Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 74.18
Liaison Allie Schwartz
Submission Date Nov. 30, 2012
Executive Letter Download

STARS v1.1

Columbia University
OP-17: Waste Reduction

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 0.18 / 5.00 Cathy Resler
Manager
Office of Environmental Stewardship
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Weight of materials recycled, 2005 baseline year :
1,903.90 Tons

Weight of materials composted, 2005 baseline year :
0 Tons

Weight of materials disposed as garbage, 2005 baseline year :
5,997.85 Tons

Weight of materials recycled, performance year :
2,736.58 Tons

Weight of materials composted, performance year :
0.50 Tons

Weight of materials disposed as garbage, performance year :
6,143.70 Tons

On-campus residents, 2005:
13,519

Non-residential/commuter full-time students, faculty, and staff members, 2005:
18,968

Non-residential/commuter part-time students, faculty, and staff members, 2005:
6,220

On-campus residents, performance year:
13,976

Non-residential/commuter full-time students, faculty, and staff members, performance year:
23,264

Non-residential/commuter part-time students, faculty, and staff members, performance year:
7,780

The website URL where information about the institution’s waste reduction initiatives is available:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

Tonnage numbers are estimates based on the best available information provided by the city of NY for average waste and recycling for community board residents in Morningside Heights and Washington Heights. This data was extrapolated out based on the number of on-campus residents and commuters to derive the numbers provided and combined with private recycling and waste hauler numbers. The increase in the recycling rate was significantly improved from 2005 to the performance year since the CUMC campus started recycling and reduced their waste to landfill.

Collection Methods
The New York City Department of Sanitation (DSNY) picks up the majority of Columbia’s waste and recycling through a collection system on the Morningside Campus and for all residential buildings at CUMC. All buildings within the Morningside Campus enclosure bring waste, plastic, glass, metal, paper, and some cardboard to a centralized location where the DSNY picks it up. LDEO hauls their recycling to the Rockland County Solid Waste recycling center.

NYC Waste Diversion Numbers: http://gis.nyc.gov/ops/mmr/pdffiles/DIVERSION_109.pdf
NYC Recycling Numbers:
http://gis.nyc.gov/ops/mmr/pdffiles/RECYCLED_109.pdf


Tonnage numbers are estimates based on the best available information provided by the city of NY for average waste and recycling for community board residents in Morningside Heights and Washington Heights. This data was extrapolated out based on the number of on-campus residents and commuters to derive the numbers provided and combined with private recycling and waste hauler numbers. The increase in the recycling rate was significantly improved from 2005 to the performance year since the CUMC campus started recycling and reduced their waste to landfill.

Collection Methods
The New York City Department of Sanitation (DSNY) picks up the majority of Columbia’s waste and recycling through a collection system on the Morningside Campus and for all residential buildings at CUMC. All buildings within the Morningside Campus enclosure bring waste, plastic, glass, metal, paper, and some cardboard to a centralized location where the DSNY picks it up. LDEO hauls their recycling to the Rockland County Solid Waste recycling center.

NYC Waste Diversion Numbers: http://gis.nyc.gov/ops/mmr/pdffiles/DIVERSION_109.pdf
NYC Recycling Numbers:
http://gis.nyc.gov/ops/mmr/pdffiles/RECYCLED_109.pdf

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.