Arizona State University
OP-19: Waste Minimization and Diversion

The baseline coincides with when Arizona State University completed its first formal Greenhouse Gas Inventory.

Lab glass, sports equipment, scrap metal, polystyrene, books, wood, and construction and demolition debris. Blue Bag items: chip bags, energy bar wrappers, spent writing utensils, gift cards, cosmetic containers. Edible food is diverted through a local company redistributing to community programs.

To reach Arizona State University's stated goal for zero solid waste the University has developed the following diversion programs: • Traditional consumer recycling programs diverting all grades of plastics, paper, glass, aseptic containers, and metal. • Special Recycling programs for electronics, batteries, CD's, sneakers, cell phones, toner cartridges, polystyrene, Terracycle items (chip bags and snack wrappers). • Paying Arizona Correctional Industries $5 per mattress to recycle old residence hall mattresses. • Paint reclamation and diversion. • Campus Harvest - Harvesting food grown on the Polytechnic and Tempe Campuses for use in the dining facilities and the surrounding community. • SunSET - http://www.asu.edu/sunset to promote material and supply sharing between departments. • Composting landscaping waste at a local farm and with municipalities • Composting food waste with municipal programs

Waste Management Sustainability Consultants performed a Waste Characterization Study for ASU from February 14 through 17, 2012. The study examined municipal solid waste generated at the ASU main campus in Tempe, Arizona. The function of this exercise was to examine material generation and waste stream composition in order to reduce waste and improve operational efficiencies. A Waste Characterization Report was then developed to provide quantitative baseline data and observations about the material assessed. In collaboration with ASU’s dining services provider, ARAMARK, dining hall waste audits are performed in each dining hall every semester. The program, called Weigh the Waste, shuts down the dish belt for one meal and collects and weighs food waste from students while educating them about food waste issues and of previous years’ results. Total food waste is then divided by amount of students served during that period to determine an average weight of food wasted per student. Results are used not only to inform students to not take too much food, but also dining staff about appropriate portion sizes and the success of different recipes.

Arizona State University’s Green Purchasing policy requirements mandate reduced packaging, and any packaging that is used must meet at least one of the following, and preferably all of the following: made from 100% post-consumer recycled materials, be recyclable, be reusable, be non-toxic, and be bio-degradable. This requirement has reduced the amount of packaging material that arrives on campus. Solicitations have specifications that suppliers must take away their packaging for large quantity equipment purchases. ASU has moved completely away from broadloom carpeting to carpet tiles. We reduce waste by ordering only sections that need replacement. All carpet suppliers are required to pick up old carpet tiles and recycle them. (Also, broadloom inherently uses 15% to 20% more material, because of increased cutting and seaming to match patterns in irregular sized spaces. In December 2009, ASU approved a Sustainable Design Policy to implement sustainable practices in the planning, construction, operation and maintenance of all university facilities. The policy applies to all new construction and major renovations on all ASU campuses. The guidelines provide direction in working toward the university’s goals of carbon neutrality, zero waste, active engagement and principled practice. Incorporated within this policy are the following waste reduction guidelines: • Building Size & Footprint: Minimize the overall building size (square footage and footprint) while meeting the building program requirements. The goal is efficient use of space to reduce overall resource consumption; including embodied energy, operational energy, and building materials. • Design for Future Use: Plan for a “100-year Building” through flexibility of use and future reuse. Design interior spaces that are flexible and allow for changes in use. Use standard furniture wherever possible. Minimize use of custom millwork, custom building systems (door frames, doors, interior windows etc.) to maximize reuse in the future. For retrofits, analyze current space requirements for space efficiency, function, and use proximity. Design in accordance with cradle to cradle principles to the full extent practical. • Existing Landscaping: Protect significant natural and historic landscaping and incorporate those elements into the new landscape design. Design to optimize a balance of water conservation and energy conservation. • Reused and repurposed materials should be integrated into the building shell, structural materials, finishes, and fixtures when they can be used without compromising quality. • Construction Waste: Minimize or eliminate construction waste. Reduce, reuse and/or recycle waste materials to minimize disposal to a landfill.

Arizona State University has Surplus Property where retired items are sold or recycled. The University also has an online program called Surplus Exchange and Transfer that is a university-wide "classified ad" system for exchanging property. Through SunSET, Arizona State University departments can re-use office supplies, lab supplies, some types of furniture, and other un-needed items, thus keeping many of these items from reaching our landfill.

Arizona State University eliminated printing free copies at the start of academic year 2009. All printing done by students at any of our computing centers and libraries is paid for by the respective student. In addition, the default setting for all computer lab printers is to print double-sided. Further, the University introduced one-to-one computing four years ago. Most students purchase their own laptops with the needed software installed so that they rarely have to use a computer center. In addition, Arizona State University signed a 20-year agreement with Canon to digitize the University. As a part of this initiative, Canon has inventoried all input/output devices on campus and is visiting with departments to show them how they can adopt the latest technology while reducing their costs by replacing many input/output devices with a few networked multi-function devices. Canon devices offer print reduction programs, are set to double-sided printing, provide scan to e-mail, and fax to file. Furthermore, ASU's business model with Canon rewards them for the reduction of printing. Additionally, Canon has implemented behavior change campaigns on campus including signage that associates the amount of embodied water avoided by not printing each sheet paper.

The Arizona State University course catalogs and course schedules are available online. All registration is now paperless. https://webapp4.asu.edu/catalog/ Directories are also primarily available online. https://webapp4.asu.edu/directory/ In addition, all orientation materials are now sent electronically or delivered on USB to students.

Ditch the Dumpster is the annual move-in and move-out program. The year-end donation and recycling drive collects thousands of pounds of reusable and recyclable items from students as they move out of ASU residence halls. Reusable items are donated to charity organizations that benefit children and families locally. Items that cannot be reused are re-purposed or recycled. Ditch the Dumpster is a university-wide initiative, consisting of several cross-functional departments and a third-party non-profit organization. Donation bins are designated at each residence hall approximately 3 weeks prior to semester's end; non-profit staff picks up donations on a daily basis. "Special" recycling collections are also set up adjacent to donation centers, for items such as e-waste, and polystyrene which cannot go into our single-stream recycling program. The move-in programming consists of increased recycling locations specifically targeting cardboard and Styrofoam collections.

Arizona State University's harvest tradition began in 1991 when all the stately date palms on campus were hand pollinated in the spring, covered with protective bags in the summer and harvested in the fall by the Arboretum at ASU arborists.These delicious dates were a big hit with the faculty and staff and the program grew in popularity. In order for everyone to have an opportunity to buy a box of the limited supply of campus dates, the ASU Foundation and the Campus Bookstore began a distribution program. It has grown from 650 lbs. in 1991 to a record harvest of 4,500 lbs. of dates in 2000. All campus dates are cleaned, sorted and packed entirely by Arboretum volunteers. Every November the Arboretum volunteers also pack and deliver a special order of holiday date gift boxes for the ASU President and Vice President to give as gifts to ASU benefactors. The largest campus crop at the Arboretum at ASU is the Seville sour orange. There are 260 Seville sour orange trees on the Tempe campus that produced six to eight tons of fruit each year. For many years, campus sour oranges were picked by a local citrus broker for shipment to the marmalade industry. When the American demand for sour oranges tapered off, the broker stopped picking our sour oranges.