| Overall Rating | Gold |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 71.29 |
| Liaison | Holly Andersen |
| Submission Date | March 30, 2022 |
Bennington College
OP-18: Waste Minimization and Diversion
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
5.74 / 8.00 |
Figures needed to determine total waste generated (and diverted):
| Performance Year | Baseline Year | |
| Materials recycled | 65.59 Metric tons | 76.48 Metric tons |
| Materials composted | 63.59 Metric tons | 58.69 Metric tons |
| Materials donated or re-sold | 0.91 Metric tons | 0.91 Metric tons |
| Materials disposed through post-recycling residual conversion | Metric tons | Metric tons |
| Materials disposed in a solid waste landfill or incinerator | 9.74 Metric tons | 71.12 Metric tons |
| Total waste generated | 139.83 Metric tons | 207.20 Metric tons |
A brief description of the residual conversion facility:
N/A
Start and end dates of the performance year and baseline year (or three-year periods):
| Start Date | End Date | |
| Performance Period | July 1, 2020 | June 30, 2021 |
| Baseline Period | July 1, 2018 | June 30, 2019 |
A brief description of when and why the waste generation baseline was adopted:
This is our Third year reporting, so last year was our baseline year.
Figures needed to determine "Weighted Campus Users”:
| Performance Year | Baseline Year | |
| Number of students resident on-site | 503 | 735 |
| Number of employees resident on-site | 24 | 15 |
| Number of other individuals resident on-site | 39 | 0 |
| Total full-time equivalent student enrollment | 841 | 735 |
| Full-time equivalent of employees | 312 | 461 |
| Full-time equivalent of students enrolled exclusively in distance education | 136 | 3 |
| Weighted campus users | 933.50 | 1,082.25 |
Total waste generated per weighted campus user:
| Performance Year | Baseline Year | |
| Total waste generated per weighted campus user | 0.15 Metric tons | 0.19 Metric tons |
Percentage reduction in total waste generated per weighted campus user from baseline:
Percentage of materials diverted from the landfill or incinerator by recycling, composting, donating or re-selling, performance year:
Percentage of materials diverted from the landfill or incinerator (including up to 10 percent attributable to post-recycling residual conversion):
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) | No |
A brief description of other materials the institution has recycled, composted, donated and/or re-sold:
The College has comingled recycling, we scrap all metal, compost, and donate to local charities. We repurpose items when we can and give to salvage yards.
Materials intended for disposal but subsequently recovered and reused on campus, performance year:
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?:
Does the institution use multi-stream recycling to collect standard recyclables in common areas?:
Average contamination rate for the institution’s recycling program:
A brief description of any recycling quality control mechanisms employed:
We use an outside vendor to perform all separating and cleaning of recycling. We have many separate containers to help keep debris out of the recycling.
A brief description of the institution's waste-related behavior change initiatives:
We performed this student led initiative. The students volunteered--one 1st street colonial, one 2nd, one 70s, and one 00s house as experiments for zero waste in the fall term which will include using composting and not using plastic bags in trash bags, as well as encouraging a challenge for houses to produce less waste. This time will be used to see what problems or solutions in this new waste sorting. With hopeful success, plastic bags can be further removed from other houses and buildings down the semester.
A brief description of the institution's waste audits and other initiatives to assess its materials management efforts and identify areas for improvement:
N/A
A brief description of the institution's procurement policies designed to prevent waste:
The IT office went though removed personal printers, donated, installed communal printers. The communal printers had monitoring devices on them so that each person had to swipe their card to have the amount of paper they were using tracked. Paper use went down significantly.
A brief description of the institution's surplus department or formal office supplies exchange program that facilitates reuse of materials:
N/A
A brief description of the institution's platforms to encourage peer-to-peer exchange and reuse:
We have a college thrift store where all aspects of things a college student could want/need are available. It is need based, so if students need pens, book, clothes and have very few resources--they can just take what they need.
A brief description of the institution's limits on paper and ink consumption:
Please see above. We are working on a formal policy.
A brief description of the institution's initiatives to make materials available online by default rather than printing them:
Again, this is being developed with collaboration with IT.
A brief description of the institution's program to reduce residence hall move-in/move-out waste:
At the campus thrift store, students are encouraged to go through their belongings before move out and donate items to the thrift store. Whatever is left over after move out is boxed up and donated to charity.
A brief description of the institution's programs or initiatives to recover and reuse other materials intended for disposal:
In development, will have more updates in our next round of reporting.
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:
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.