| Overall Rating | Gold |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 67.45 |
| Liaison | Benjamin Newton |
| Submission Date | March 3, 2023 |
Central Community College
OP-18: Waste Minimization and Diversion
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
3.00 / 8.00 |
Figures needed to determine total waste generated (and diverted):
| Performance Year | Baseline Year | |
| Materials recycled | 37.48 Tons | 24.18 Tons |
| Materials composted | 1.37 Tons | 0.93 Tons |
| Materials donated or re-sold | 10 Tons | 10 Tons |
| Materials disposed through post-recycling residual conversion | 0 Tons | 0 Tons |
| Materials disposed in a solid waste landfill or incinerator | 132.33 Tons | 132.33 Tons |
| Total waste generated | 181.17 Tons | 167.43 Tons |
A brief description of the residual conversion facility:
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, 2018 | June 30, 2019 |
A brief description of when and why the waste generation baseline was adopted:
This is the first year we had reliable data for waste
Figures needed to determine "Weighted Campus Users”:
| Performance Year | Baseline Year | |
| Number of students resident on-site | 329 | 447 |
| Number of employees resident on-site | 3 | 1 |
| Number of other individuals resident on-site | 0 | 0 |
| Total full-time equivalent student enrollment | 3,399 | 3,543 |
| Full-time equivalent of employees | 609 | 609 |
| Full-time equivalent of students enrolled exclusively in distance education | 1,856 | 1,594 |
| Weighted campus users | 1,697 | 2,030.50 |
Total waste generated per weighted campus user:
| Performance Year | Baseline Year | |
| Total waste generated per weighted campus user | 0.11 Tons | 0.08 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 | No |
| 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:
CCC has made recycling easier by adopting single-stream recycling, where all recycling materials can be mixed together in CCC’s blue recycling bins. We also have a plastic bag recycling box that gets picked up regularly where it is then taken to a facility that uses the plastic bags to make products such as edge board, irrigation pipe, and plastic motor oil bottles.
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:
Third party waste audit from Nebraska Recycling Council. All recycling is serviced by Heartland Disposal in Grand Island. The facility uses two, 4-cubic yard dumpsters for trash, which are serviced twice a week. Single-stream recycling is provided throughout the campus and collected in one, 20-cubic yard compactor, which is serviced every 5-6 months. The single-stream recycling program is consistent throughout the facility, with a few exceptions in staff offices, where desk-side recycling bins are paired with a basked for waste, a recommended practice that has shown to increase recycling by 20% while reducing contamination.
All recycling is serviced by Woodward’s Disposal Service in Hastings. Cardboard containers are picked up weekly and recycling from the 30-yard compactor is picked up monthly. Twenty-five recycling carts are placed throughout campus to transport materials to the compactor.
A brief description of the institution's waste-related behavior change initiatives:
We have a recycling webpage that is available for new students and staff to follow, we also have flyers attached to the recycling bins that have easy to follow directions. CCC also holds frequent presentations at college wide meetings or during class presentations.
A brief description of the institution's waste audits and other initiatives to assess its materials management efforts and identify areas for improvement:
The recycling system at CCC recycles almost every major material except for glass and shrink wrap. Every desk has a large recycling container with a smaller trash basket to avoid waste. We also have a composting program on the Grand Island, Columbus and Hastings campus to divert most of the waste from dining programs.
Areas of improvement: eliminate Styrofoam, emphasis recycling instructions and why it is important for the environment and health of the community.
A brief description of the institution's procurement policies designed to prevent waste:
Reduced paper use due to conversion to electronic paperwork and signatures.
A brief description of the institution's surplus department or formal office supplies exchange program that facilitates reuse of materials:
The surplus department will give unused supplies to other campuses to prevent throwing out supplies.
A brief description of the institution's platforms to encourage peer-to-peer exchange and reuse:
Every year we have earth month events on each campus that focus on sustainable crafts and prizes. This year we hand out bamboo straws and reusable sporks to avoid less single use disposable plastics. This event also allowed students to repurpose old t-shirts by making them into reusable shopping bags.
CCC also holds an annual clothing drive that acknowledges students to donate, trade and reuse clothing that they do not need anymore.
A brief description of the institution's limits on paper and ink consumption:
All CCC printers have the default setting to print double sided, as well as an automatic “save ink/toner” setting when to save 15% on ink. All ink cartridges are recycled, and we use PaperCut to manage and track print jobs.
A brief description of the institution's initiatives to make materials available online by default rather than printing them:
CCC has migrated to using more online textbooks for courses. Travel documents and receipts from purchasing are also available online.
A brief description of the institution's program to reduce residence hall move-in/move-out waste:
N/A
A brief description of the institution's programs or initiatives to recover and reuse other materials intended for disposal:
Every year, each campus holds an online and live auction to sell used office furniture, supplies, tools, computer equipment, and others once they are nearing the end of their lifespan. This auction is open to students, faculty and staff, and the general public.
The students are also encouraged to construct their own state fair project that displays innovative solutions for daily-use items.
Greenfiber cellulose insulation products use 13x less energy to manufacture than fiberglass insulation and are made with postconsumer paper fiber and are free from unhealthy substances such as formaldehyde and asbestos.
We started a plastic bag recycling program in partnership with Trex on all three campuses. The plastic bags are then dropped off at a Trex approved facility and manufactured into plastic film and wood fiber for sustainable decking and benches.
I have added the recycling totals from these two programs into recycling rather than post-recycling residual conversion.
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:
Greenfiber cellulose insulation products use 13x less energy to manufacture than fiberglass insulation and are made with postconsumer paper fiber and are free from unhealthy substances such as formaldehyde and asbestos.
We started a plastic bag recycling program in partnership with Trex on all three campuses. The plastic bags are then dropped off at a Trex approved facility and manufactured into plastic film and wood fiber for sustainable decking and benches.
I have added the recycling totals from these two programs into recycling rather than post-recycling residual conversion.
Greenfiber cellulose insulation products use 13x less energy to manufacture than fiberglass insulation and are made with postconsumer paper fiber and are free from unhealthy substances such as formaldehyde and asbestos.
We started a plastic bag recycling program in partnership with Trex on all three campuses. The plastic bags are then dropped off at a Trex approved facility and manufactured into plastic film and wood fiber for sustainable decking and benches.
I have added the recycling totals from these two programs into recycling rather than post-recycling residual conversion.
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.