Overall Rating	Gold
Overall Score	73.99
Liaison	Mary-Lee Townsend
Submission Date	Oct. 20, 2021

STARS v2.2

Western University
OP-18: Waste Minimization and Diversion

Status	Score	Responsible Party
	3.38 / 8.00	Mary-Lee Townsend Sustainability & Compliance Manager Sustainability Office

"---" 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	1,428.73 Metric tons	1,283.99 Metric tons
Materials composted	0 Metric tons	0 Metric tons
Materials donated or re-sold	0 Metric tons	0 Metric tons
Materials disposed through post-recycling residual conversion	294.02 Metric tons	379.79 Metric tons
Materials disposed in a solid waste landfill or incinerator	1,895.19 Metric tons	1,921.26 Metric tons
Total waste generated	3,617.94 Metric tons	3,585.04 Metric tons

If reporting post-recycling residual conversion, provide:

A brief description of the residual conversion facility:

Western University sends all our Organics (food scraps, paper products etc.) to Seacliff Energy, a state-of-the-art, organics recycling and bioenergy facility in Leamington, Ontario, Canada operating since 2011.

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	Jan. 1, 2018	Dec. 31, 2018

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:

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Figures needed to determine "Weighted Campus Users”:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Number of students resident on-site	6,308	6,176
Number of employees resident on-site	8	8
Number of other individuals resident on-site	0	0
Total full-time equivalent student enrollment	30,693	30,522
Full-time equivalent of employees	3,871	3,860
Full-time equivalent of students enrolled exclusively in distance education	898	822
Weighted campus users	26,828.50	26,716

Total waste generated per weighted campus user:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Total waste generated per weighted campus user	0.13 Metric tons	0.13 Metric tons

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

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:

39.49

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

47.62

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:

Western works with a Scrap Services Provider who is able to help us reuse and/or recycle much of our large, bulky items – things like furniture, filing cabinets, old renovation materials, shelving etc. Additionally, there are processes in place to manage the disposal and preferably, recycling of high volumes of one type of material (paper, plastics, metal, etc.)

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?:

Yes

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

Contamination and Discard Rates

Average contamination rate for the institution’s recycling program:

A brief description of any recycling quality control mechanisms employed:

The University's Waste Management Vendor features cameras that capture contamination in our two stream recycling pick ups. Notices are send to Facilities and mitigation measures are put in place to curb contamination at the source. Additionally, we work with our hauler to ensure that our recyclables go to the City of London MRF, which is one of the most productive plants in Canada and has a residual rate of only 8%.

Programs and Initiatives

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

The Sustainability Office, in cooperation with Hospitality Services, provide visual ques on proper sorting techniques on all residence lounge and dining hall visx screens. In collaboration with The Residence Life Sustainability Committee, the Sustainability Office ensures accurate, consistent information is provided to student leaders, including mandatory training that details Waste Diversion an proper recycling techniques, regular contributions to Residence Training Programs (floor meetings) specific to waste and recycling and regular contributions to OWL newsletters, which provide direction and guidance to student leaders on Sustainability and Waste Diversion. Floor leaders were also provided a “bank of events” approved on residences, and Waste Diversion Training was included.
The Sustainability Office conducts am O’Serves (orientation week) workshop to help highlight Sustainability on campus, and includes proper sorting techniques and guidance on waste diversion on Campus.

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

Annual Waste Audits are performed on a yearly basis which helps Western identify our Diversion Rate and direct our education and training programs. Over the last year, we engaged EnviroWestern, a student led group, to conduct Visual Audits on dining hall waste stations, and highlight opportunities for improvement. They found that more education and training was needed, and The Sustainability Office will be working with this group to create a dynamic engagement program on residences geared at sorting techniques.

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

Western's Sustainable Procurement Policy encourages the use of Western's Sustainable Procurement Guidelines, within which purchasers are encouraged to procure items with minimal waste outputs.

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

At Western, furniture and other assets can be diverted from the waste stream and sold through the "asset disposal" program. People who have items for sale can contact the "Purchasing" department. All items for sale will be listed on the web and open to the public. Items will be posted for two weeks. If there are no successful bidders, the item will be removed from the sale listing and the department will have to consider alternate options (e.g. donation).

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

Western's Residence Life Group manages a Free Store, located in the Ontario Hall Residence, where students can access donated items for free.

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

At Western, students do not have access to free printing at libraries and computer labs. There are printing stations at most libraries; however, students need to buy a "Copy Card" which costs $1.00 (non-refundable) and can be purchased at the service desk of any library.

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

To lessen the impact on the environment, the Office of the Registrar only produces an online version of the Academic Calendar for students. The Faculty Dean's Offices and Academic Counseling Offices will receive a limited number of printed copies.

In addition, the limited copies of Academic Calendars are printed on recycled paper and there are a few available for students to view in each of the on-campus libraries.
Western encourages everyone to use the online Academic Calendar, which is updated monthly.

Course schedules are all kept online, and most faculty choose to keep their syllabi online as well.

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

The move-out waste program is coordinated by Housing Staff. They arrange for large boxes to be placed at the front lobby area of each residence. Clothing/small furnishings, and even office supplies collected are donated to charity. Housing also collects any non-perishable food items to be sent to the London Food Bank.

In the apartments, Housing runs a program where exchange and international students can drop off items like small appliances, utensils, etc. These items are stored and the following year they are made available to new exchange/international students so they do not have to purchase all new items that only get used for a few months.

The Off-Campus Housing Office also runs a "take it or leave it" program. People can "shop" (for free) for good furniture or leave behind stuff they do not need. This is operated in conjunction with a program to provide large bins that can be used by off-campus students rather than leaving garbage on the street and bothering neighbors.

Also, Western encourages students to start cleaning their rooms and bringing things home around Easter to decrease the amount of things they will have to move or dispose at the end of the year.

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

The Waste & Recycling Portal was created to direct and divert waste from landfill. This tool, available to all Western Staff, Students and Faculty, ensures that any materials outside of regular recycling (i.e. paper, cans, plastics and cardboard) are considered for reuse or recycling before being put into the landfill.

Additional programs to encourage recovery and reuse on campus include:
- Textbook donations overseas
- Battery collection bins across campus
- Ink/toner take-back program from Western's preferred stationery supply vendor

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

https://sustainability.uwo.ca/Campus/waste_reduction/waste__recycling_portal.html

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.