Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 83.26
Liaison Megan Litke
Submission Date Feb. 12, 2014
Executive Letter Download

STARS v1.2

American University
OP-17: Waste Reduction

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 0.00 / 5.00 Helen Lee
Sustaianbility Programs Intern
Office of Sustainability
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Weight of materials recycled, 2005 baseline year :
823.50 Tons

Weight of materials composted, 2005 baseline year :
0 Tons

Weight of materials disposed as garbage, 2005 baseline year :
1,096.35 Tons

Weight of materials recycled, performance year :
1,634.48 Tons

Weight of materials composted, performance year :
681.80 Tons

Weight of materials disposed as garbage, performance year :
1,222.99 Tons

List the start and end dates of the waste reduction performance year:
January 2013 - December 2013

On-campus residents, 2005:
3,363

Non-residential/commuter full-time students, faculty, and staff members, 2005:
7,004

Non-residential/commuter part-time students, faculty, and staff members, 2005:
3,471

On-campus residents, performance year:
3,662

Non-residential/commuter full-time students, faculty, and staff members, performance year:
9,031

Non-residential/commuter part-time students, faculty, and staff members, performance year:
3,452

Time period for weighted campus user (list the consecutive 12 month period that most closely overlaps with waste reduction performance year):
January 2013 - December 2013

Indication of whether institution has a stated commitment to waste-reduction goals, such as zero waste:
Yes

A brief description of the plan of action to achieve waste reduction goals:

Our strategic goals for achieving zero waste include: waste tracking, source reduction, waste diversion, education, communication, and research.


The website URL where information about the institution’s waste reduction initiatives is available:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

The waste reduction data was tracked by our Zero Waste Coordinator, Helen Lee, for the 2013 calendar year. This does not include waste produced at commercial buildings managed by Auxiliary Services, which have a combination of AU employees and commercial tenants.

Population figures for performance year were calculated using the student headcount as of September 28, 2013 (census date of Academic Data Reference Book), and Faculty/Staff headcount as of December 1st, 2013 (census date from Director of Employee Compensation). As the performance year corresponded to a calendar year, encompassing parts of two different academic years, the headcounts from the more recent academic year were chosen to most accurately reflect the campus population during this period.

Population figures for baseline year were calculated using the student headcount as of October 1, 2005 (census date of Academic Data Reference Book), and Faculty/Staff headcount as of September 30, 2005 (census date from Director of Employee Compensation). As the baseline year corresponded to a calendar year, encompassing parts of two different academic years, the headcounts from the more recent academic year were chosen to most accurately reflect the campus population during this period.


The waste reduction data was tracked by our Zero Waste Coordinator, Helen Lee, for the 2013 calendar year. This does not include waste produced at commercial buildings managed by Auxiliary Services, which have a combination of AU employees and commercial tenants.

Population figures for performance year were calculated using the student headcount as of September 28, 2013 (census date of Academic Data Reference Book), and Faculty/Staff headcount as of December 1st, 2013 (census date from Director of Employee Compensation). As the performance year corresponded to a calendar year, encompassing parts of two different academic years, the headcounts from the more recent academic year were chosen to most accurately reflect the campus population during this period.

Population figures for baseline year were calculated using the student headcount as of October 1, 2005 (census date of Academic Data Reference Book), and Faculty/Staff headcount as of September 30, 2005 (census date from Director of Employee Compensation). As the baseline year corresponded to a calendar year, encompassing parts of two different academic years, the headcounts from the more recent academic year were chosen to most accurately reflect the campus population during this period.

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.