| Overall Rating | Gold |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 67.28 |
| Liaison | Geory Kurtzhals |
| Submission Date | Jan. 4, 2022 |
University of Notre Dame
OP-18: Waste Minimization and Diversion
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
2.62 / 8.00 |
Geory
Kurtzhals Sr. Director Office of Sustainability |
"---"
indicates that no data was submitted for this field
Parts 1 and 2. Waste per person
| Performance Year | Baseline Year | |
| Materials recycled | 430 Metric tons | 1,241.03 Metric tons |
| Materials composted | 338.47 Metric tons | 0 Metric tons |
| Materials donated or re-sold | 596.93 Metric tons | 745.71 Metric tons |
| Materials disposed through post-recycling residual conversion | 0 Metric tons | 0 Metric tons |
| Materials disposed in a solid waste landfill or incinerator | 3,809.27 Metric tons | 4,251.07 Metric tons |
| Total waste generated | 5,174.67 Metric tons | 6,237.80 Metric 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 Period | Jan. 1, 2019 | Dec. 31, 2019 |
| Baseline Period | July 1, 2007 | June 30, 2008 |
If end date of the baseline year/period is 2004 or earlier, provide:
The 2007-2008 academic year was adopted as our waste baseline as that was the year the the Office of Sustainability was established at the University of Notre Dame. While we did not yet have long-term waste reduction goals, that is when recycling efforts picked up.
Figures needed to determine "Weighted Campus Users”:
| Performance Year | Baseline Year | |
| Number of students resident on-site | 6,734 | 6,963 |
| Number of employees resident on-site | 608 | 580 |
| Number of other individuals resident on-site | 0 | 0 |
| Total full-time equivalent student enrollment | 12,683 | 11,650 |
| Full-time equivalent of employees | 5,726 | 5,372 |
| Full-time equivalent of students enrolled exclusively in distance education | 153 | 0 |
| Weighted campus users | 15,527.50 | 14,652.25 |
Total waste generated per weighted campus user:
| Performance Year | Baseline Year | |
| Total waste generated per weighted campus user | 0.33 Metric tons | 0.43 Metric tons |
Percentage reduction in total waste generated per weighted campus user from baseline:
21.72
Part 3. Waste diverted from the landfill or incinerator
26.39
Percentage of materials diverted from the landfill or incinerator (including up to 10 percent attributable to post-recycling residual conversion):
26.39
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 | 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:
Materials that are recycled on an on-going basis (not included above): batteries, automotive oil, lightbulbs, ink cartridges, K-cup pods, disposable gloves.
Optional Fields
Active Recovery and Reuse
113.40
Metric tons
Recycling Management
Yes
Does the institution use dual stream recycling to collect standard recyclables in common areas?:
Yes
Does the institution use multi-stream recycling to collect standard recyclables in common areas?:
Yes
Contamination and Discard Rates
8
A brief description of any recycling quality control mechanisms employed:
The Office of Sustainability along with the recycling team, residence hall staff, and sustainability comissioners have adopted the use of a centralized recycling system and recycling ambassadors to provide quality control over the residence hall recycling program. More recently the recycling team has adopted a toter tagging system to highlight when any contamination is found.
Programs and Initiatives
Residence Hall Recycling Program
In 2007, Notre Dame switched to single-stream recycling on campus, allowing clean paper, glass, and plastics to be collected in the same recycling container. Single stream recycling is convenient, but in order to make the process more effective and ensure that our recyclables are being recycled, we needed to refocus our efforts on collecting clean and contaminant-free recyclables. These necessary changes were piloted in Residence Halls before being rolled out across campus. This new approach is designed to create traceability and allow the broader campus community to follow their recycling beyond the bin.
We made several changes to our previous method of collecting recycling, but three are fairly significant, and when followed will have a substantial impact in helping the University reach its goal of 67% diversion by 2030:
No plastic bags will be used in any part of the collection process
Transitioned to a centralized model of recycling collection
Back to basics recycling
Clean paper, including newsprint, copy paper, and magazines
Dorm Toter Signage
Clean plastic items numbered 1 - 2
Clean metal cans and aluminum food and beverage containers
Clean, empty cardboard - no wax coating, please. This is collected in a designated cart behind each dorm.
Recycling bins are serviced according to a weekday schedule.
What does not go in the recycling bin?
Food and liquids
Glass items of any kind
Plastic bags
Straws
Styrofoam
Hot beverage cups
Plastic utensils
Flexible packaging and multi-laminated materials
Sticky notes
Electronics including CDs - w\these can be recycled through the electronic recycling program on campus.
Used tissues, wet paper towels, and broken household items – these go in the trash!
Batteries and non-university cell phones: These go in the battery buckets, located in various buildings across campus
Toner Cartridges are picked up by our recycling team for proper recycling.
There are designated collection containers located in all dorms for a special pickup.
With lower occupancy in administrative offices this semester, during this pilot phase, single-stream recycling will temporarily pause in all non-residential buildings. Once a residence hall solution is implemented, the team will quickly focus on necessary changes for office and academic spaces.
Outdoor Recycling Collection Containers
This will replace the University’s existing recycling relationship, and the yellow-lidded recycling dumpsters used in the previous process have been removed from campus. The University is able to supply carts for the collection of cardboard.
Continued Campus Recycling Opportunities
Cardboard: Any flattened cardboard placed in a designated cart next to a trash dumpster will be picked up by Notre Dame’s recycling crew. Note: during move-in week 2020, Notre Dame was able to collect two tons of cardboard for recycling! If you have an abundance of cardboard, please submit an AiM work order to schedule a pick-up.
In 2007, Notre Dame switched to single-stream recycling on campus, allowing clean paper, glass, and plastics to be collected in the same recycling container. Single stream recycling is convenient, but in order to make the process more effective and ensure that our recyclables are being recycled, we needed to refocus our efforts on collecting clean and contaminant-free recyclables. These necessary changes were piloted in Residence Halls before being rolled out across campus. This new approach is designed to create traceability and allow the broader campus community to follow their recycling beyond the bin.
We made several changes to our previous method of collecting recycling, but three are fairly significant, and when followed will have a substantial impact in helping the University reach its goal of 67% diversion by 2030:
No plastic bags will be used in any part of the collection process
Transitioned to a centralized model of recycling collection
Back to basics recycling
Clean paper, including newsprint, copy paper, and magazines
Dorm Toter Signage
Clean plastic items numbered 1 - 2
Clean metal cans and aluminum food and beverage containers
Clean, empty cardboard - no wax coating, please. This is collected in a designated cart behind each dorm.
Recycling bins are serviced according to a weekday schedule.
What does not go in the recycling bin?
Food and liquids
Glass items of any kind
Plastic bags
Straws
Styrofoam
Hot beverage cups
Plastic utensils
Flexible packaging and multi-laminated materials
Sticky notes
Electronics including CDs - w\these can be recycled through the electronic recycling program on campus.
Used tissues, wet paper towels, and broken household items – these go in the trash!
Batteries and non-university cell phones: These go in the battery buckets, located in various buildings across campus
Toner Cartridges are picked up by our recycling team for proper recycling.
There are designated collection containers located in all dorms for a special pickup.
With lower occupancy in administrative offices this semester, during this pilot phase, single-stream recycling will temporarily pause in all non-residential buildings. Once a residence hall solution is implemented, the team will quickly focus on necessary changes for office and academic spaces.
Outdoor Recycling Collection Containers
This will replace the University’s existing recycling relationship, and the yellow-lidded recycling dumpsters used in the previous process have been removed from campus. The University is able to supply carts for the collection of cardboard.
Continued Campus Recycling Opportunities
Cardboard: Any flattened cardboard placed in a designated cart next to a trash dumpster will be picked up by Notre Dame’s recycling crew. Note: during move-in week 2020, Notre Dame was able to collect two tons of cardboard for recycling! If you have an abundance of cardboard, please submit an AiM work order to schedule a pick-up.
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 along with our recycling hauler conducted an audit of our residence hall recycling during the winter of 2020-2021 to calculate the percentage of contamination in the load.
A brief description of the institution's procurement policies designed to prevent waste:
The University uses Office Depot as its preferred supplier. Most Office Depot orders are delivered to campus box-free. Instead of being encased in corrugated cardboard and plastic packing materials, they arrive at their destinations in brown paper shopping bags that have been shipped inside reusable green plastic bins/totes.
A brief description of the institution's surplus department or formal office supplies exchange program that facilitates reuse of materials:
Created in 2003, ND Surplus is committed to the prudent stewardship of surplus property resources at all levels of the organization. In order to maximize our resources, it is expected that all surplus University assets will be processed through ND Surplus and that all University departments will consider reusing quality surplus items prior to considering the purchase of new items. FurnishND was created to reserve the highest quality furniture for reuse only on campus.
Some items are also deemed sellable and are placed in an off-campus location, allowing access to individuals and nonprofit organizations the opportunity to purchase gently used items at a deep discount.
Some items are also deemed sellable and are placed in an off-campus location, allowing access to individuals and nonprofit organizations the opportunity to purchase gently used items at a deep discount.
A brief description of the institution's platforms to encourage peer-to-peer exchange and reuse:
In 2014 Notre Dame instituted FurnishND where faculty and staff have the option to select workspace furniture (desks, bookcases, filing cabinets, side chairs, etc…) from an on-campus inventory of high-quality, pre-owned items instead of purchasing new. FurnishND was created to reserve the highest quality furniture for reuse only on campus.
Some items are also deemed sellable and are placed in an off-campus location, allowing individuals and nonprofit organizations the opportunity to purchase gently used items at a deep discount.
Some items are also deemed sellable and are placed in an off-campus location, allowing individuals and nonprofit organizations the opportunity to purchase gently used items at a deep discount.
A brief description of the institution's limits on paper and ink consumption:
Since the adjustment of student printing quotas in 2014, the amount of paper used by students through the PrintND program has decreased by 28% - almost 3.1 million sheets of paper.
Campus Mail will only accept up to 300 of the same item within a one-month period. This policy reduces printing costs and paper use. Any department wishing to perform a mass mailing must receive an exception from the Office of Sustainability. Since instituting this practice the Office receives only one or two requests per year.
Campus Mail will only accept up to 300 of the same item within a one-month period. This policy reduces printing costs and paper use. Any department wishing to perform a mass mailing must receive an exception from the Office of Sustainability. Since instituting this practice the Office receives only one or two requests per year.
A brief description of the institution's initiatives to make materials available online by default rather than printing them:
The University of Notre Dame provides a course bulletin at the beginning of each academic year. It is Notre Dame’s default to not print course schedules or directories. Students may view class schedules online and currently sign-up for classes completely online. Notre Dame has stopped printing a telephone directory and the majority of the information is available on the online directory.
A brief description of the institution's program to reduce residence hall move-in/move-out waste:
In the spring of 2020, the University began a new tradition by partnering with Goodwill Industries of Michiana for its annual collection of items from students they no longer need. Previously, the University collected donations to sell to community members during the one-day event known as Old2Gold. Goodwill then collected unsold items remaining to sell at its retail outlets.
This change allows additional individuals in the region to benefit from the student donations. Students are still encouraged to leave their donations at the designated areas in front of their residence hall where Goodwill collects all year-end Notre Dame student items for resale at some of their 23 locations in the greater Michiana area. In the past, University Warehouse, Delivery & Transportation services collected the items for transport to the specified location for the sale.
This change allows additional individuals in the region to benefit from the student donations. Students are still encouraged to leave their donations at the designated areas in front of their residence hall where Goodwill collects all year-end Notre Dame student items for resale at some of their 23 locations in the greater Michiana area. In the past, University Warehouse, Delivery & Transportation services collected the items for transport to the specified location for the sale.
A brief description of the institution's programs or initiatives to recover and reuse other materials intended for disposal:
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Website URL where information about the institution’s waste minimization and diversion efforts is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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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.