Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 50.92
Liaison Smith Getterman
Submission Date Feb. 26, 2016
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.0

Baylor University
OP-22: Waste Minimization

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.54 / 5.00 Smith Getterman
Assistant Director of Sustainability and Special Projects
Office of Sustainability
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Waste generated::
Performance Year Baseline Year
Materials recycled 543.83 Tons 131.75 Tons
Materials composted 0 Tons 0 Tons
Materials reused, donated or re-sold 20 Tons 0 Tons
Materials disposed in a solid waste landfill or incinerator 2,484.76 Tons 2,232 Tons

Figures needed to determine "Weighted Campus Users”::
Performance Year Baseline Year
Number of residential students 5,289
+ Date Revised: March 16, 2016
4,297
Number of residential employees 31 21
Number of in-patient hospital beds 0 0
Full-time equivalent enrollment 16,001 13,019
Full-time equivalent of employees 2,575 2,014
Full-time equivalent of distance education students 18 0

Start and end dates of the performance year and baseline year (or three-year periods):
Start Date End Date
Performance Year Jan. 1, 2014 Dec. 31, 2014
Baseline Year Jan. 1, 2006 Dec. 31, 2006

A brief description of when and why the waste generation baseline was adopted:

Baseline was adopted while evaluating growth and improvement of program in 2013. 2006 is one of the earliest years we have all data available to meet credit criteria.


A brief description of any (non-food) waste audits employed by the institution:
---

A brief description of any institutional procurement policies designed to prevent waste:
---

A brief description of any surplus department or formal office supplies exchange program that facilitates reuse of materials:
---

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

A brief description of any limits on paper and ink consumption employed by the institution:
---

A brief description of any programs employed by the institution to reduce residence hall move-in/move-out waste:

During move-in recycling roll-offs are scattered about campus. Student volunteers work to improve recycling rates during move-in. During move-out, a local non-profit is stationed on campus and accepts donations from students, which diverts usable products from the landfill.


A brief description of any other (non-food) waste minimization strategies employed by the institution:

Move Out donation boxes are placed in every residence hall for students to place gently used unwanted goods. These goods go to a variety of local nonprofits. We have no way of weighing the donations at present time so we are unable to count those towards this credit.


A brief description of any food waste audits employed by the institution:

Baylor Dining Services has been tracking pre-consumer food waste for four years. Each station's employees must show their waste and weigh it with management to ascertain whether less food could have been wasted in production.


A brief description of any programs and/or practices to track and reduce pre-consumer food waste in the form of kitchen food waste, prep waste and spoilage:

Baylor Dining Services tracks pre-consumer waste at each station during each meal period. Management reports these data into an online management system, which tracks and manages production quantity the next time the item is served.


A brief description of programs and/or practices to track and reduce post-consumer food waste:

Weigh the Waste launched in November of 2014. Student volunteers on the Student Sustainability Advisory Board and Baylor Dining Services measured food waste from the dining locations for one week. A food-waste awareness challenge campaign occurred in March of 2015.

BDS has been trayless in the residential dining locations since 2012. Additionally, portion sizes are heavily managed to reduce food waste. At the end of the semester, menus are often modified to adjust to student preferences.


A brief description of the institution's provision of reusable and/or third party certified compostable to-go containers for to-go food and beverage items (in conjunction with a composting program):

Baylor Dining Services offers reusable take-out containers upon request. BDS has distributed the containers during two major campaigns in 2013 and early 2015.


A brief description of the institution's provision of reusable service ware for “dine in” meals and reusable and/or third party certified compostable service ware for to-go meals (in conjunction with a composting program):

Meals eaten in the residential dining locations are served on reusable plates with reusable flatware.


A brief description of any discounts offered to customers who use reusable containers (e.g. mugs) instead of disposable or compostable containers in to-go food service operations:

Discounts for reusable mugs are offered at each of the coffee shops on campus. A Spot-a-Mug campaign was launched in January 2015 to increase the use of reusable mugs on campus.


A brief description of other dining services waste minimization programs and initiatives:
---

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

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.