 tons of cardboard, 60 CY of Styrofoam, and 209 pounds of thin film plastics were diverted from the landfill.
A brief description of the institution's programs or initiatives to recover and reuse other materials intended for disposal:
Surplus Property, an institution on campus, is responsible for the handling and disposition of all property that the University no longer has a use for. Their main objective is to provide an opportunity for the reallocation of still-usable items from one area of the University to other areas that have a need for them. In addition, an outlet for the disposal of property that the University no longer has a use for is provided either through weekly walk-in sales to the public, vehicle auctions and surplus auctions as needed, or recycling for items that no longer have a market value.
The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
Surplus Property: http://cr.colostate.edu/surplus-property.html
Move in: https://source.colostate.edu/move-in-2018-by-the-numbers/
Move out: https://source.colostate.edu/volunteers-needed-for-student-move-out-next-week/
Note that FY14 was chosen as a baseline year to align with the 2017 STARS submission. Utilizing the same baseline year allows the university to track progress against a fixed baseline. Water and GHG emissions also use the same baseline year as the 2017 submission - those baselines selected for policy reasons (see notes in those sections).
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.