Overall Rating Gold
Overall Score 71.04
Liaison Natalie Hayes
Submission Date Oct. 19, 2023

STARS v2.2

Bentley University
OP-18: Waste Minimization and Diversion

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 4.72 / 8.00 Natalie Hayes
Associate Director of Sustainability
Office of Sustainability
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Parts 1 and 2. Waste per person

Figures needed to determine total waste generated (and diverted):
Performance Year Baseline Year
Materials recycled 220.03 Tons 168.73 Tons
Materials composted 204.23 Tons 0 Tons
Materials donated or re-sold 5.77 Tons 0 Tons
Materials disposed through post-recycling residual conversion 0 Tons 0 Tons
Materials disposed in a solid waste landfill or incinerator 630.58 Tons 1,361.36 Tons
Total waste generated 1,060.61 Tons 1,530.09 Tons

If reporting post-recycling residual conversion, provide:

A brief description of the residual conversion facility:
Our solid waste is taken to the trash to energy Covanta facility in Haverhill, MA. All of our solid waste is burned for electricity at this facility.

https://www.covanta.com/Our-Facilities/Covanta-Haverhill

Start and end dates of the performance year and baseline year (or three-year periods):
Start Date End Date
Performance Period July 1, 2021 June 30, 2022
Baseline Period July 1, 2010 June 30, 2011

If end date of the baseline year/period is 2004 or earlier, provide:

A brief description of when and why the waste generation baseline was adopted:
Bentley only started tracking solid waste tonnage in FY2011. As such, this year has been adopted as the baseline year. We created a baseline in order to measure our progress towards a better diversion rate.

Figures needed to determine "Weighted Campus Users”:
Performance Year Baseline Year
Number of students resident on-site 3,278 3,330
Number of employees resident on-site 11 12
Number of other individuals resident on-site 0 0
Total full-time equivalent student enrollment 5,312 4,989
Full-time equivalent of employees 1,047 779
Full-time equivalent of students enrolled exclusively in distance education 44 0
Weighted campus users 5,558.50 5,161.50

Total waste generated per weighted campus user:
Performance Year Baseline Year
Total waste generated per weighted campus user 0.19 Tons 0.30 Tons

Percentage reduction in total waste generated per weighted campus user from baseline:
35.63

Part 3. Waste diverted from the landfill or incinerator

Percentage of materials diverted from the landfill or incinerator by recycling, composting, donating or re-selling, performance year:
40.55

Percentage of materials diverted from the landfill or incinerator (including up to 10 percent attributable to post-recycling residual conversion):
40.55

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 No
Tires Yes
Other (please specify below) Yes

A brief description of other materials the institution has recycled, composted, donated and/or re-sold:
Clothing donation bins donated to Helpsy, batteries and small handheld electronics, leftover food is donated to Food for Free.

Optional Fields 

Active Recovery and Reuse

Materials intended for disposal but subsequently recovered and reused on campus, performance year:
---

Recycling Management 

Does the institution use single stream recycling to collect standard recyclables in common areas?:
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 

Average contamination rate for the institution’s recycling program:
---

A brief description of any recycling quality control mechanisms employed:
---

Programs and Initiatives 

A brief description of the institution's waste-related behavior change initiatives:
In Spring 2023, Student Sustainability Leaders went door to door in the residence halls on campus to collect plastic grocery bags for recycling and to inform students where to recycle plastic bags and that recyclables cannot be bagged.

A brief description of the institution's waste audits and other initiatives to assess its materials management efforts and identify areas for improvement:
Our Student Sustainability Leaders do periodic visual spot checks of trash, recycling and compost in our retail dining establishment, LaCava Cafe to keep tabs on contamination in that area.

A brief description of the institution's procurement policies designed to prevent waste:
N/A

A brief description of the institution's surplus department or formal office supplies exchange program that facilitates reuse of materials:
The Office of Sustainability created an online office swap on our employee portal (teams)so that people could exchange supplies at any time for free.

A brief description of the institution's platforms to encourage peer-to-peer exchange and reuse:
Give 'N Go is a sustainable move-out program that reduces trash generation, encourages community engagement via student exchange, and promotes donation. The program is run over the course of the move out week with five, staffed drop off locations. Students are allowed to swap at each location as a means to educate the student body about reusing materials.

A brief description of the institution's limits on paper and ink consumption:
Each Bentley student gets an annual printing balance based on part or full time status. Additional printing balance must be paid for outside of tuition. The maximum black and white copies allowed for full-time students are 800 per semester for $40. Fewer copies are allotted if printing in color.

A brief description of the institution's initiatives to make materials available online by default rather than printing them:
Bentley University has moved many essential university functions online including, employee time sheet tracking, human resource paperwork, admissions procedures, student financial services, class registration and the sharing of class materials (via BlackBoard). The university's website is equipped with all essential information that should not require print-outs.

A brief description of the institution's program to reduce residence hall move-in/move-out waste:
Give 'N Go is a sustainable move-out program that reduces trash generation, encourages community engagement via student exchange, and promotes donation. This program provides a convenient solution to redistribute reusable items that students no longer need or want as they are moving out of their residence halls each May. The program is run over the course of the move out week with five, staffed drop off locations. Students are allowed to swap at each location as a means to educate the student body about reusing materials. All leftover material is donated to local charities.

A brief description of the institution's programs or initiatives to recover and reuse other materials intended for disposal:
The university's Procurement Office works to redistribute as much existing office furniture as possible on the campus instead of throwing used furniture away. If furniture cannot be reused on campus, the office seeks to donate materials to local community colleges and public schools.

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:
Bentley has achieved success in reducing it's overall trash numbers by implementing new programs, focusing on education of students, faculty and staff and emphasizing to vendors that waste minimization is important to the university.

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.