University of North Carolina, Greensboro
OP-23: Waste Diversion

1. UNCG has participated in Recyclemania since 2012 to further encourage recycling on campus. 2. Special programs are presented to Housekeeping staff annually to educate housekeepers about recycling protocols. 3. Special presentations are also made throughout the year to a variety of classes ranging from Biology to Education to Economics. Students are educated on how to recycle properly and about recycling efforts at UNCG. 4. Move-in recyclable collection around the residence halls helps resident students become familiar with recycling infrastructure on campus. 5. Residence hall rooms are equipped with a reusable recycling bag/bin that lists UNCG's commingled recycling program guidelines and contact information for OWRR. 6. "Landfill on the Lawn" is an educational event that occurs once every semester. This hands-on event puts the campus community face to face with its waste and measures how well trash and recycling dumpsters are utilized at representative residence halls. 7. A campus-wide "Shred-a-Thon" is held every June to assist office staff in recycling sensitive paper documents securely. 8. "Cram and Scram" is the UNCG waste reduction move-out program. This event focuses on end-of-academic year wastes and how to reuse them - students place unwanted items in bins for collection; these items are then sorted and sold at a public event to raise money for environmental education. 9. Two "Big Belly" solar recycling bin and trash compactor stations were added on campus in 2010.

Excess food is donated to the Urban Ministry of Greensboro, NC, an ecumenical outreach agency that provides crisis intervention and emergency services in part by providing the basics of food and shelter. The Ministry also helps individuals and families break the cycles of poverty, hunger, addiction, and homelessness. Its work is supported by more than 200 congregations.

For the last three years, UNCG Dining Services has contracted with Brooks Contractor Composting Service (http://www.brookscontractor.com/) to haul food waste and other compostables from the Dining Hall and Catering Operations on campus to their facility in Goldston, NC. The Dining Services staff collects pre-consumer food waste from kitchen preparation areas; this and post-consumer waste are placed in a specially marked compost dumpster located behind the Dining Hall. Brooks services the dumpster three days a week. Total material composted averaged 16 tons per month in 2013-14.

In February of 2011, UNCG Dining Services hired Brooks Contractor Composting Service (http://www.brookscontractor.com/) to haul post-consumer food waste from its Dining Hall and Catering Operations. All compostable materials are collected at the "back of the house" by UNCG Dining Services staff. UNCG's Catering Services group provides additional food and material waste pickups at events utilizing compostable service ware and takes these wastes to the specially marked compost dumpster at the Dining Hall. All disposable service products used for catering functions are 100% compostable. These include paper fiber plates, starch cold cups, paper hot cups, starch knife, fork, spoon, wood stirrers, paper napkins & starch straws. The food waste and compostable serviceware are placed into the industrial-scale windrow compost operation that Brooks has established. Their operation allows disposable compostable wastes (PLA plastic utensils, paper plates, paper cups) to be fully utilized. Food scraps and disposables from catering are added to the main dining compost stream which is picked up by the commercial compost hauler.

Information compiled and provided by Ben Kunka, OWRR Manager. Waste and recycling data are for 2013-14.. Please see the Office of Waste Reduction and Recycling website: http://facrecycling.uncg.edu/