| Overall Rating | Silver |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 58.58 |
| Liaison | Margaret Lo |
| Submission Date | July 14, 2022 |
Ball State University
OP-18: Waste Minimization and Diversion
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
2.63 / 8.00 |
Michael
Planton Associate Director for Landscape and Environmental Management Facilities Planning and Management |
"---"
indicates that no data was submitted for this field
Parts 1 and 2. Waste per person
| Performance Year | Baseline Year | |
| Materials recycled | 329.11 Tons | 702.46 Tons |
| Materials composted | 14,256 Tons | 525 Tons |
| Materials donated or re-sold | 29.34 Tons | 5.89 Tons |
| Materials disposed through post-recycling residual conversion | 439.01 Tons | 805.59 Tons |
| Materials disposed in a solid waste landfill or incinerator | 2,123.71 Tons | 2,828.75 Tons |
| Total waste generated | 17,177.17 Tons | 4,867.69 Tons |
If reporting post-recycling residual conversion, provide:
Recycled materials from campus are collected in designated containers which have blue bags indicating the contents are recyclable materials. These bags are placed into specific dumpsters and taken to a sorting facility. Any bags placed into trash bins by accident can be sorted out at the facility. Bags are opened as they enter the sorting conveyor and the various contents are sorted and placed into bins for further processing.
Start and end dates of the performance year and baseline year (or three-year periods):
| Start Date | End Date | |
| Performance Period | Jan. 1, 2021 | Dec. 31, 2021 |
| Baseline Period | Jan. 1, 2012 | Dec. 31, 2012 |
If end date of the baseline year/period is 2004 or earlier, provide:
To conform with general reporting needs.
Figures needed to determine "Weighted Campus Users”:
| Performance Year | Baseline Year | |
| Number of students resident on-site | 5,251 | 7,122 |
| Number of employees resident on-site | 0 | 0 |
| Number of other individuals resident on-site | 0 | 0 |
| Total full-time equivalent student enrollment | 18,819 | 18,831 |
| Full-time equivalent of employees | 3,169 | 2,992 |
| Full-time equivalent of students enrolled exclusively in distance education | 5,068 | 2,612 |
| Weighted campus users | 14,002.75 | 16,188.75 |
Total waste generated per weighted campus user:
| Performance Year | Baseline Year | |
| Total waste generated per weighted campus user | 1.23 Tons | 0.30 Tons |
Percentage reduction in total waste generated per weighted campus user from baseline:
0
Part 3. Waste diverted from the landfill or incinerator
85.08
Percentage of materials diverted from the landfill or incinerator (including up to 10 percent attributable to post-recycling residual conversion):
87.64
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 | Yes |
| 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:
Mattresses
Concrete
Light bulbs and ballasts
Computers & cartridges
Oil
Batteries
Coolant
Concrete
Light bulbs and ballasts
Computers & cartridges
Oil
Batteries
Coolant
Optional Fields
Active Recovery and Reuse
0
Tons
Recycling Management
Yes
Does the institution use dual stream recycling to collect standard recyclables in common areas?:
No
Does the institution use multi-stream recycling to collect standard recyclables in common areas?:
No
Contamination and Discard Rates
10
A brief description of any recycling quality control mechanisms employed:
---
Programs and Initiatives
Signage is posted at each container explaining what items may be recycled and those that can not.
A brief description of the institution's waste audits and other initiatives to assess its materials management efforts and identify areas for improvement:
No waste audits have been conducted or completed during the year 2021.
A brief description of the institution's procurement policies designed to prevent waste:
Ball State recycles as much packing material as possible, composts landscaping waste and reuses as much as possible.
A brief description of the institution's surplus department or formal office supplies exchange program that facilitates reuse of materials:
The Inventory Control and Moving Department (ICM) handles excess and surplus moveable assets for the university. When an asset is no longer of use to a department, ICM determines the proper disposition of the item according to university policy. This process includes both capitalized and tracked assets (those with inventory control tags) and non-capitalized or non-tracked equipment (those with no inventory control tags). ICM stores excess property in a central warehouse and attempts to assist other campus departments in reusing goods and equipment.
To obtain equipment from excess the requesting department must call ICM . If there is an asset that matches the requesting department description, ICM will arrange for the department to view the asset at the warehouse. A B-450 Capital Release/Move Order form will be prepared by ICM and the inventory system will be updated to reflect the new custodial department. The release of excess will be authorized by the Manager of ICM. Items in the warehouse will be made available to campus departments for university use at no charge to the requesting department. Material or equipment that is of no further value to the University as determined by the Director of Purchasing & Central Stores and the Manager of Inventory Control & Moving will be sold at public auction. Items remaining are assessed for recycling.
To obtain equipment from excess the requesting department must call ICM . If there is an asset that matches the requesting department description, ICM will arrange for the department to view the asset at the warehouse. A B-450 Capital Release/Move Order form will be prepared by ICM and the inventory system will be updated to reflect the new custodial department. The release of excess will be authorized by the Manager of ICM. Items in the warehouse will be made available to campus departments for university use at no charge to the requesting department. Material or equipment that is of no further value to the University as determined by the Director of Purchasing & Central Stores and the Manager of Inventory Control & Moving will be sold at public auction. Items remaining are assessed for recycling.
A brief description of the institution's platforms to encourage peer-to-peer exchange and reuse:
---
A brief description of the institution's limits on paper and ink consumption:
Ball State University limits free printing. Students, faculty, and staff may print up to 500 black and white pages (one side of one sheet of paper) from printers at the university Library. After reaching the 500 page limit a $.05 per page charge is applied and charged through the Bursar's Office. Additionally, the university recently removed printing capabilities in most computers labs (i.e., students can no longer print in most computer labs) on campus to reduce paper waste and save the university money. The university is recommending several alternatives to traditional printing.
“Help reduce our footprint on the environment by printing your documents to portable document files (PDFs) saved to your computer or iLocker space. Printing digital files reduces the amount of paper and ink we use each day, reducing our impact on the environment. If you are using a Mac, your system comes ready to print PDFs. If you are using a Windows PC, download and install free ePrint software to easily create PDFs. www.bsu.edu/eprint Look for the iScan stations in the computer labs and Bracken Library, or use the scanners in residence hall computer labs to scan your paper documents directly into your iLocker digital storage space www.bsu.edu/ilocker. In other words, ePrint software allows you to save paper by printing to a PDF rather than to paper. The PDF can then be stored electronically in such places as your iLocker account, flash drive, or the hard drive of your computer.”
“Help reduce our footprint on the environment by printing your documents to portable document files (PDFs) saved to your computer or iLocker space. Printing digital files reduces the amount of paper and ink we use each day, reducing our impact on the environment. If you are using a Mac, your system comes ready to print PDFs. If you are using a Windows PC, download and install free ePrint software to easily create PDFs. www.bsu.edu/eprint Look for the iScan stations in the computer labs and Bracken Library, or use the scanners in residence hall computer labs to scan your paper documents directly into your iLocker digital storage space www.bsu.edu/ilocker. In other words, ePrint software allows you to save paper by printing to a PDF rather than to paper. The PDF can then be stored electronically in such places as your iLocker account, flash drive, or the hard drive of your computer.”
A brief description of the institution's initiatives to make materials available online by default rather than printing them:
The university has eliminated the practice of large hard-copy production runs of course catalogs in favor of on-line course catalogs for undergraduate and graduate course offerings, and has moved to electronic course registration, course evaluation and course-grade filing.
This has had influence on other practices throughout the campus (see "submission notes above")
This has had influence on other practices throughout the campus (see "submission notes above")
A brief description of the institution's program to reduce residence hall move-in/move-out waste:
The Office of Housing and Residence Life, in collaboration with Facilities and Planning Management (FPM), creates collection sites for items that can be reused or recycled by the institution in order to reduce move-out waste. FPM collects cardboard, lumber, and blocks/concrete bricks at eight housing locations during move-out periods. These areas are easily identifiable with orange or black construction fence material and signage.
FP&M staff pick up items from these sites twice per day with an extra pick up on Saturday morning prior to graduation. The collection sites are typically setup by May 2nd, and announcements of the event are posted two weeks prior. Additional recycling collection sites are created inside the halls to collect plastics, aluminum, steel cans, and paper. The Office of Housing and Residence Life also coordinates with their Hall Directors to designate donation collection sites in each hall for non perishable foods, clothing, small appliances, textbooks and unopened toiletries. The custodial staff of each building removes and stores donation items on a daily basis to prevent theft of items and to prevent unsightly overflow. Typically the donation sites within the buildings are setup two weeks prior to graduation. The donated items are given to the local Muncie Mission Ministries. See website http://www.munciemission.org/
The student-led Golden Key Honor Society at Ball State University also sets up ten used book collection sites in partnership with Better World Books (http://www.betterworldbooks.com) several weeks prior to move-out and graduation. The locally-donated books are re-used, re-sold and recycled to benefit global literacy programs - keeping books out of the local waste stream. In the past several years, the Golden Key Honor Society has collected roughly 882 books, keeping 1,200 pounds of material out of the local landfill.
FP&M staff pick up items from these sites twice per day with an extra pick up on Saturday morning prior to graduation. The collection sites are typically setup by May 2nd, and announcements of the event are posted two weeks prior. Additional recycling collection sites are created inside the halls to collect plastics, aluminum, steel cans, and paper. The Office of Housing and Residence Life also coordinates with their Hall Directors to designate donation collection sites in each hall for non perishable foods, clothing, small appliances, textbooks and unopened toiletries. The custodial staff of each building removes and stores donation items on a daily basis to prevent theft of items and to prevent unsightly overflow. Typically the donation sites within the buildings are setup two weeks prior to graduation. The donated items are given to the local Muncie Mission Ministries. See website http://www.munciemission.org/
The student-led Golden Key Honor Society at Ball State University also sets up ten used book collection sites in partnership with Better World Books (http://www.betterworldbooks.com) several weeks prior to move-out and graduation. The locally-donated books are re-used, re-sold and recycled to benefit global literacy programs - keeping books out of the local waste stream. In the past several years, the Golden Key Honor Society has collected roughly 882 books, keeping 1,200 pounds of material out of the local landfill.
A brief description of the institution's programs or initiatives to recover and reuse other materials intended for disposal:
Disposable dinnerware, carry-out containers, and other packaging options utilized are highly eco-friendly:
• Eco-craft paper (sandwich wrappers & breadstick bags)
--Made from 100% post-consumer recycled paper
--Unbleached
--21% less wood pulp used
--10% less greenhouse gases released
--46% less waste water released
--16% less solid waste produced
--Biodegradable and compostable
--Soy-blended wax instead of petroleum wax
• APET containers (for salads, sandwiches, fruit cups)
--Made from recycled plastic resin
--No CFCs created during manufacturing
--Recyclable
• Bagasse (plates, bowls, clamshells)
--Made from renewable sugarcane and bamboo
--Biodegradable & compostable
• Water cups
--Recyclable plastic cold cups available for water without added waste of lid and
straw
• Bamboo Plates (in use at Tally Chef’s Station and Catering)
--Easily renewed resource
Participate in the local Blue Bag recycling program for trash disposal, capturing more than 40%
of the departmental waste stream.
Sponsor a reusable drink container program for patrons in all retail locations—purchase a cold beverage bottle or insulated hot-beverage mug and refill it for a reduced drink price on subsequent visits.
Reusable mugs provided to all AFSCME union employees for use in their beverage program.
• Eco-craft paper (sandwich wrappers & breadstick bags)
--Made from 100% post-consumer recycled paper
--Unbleached
--21% less wood pulp used
--10% less greenhouse gases released
--46% less waste water released
--16% less solid waste produced
--Biodegradable and compostable
--Soy-blended wax instead of petroleum wax
• APET containers (for salads, sandwiches, fruit cups)
--Made from recycled plastic resin
--No CFCs created during manufacturing
--Recyclable
• Bagasse (plates, bowls, clamshells)
--Made from renewable sugarcane and bamboo
--Biodegradable & compostable
• Water cups
--Recyclable plastic cold cups available for water without added waste of lid and
straw
• Bamboo Plates (in use at Tally Chef’s Station and Catering)
--Easily renewed resource
Participate in the local Blue Bag recycling program for trash disposal, capturing more than 40%
of the departmental waste stream.
Sponsor a reusable drink container program for patrons in all retail locations—purchase a cold beverage bottle or insulated hot-beverage mug and refill it for a reduced drink price on subsequent visits.
Reusable mugs provided to all AFSCME union employees for use in their beverage program.
Website URL where information about the institution’s waste minimization and diversion efforts is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
---
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
Additional Website URL where information about the institution's waste minimization and diversion efforts are available (including, University Dining and Catering, Procurement, and Inventory Control, Moving and Excess): https://www.bsu.edu/about/administrativeoffices/business-and-auxiliary-services
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.