Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 55.57
Liaison Lacey Raak
Submission Date May 20, 2019
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

California State University, Monterey Bay
OP-19: Waste Minimization and Diversion

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 4.40 / 8.00 Anya Spear
Campus Planner
Campus Planning and Development
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Parts 1 and 2: Waste Minimization 

Figures needed to determine total waste generated (and diverted):
Performance Year Baseline Year
Materials recycled 642.15 Tons 678.70 Tons
Materials composted 112.46 Tons 26.91 Tons
Materials donated or re-sold 16.79 Tons 46.75 Tons
Materials disposed through post-recycling residual conversion 0 Tons 0 Tons
Materials disposed in a solid waste landfill or incinerator 1,185.25 Tons 1,195.16 Tons
Total waste generated 1,956.65 Tons 1,947.52 Tons

If reporting post-recycling residual conversion, provide:

A brief description of the residual conversion facility, including affirmation that materials are sorted prior to conversion to recover recyclables and compostable materials:
Although sorting does occur on campus. Campus materials are sent to a waste recovery facility tha does sort some material. The new MRF is on-line as of reporting year 2018, which provides a 65% diversion rate. The compost materials are sent to an anaerobic digester which produces methane that is used to power an adjacent water treatment facility.

Start and end dates of the performance year and baseline year (or three-year periods):
Start Date End Date
Performance Year Jan. 1, 2018 Dec. 31, 2018
Baseline Year Jan. 1, 2013 Dec. 31, 2013

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 (e.g. in sustainability plans and policies or in the context of other reporting obligations):
This baseline year was chosen because it was the first full year with our new waste hauler, GreenWaste Recovery Inc., who provided compost, landfill and recylcing data by weight. Our previous hauler Waste Management provided data by a volume to waste conversion. An audit found that the campus was grossly over-serviced and went from 3x/week pick up to 1x/week pick up. Compost pick up was also added in 2013.

Figures needed to determine "Weighted Campus Users”:
Performance Year Baseline Year
Number of students resident on-site 3,330 2,690
Number of employees resident on-site 10 254
Number of other individuals resident on-site and/or staffed hospital beds 1,711 0
Total full-time equivalent student enrollment 7,567 6,003
Full-time equivalent of employees (staff + faculty) 1,156 1,036
Full-time equivalent of students enrolled exclusively in distance education 327 196
Weighted campus users 8,843 5,868.25

Total waste generated per weighted campus user:
Performance Year Baseline Year
Total waste generated per weighted campus user 0.22 Tons 0.33 Tons

Percentage reduction in total waste generated per weighted campus user from baseline:
33.33

Part 3: Waste Diversion

Percentage of materials diverted from the landfill or incinerator by recycling, composting, donating or re-selling, performance year:
39.42

Percentage of materials diverted from the landfill or incinerator (including up to 10 percent attributable to post-recycling residual conversion):
39.42

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
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:
Pallets are reused, not recycled. Also, Carpet, batteries, paint, tires, furniture, office supply reuse, and donation. The university is also in the process of planning a recycling/reusing program for bike parts from our Recreation Center's Bike Bunker, used athletic gear from the Otter Sports Center, as well as wetsuits from our Aquatic Center.

Optional Fields 

Active Recovery and Reuse

Materials intended for disposal but subsequently recovered and reused on campus, performance year (e.g. materials that are actively diverted from the landfill or incinerator and refurbished/repurposed) :
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Recycling Management 

Does the institution use single stream recycling (a single container for commingled recyclables) to collect standard recyclables (i.e. paper, plastic, glass, metals) in common areas?:
Yes

Does the institution use dual stream (two separate containers for recyclables, e.g. one for paper and another for plastic, glass, and metals) to collect standard recyclables (i.e. paper, plastic, glass, metals) in common areas?:
No

Does the institution use multi-stream recycling (multiple containers that further separate different types of materials) to collect standard recyclables (i.e. paper, plastic, glass, metals) in common areas?:
No

Contamination and Discard Rates 

Average contamination rate for the institution’s recycling program (percentage, 0-100):
34

A brief description of any recycling quality control mechanisms employed, e.g. efforts to minimize contamination and/or monitor the discard rates of the materials recovery facilities and mills to which materials are diverted:
CSUMB's Sustainability Office employs students who are part of Waste Watchers. The goal of this team being to eduate other students of proper waste sortment while students are in the process of discarding their waste at the Dinning Commons, Otter Express, and campus events. New signage was deployed above the three bin system which exhibits images of the most common waste on campus above the correct bin.

Programs and Initiatives 

A brief description of the institution's waste-related behavior change initiatives, e.g. initiatives to shift individual attitudes and practices such as signage and competitions:
Presentations were given by Green Waste Recycling Coordinator and other student staff in First Year Seminar courses to new students upon arrival.

A brief description of the institution's waste audits and other initiatives to assess its materials management efforts and identify areas for improvement:
In Fall 2014, a Main Campus waste audit was performed. The goal of the audit was to resize the dumpsters around campus in relation to how frequent this fill up. This audit also gave us a better understanding of what areas are generating the most waste meaning they may need more frequent pick-ups.

A brief description of the institution's procurement policies designed to prevent waste (e.g. by minimizing packaging and purchasing in bulk):
Our procurement policies follow the CSU general provisions which can be found here: http://www.calstate.edu/CSP/crl/GP/GP.shtml The university is also using the State Agency's Buy Recycle Campaign to giude our purchasing practices. Contracts with key vendors, including food service, custodial, and landscape management all have waste minimization and management requirements detailed in a scope of work. Chosen firms are selected based on their ability to minimize wastes at CSUMB.

A brief description of the institution's surplus department or formal office supplies exchange program that facilitates reuse of materials:
We do not have a formal office supplies reuse program on our campus, but some offices on campus take the iniative in their own hands. For example, the Campus Planning and Development department clean out office spaces frequently when staff move office spaces. The Campus Planning and Developing Department collects all the left over supplies and first offers the supplies to their own office, then the entire campus population by word of mouth. If items are left over, some staff from Campus Plannng and Development take the left over supplies to local schools in their area.

A brief description of the institution's platforms to encourage peer-to-peer exchange and reuse (e.g. of electronics, furnishings, books and other goods):
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A brief description of the institution's limits on paper and ink consumption (e.g. restricting free printing and/or mandating doubled-sided printing in libraries and computer labs):
Each student is allotted about 100 pages to print per semester. The ink is also only in black and white. We do not mandate double sided printing, but it is the default for all printers on campus. Professors don't usually require printed documents because they want to keep everything electronic.

A brief description of the institution's initiatives to make materials (e.g. course catalogs, course schedules, and directories) available online by default rather than printing them:
Most professors have online versions of documents in order to reduce the need for printing, however there are circumstances when documents need to be printed, but typically this documents are printed double sided and sized to reduce paper prints. Our campus does not print the course catalog anymore in order to reduce printing, you can find all resources online.

A brief description of the institution's program to reduce residence hall move-in/move-out waste:
For residential move-in, we recruit volunteers to be the "Otter Welcome Team". Their job requires them to direct new residents, help them move and direct movers to the appropriate waste bins to recycle cardboard and other items. For move-out, volunteers are recruited as the zero waste team. The zero waste team members are assigned a location on campus where they direct movers to the appropriate diversion stations (landfill, recycling or donations). We have extra roll off bins brought to each residential hall from our waste hauler in order to eliminate over flow in already existing dumpsters. Volunteers are stationed at each roll off station so they can intersect anyone who may be throwing away items in the wrong place. Donation bins for food, clothing, furniture etc.are placed in every residential hall for increased diversion from the landfill. These donation items are picked up by local non-profits in the area for donation distribution in our community.

A brief description of the institution's programs or initiatives to recover and reuse other materials intended for disposal:
Procurement policy portion, online purchasing (recycled content purchases) and EC swaps/garage sale (Leon Habrik). Also, contracts with vendors require waste minimization and contractors are selected based on their ability to do so.

The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
Baseline year was a demolition year. Last year's report contained a data error in that it was reported that we recycled 62026 tons of material as it should have been 620.26 tons. The correct data reflects correctly for this reporting year.

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.