Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 68.74
Liaison Kathleen Crawford
Submission Date July 28, 2014
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.0

Florida Gulf Coast University
OP-22: Waste Minimization

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 0.64 / 5.00 Katie Leone
Sustainability Coordinator
Environmental Health & Safety
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Waste generated::
Performance Year Baseline Year
Materials recycled 897.31 Tons 835.87 Tons
Materials composted 0 Tons 0 Tons
Materials reused, donated or re-sold 6.34 Tons 0 Tons
Materials disposed in a solid waste landfill or incinerator 2,833 Tons 2,833 Tons

Figures needed to determine "Weighted Campus Users”::
Performance Year Baseline Year
Number of residential students 4,215 4,208
Number of residential employees 14 14
Number of in-patient hospital beds 0 0
Full-time equivalent enrollment 10,489 9,694
Full-time equivalent of employees 1,180 1,089
Full-time equivalent of distance education students 237 240

Start and end dates of the performance year and baseline year (or three-year periods):
Start Date End Date
Performance Year July 1, 2013 June 30, 2014
Baseline Year July 1, 2012 June 30, 2013

A brief description of when and why the waste generation baseline was adopted:

We adopted 2012-13 as our baseline year for the following reasons:
-It was the first year that we moved to single stream recycling.
-It was prior to fully implementing our move-out waste diversion campaign in 2013-12.
-We are currently working to develop the infrastructure and partnerships necessary to divert our pre-consumer dining waste through composting other waste reduction initiatives so it will be useful to benchmark our progress against the 2012-13 performance year.


A brief description of any (non-food) waste audits employed by the institution:

Please see EN-5 which describes our Recyclemania audits.


A brief description of any institutional procurement policies designed to prevent waste:

FGCU has a contract to purchase office supplies from Office Depot. In addition to other environmental initiatives (http://www.environmentalleader.com/tag/office-depot/), Office Depot recently switched their deliveries to minimize trips to campus and waste from boxes.


A brief description of any surplus department or formal office supplies exchange program that facilitates reuse of materials:

When inventoried property is no longer useful but still in workable condition the Property Accountant sends an all staff email letting other departments know of the availability. If no departments are in need of the item, the Property Survey Board determines if the item can be traded-in, cannibalized, or donated to a not-for-profit.

For non-inventoried items, FGCU's Staff Advisory Council Organize an annual supply swap giving the opportunity for departments to clean out their offices and trade non capital items, such as pens, manila folders, small equipment, toner, or binders with other departments that might need them.


A brief description of the institution's efforts to make materials available online by default rather than printing them:

Faculty are encouraged to use Canvas to distribute and collect course materials as opposed to printing.


A brief description of any limits on paper and ink consumption employed by the institution:

There is no free printing on campus. Students must use the credit stored on their campus ID card to use printing services in the Library and computer labs.


A brief description of any programs employed by the institution to reduce residence hall move-in/move-out waste:

Move in:
Residential Life clearly communicates what students should and should not bring to campus, and sets up additional recycling units and move-in volunteers to ensure items than can and should be recycled do not end up in the trash or as litter.

Move out:
Residential Life partners with not for profits to take donations of unwanted items such as clothing, equipment, non-perishable foods, and cleaning supplies.


A brief description of any other (non-food) waste minimization strategies employed by the institution:
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A brief description of any food waste audits employed by the institution:
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A brief description of any programs and/or practices to track and reduce pre-consumer food waste in the form of kitchen food waste, prep waste and spoilage:
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A brief description of programs and/or practices to track and reduce post-consumer food waste:

Eagle Dining is trayless at Sovi Dining Hall. Trayless Dining saves 1/3 to 1/4 gallon of water and 3 ounces of food per customer.


A brief description of the institution's provision of reusable and/or third party certified compostable to-go containers for to-go food and beverage items (in conjunction with a composting program):

To go containers are being provided with every meal plan sold and are being made available for a small fee to other interested users. Those bringing a to-go container back to a dining location are able to exchange for a clean to-go container for that visit.


A brief description of the institution's provision of reusable service ware for “dine in” meals and reusable and/or third party certified compostable service ware for to-go meals (in conjunction with a composting program):
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A brief description of any discounts offered to customers who use reusable containers (e.g. mugs) instead of disposable or compostable containers in to-go food service operations:

Reusable cups and mugs are available for purchase and use at most Eagle Dining locations. The cups sell for $2.99 and a 99 cent refill price at most Eagle Dining Locations.


A brief description of other dining services waste minimization programs and initiatives:

Our food service provider has a purchases and prepares food to minimize waste. http://www.aramark.com/socialresponsibility/environmentalstewardship/


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

Materials recycled:
WastePro does not measure the weight of the recyclable materials that they pick up. Therefore, we used our Recyclemania data (which uses standard best practices as outlined by Keep America Beautiful) to estimate the amount of materials recycled. We collected data for an eight-week period during Recyclmaina and we used the average amount of waste recycled during that time Recyclemania to calculate our annual average. We feel justified that, if anything, these numbers are an underestimate for the following reasons:
-Only the main campus's waste is monitored during Recyclemania. The amount of waste recycled in the residence halls is not included in these numbers.
-During the summer, the campus continues to be used at full capacity for summer camps, conferences, and summer classes. (Undergraduate students entering FGCU with fewer than 60 semester hours of credit must enroll in a minimum of 9 semester credit hours of coursework during one or more summer sessions prior to graduation http://www.fgcu.edu/Catalog/regdetail.asp?FMID=Registration+and+Records&page=35)

Materials reused, donated or re-sold:
While partnerships with non profits and efforts to divert move-our waste were initiated prior to 2013-14, that was the first year that we measured the amount of waste diverted and launched a full scale awareness campaign.

Materials disposed in a solid waste landfill or incinerator
Based on the amount of waste the country charged us for removal


Materials recycled:
WastePro does not measure the weight of the recyclable materials that they pick up. Therefore, we used our Recyclemania data (which uses standard best practices as outlined by Keep America Beautiful) to estimate the amount of materials recycled. We collected data for an eight-week period during Recyclmaina and we used the average amount of waste recycled during that time Recyclemania to calculate our annual average. We feel justified that, if anything, these numbers are an underestimate for the following reasons:
-Only the main campus's waste is monitored during Recyclemania. The amount of waste recycled in the residence halls is not included in these numbers.
-During the summer, the campus continues to be used at full capacity for summer camps, conferences, and summer classes. (Undergraduate students entering FGCU with fewer than 60 semester hours of credit must enroll in a minimum of 9 semester credit hours of coursework during one or more summer sessions prior to graduation http://www.fgcu.edu/Catalog/regdetail.asp?FMID=Registration+and+Records&page=35)

Materials reused, donated or re-sold:
While partnerships with non profits and efforts to divert move-our waste were initiated prior to 2013-14, that was the first year that we measured the amount of waste diverted and launched a full scale awareness campaign.

Materials disposed in a solid waste landfill or incinerator
Based on the amount of waste the country charged us for removal

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.