Overall Rating Silver
Overall Score 59.66
Liaison Christina Erickson
Submission Date Aug. 15, 2022

STARS v2.2

Champlain College
OP-18: Waste Minimization and Diversion

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 2.15 / 8.00 Christina Erickson
Sustainability Director
Campus Planning
"---" 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 170.91 Tons 155.45 Tons
Materials composted 201 Tons 189.55 Tons
Materials donated or re-sold 0 Tons 0 Tons
Materials disposed through post-recycling residual conversion 0 Tons 0 Tons
Materials disposed in a solid waste landfill or incinerator 385.41 Tons 291.96 Tons
Total waste generated 757.32 Tons 636.96 Tons

If reporting post-recycling residual conversion, provide:

A brief description of the residual conversion facility:
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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, 2012 June 30, 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:
Weights are based on amount of pick ups and size of containers, and not actual weights.

Figures needed to determine "Weighted Campus Users”:
Performance Year Baseline Year
Number of students resident on-site 786 1,153
Number of employees resident on-site 4 6
Number of other individuals resident on-site 0 0
Total full-time equivalent student enrollment 3,296 2,458
Full-time equivalent of employees 572 496
Full-time equivalent of students enrolled exclusively in distance education 1,468 0
Weighted campus users 1,997.50 2,505.25

Total waste generated per weighted campus user:
Performance Year Baseline Year
Total waste generated per weighted campus user 0.38 Tons 0.25 Tons

Percentage reduction in total waste generated per weighted campus user from baseline:
0

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:
49.11

Percentage of materials diverted from the landfill or incinerator (including up to 10 percent attributable to post-recycling residual conversion):
49.11

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) No
Electronics No
Laboratory equipment No
Furniture No
Residence hall move-in/move-out waste No
Scrap metal No
Pallets No
Tires No
Other (please specify below) Yes

A brief description of other materials the institution has recycled, composted, donated and/or re-sold:
Several items on the list above are recycled, but we do not track weight to include in figures above (includes waste oil, appliances, furniture, res hall move out, scrap metal, pallets)

In addition we repurpose/donate:

Books - annual collection and donation via Better World Books
Bicycles - annual round up of left behind bikes to be repaired and donated, or saved for parts
Clothing - donated to our on-campus Swap Shop or larger volumes at year end to ReSource
Packing materials - reuse zone near our Campus Mailroom

Optional Fields 

Active Recovery and Reuse

Materials intended for disposal but subsequently recovered and reused on campus, performance year:
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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:
1.40

A brief description of any recycling quality control mechanisms employed:
When our waste hauler (Casella) brings items to the CSWD Recycling Facility, they are visibly inspected for any large amount of contaminants. The load may be rejected if the volume of contamination is too great. Additionally, if a large volume of recyclables are found mixed into the trash at the transfer station, the load can be rejected and fines can occur.

Programs and Initiatives 

A brief description of the institution's waste-related behavior change initiatives:
Our active student Eco-Rep program focuses a lot on waste reduction including managing our Swap Shop (reuse area) and staffing our Green Teams (event waste reduction). The Center for Service & Sustainability and the Auxiliary Services team update and post signage to inform the community of changes.

See this example from January 2022: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1RWA8P2JZeIkxCpDqLXGAHJ4to_mYKZId/view?usp=sharing

A brief description of the institution's waste audits and other initiatives to assess its materials management efforts and identify areas for improvement:
Annual waste sorts conducted by Eco-Reps. See this spreadsheet for the annual results: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1UpzYwx6p-XbfNGktJnV4u4aXODqcKcX64t5RLMS_tWA/edit?usp=sharing

A brief description of the institution's procurement policies designed to prevent waste:
None currently.

A brief description of the institution's surplus department or formal office supplies exchange program that facilitates reuse of materials:
Our two facilities for reuse of materials at the College are 1) Champlain College Swap Shop - clothing, household items, office/school supplies www.champlain.edu/swapshop
and 2) Surplus furniture at Facilities’ warehouse at Sears Lane

A brief description of the institution's platforms to encourage peer-to-peer exchange and reuse:
The College has a listserv "For Sale" that is open to faculty & staff that often includes items that are up for sale, swap, or for free. Students regularly frequent a Facebook Group "Champlain Black Market" to sell/swap/give away items.

A brief description of the institution's limits on paper and ink consumption:
Most printers have the default setting for double-sided printing, when available. Most student facing printing on campus happens via PaperCut software (https://support.gmhec.org/TDClient/46/cc-portal/KB/ArticleDet?ID=31) but there are no restrictions on the amount printed and printing is free (ugh).

A brief description of the institution's initiatives to make materials available online by default rather than printing them:
The Champlain College Catalog is solely available online. http://www.champlain.edu/current-students/academic-information/registrars-office/college-catalog.

Champlain uses an online Learning Management System called Canvas and requires faculty to at least post their syllabus, but strongly encourages, and provides training for, use for posting and submitting assignments and papers. The Center for Learning & Technology manages Canvas and provides training and support for faculty. https://clt.champlain.edu/

A brief description of the institution's program to reduce residence hall move-in/move-out waste:
Student RAs are briefed on recycling procedures for Move In Day. Eco-Reps and other student volunteers are available on Move In Day for recycling.

Move Out Collection is much more formalized, with training RAs, Eco-Reps, doing outreach to all residential students, and working with our waste hauler to assist with material collection and donation delivery.

2021 Collection Statistics: 2 box trucks full of clothing & household items donated to ReSource; Food and books were donated to our Campus Food Shelf / Swap Shop and Feeding Chittenden

See full details at www.champlain.edu/MoveOut

A brief description of the institution's programs or initiatives to recover and reuse other materials intended for disposal:
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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:
Performance year 2020-2021 was during the COVID pandemic and subsequently resulted in much higher volumes of landfilled items, particularly as we had to switch to all take out materials from our dining hall.

We currently do not have the means to measure the weight of the materials collected during Move Out Collection.

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.