| Overall Rating | Gold |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 72.78 |
| Liaison | Kathleen Crawford |
| Submission Date | May 31, 2024 |
Florida Gulf Coast University
OP-18: Waste Minimization and Diversion
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
0.58 / 8.00 |
Kathleen
Crawford Sustainability Coordinator Environmental Health & Safety |
Parts 1 and 2. Waste per person
| Performance Year | Baseline Year | |
| Materials recycled | 422.52 Tons | 835.87 Tons |
| Materials composted | 0 Tons | 0 Tons |
| Materials donated or re-sold | 18.41 Tons | 0 Tons |
| Materials disposed through post-recycling residual conversion | 4,229.83 Tons | 0 Tons |
| Materials disposed in a solid waste landfill or incinerator | 0 Tons | 2,833 Tons |
| Total waste generated | 4,670.76 Tons | 3,668.87 Tons |
If reporting post-recycling residual conversion, provide:
Lee County operates an Integrated Solid Waste Management system, meaning all parts of the system function cooperatively to gather the most value from the waste stream by recycling or recovering material before final disposal. All of the household garbage collected in Lee and Hendry counties eventually ends up at the Lee County Resource Recovery Facility, where it is sorted for reusable and recyclable materials. The lowest value waste is brought to the Waste-To-Energy Plant where, for the last 20 years, it has been converted to electricity through combustion. Many of these functions take place at the Solid Waste Resource Recovery Facility in Buckingham. In this park-like setting in East Lee County, there are several facilities that handle different parts of the waste stream. Recyclable materials are sorted and baled for secondary markets in the Material Recovery Facility (MRF). Construction and Demolition Debris (C & D) is recycled to recover reusable materials such as concrete, plastics and wood. Yard Waste (HORT) is deposited before being ground for use as mulch or compost. Household garbage is brought to the Waste-to-Energy facility (WTE) for combustion. A residents' drop-off area is available for convenient waste disposal. https://www.leegov.com/solidwaste/facilities/rrf
Start and end dates of the performance year and baseline year (or three-year periods):
| Start Date | End Date | |
| Performance Period | Oct. 1, 2022 | Sept. 30, 2023 |
| Baseline Period | July 1, 2012 | June 30, 2013 |
If end date of the baseline year/period is 2004 or earlier, provide:
We adopted 2012-13 as our baseline year for the following reasons: -It was the year we used in prior STARS reporting. -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 2013-14.
Figures needed to determine "Weighted Campus Users”:
| Performance Year | Baseline Year | |
| Number of students resident on-site | 4,768 | 3,291 |
| Number of employees resident on-site | 11 | 9 |
| Number of other individuals resident on-site | 1 | 0 |
| Total full-time equivalent student enrollment | 10,479 | 8,355 |
| Full-time equivalent of employees | 1,600 | 1,180 |
| Full-time equivalent of students enrolled exclusively in distance education | 2,257 | 240 |
| Weighted campus users | 8,562.25 | 7,796.25 |
Total waste generated per weighted campus user:
| Performance Year | Baseline Year | |
| Total waste generated per weighted campus user | 0.55 Tons | 0.47 Tons |
Percentage reduction in total waste generated per weighted campus user from baseline:
Part 3. Waste diverted from the landfill or incinerator
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 | Yes |
| Plant materials | No |
| 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 | No |
| 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:
See OP-20 for more information regarding FGCU's laboratory chemical and hazardous waste reduction and recycling program.
Optional Fields
Active Recovery and Reuse
Recycling Management
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?:
Contamination and Discard Rates
A brief description of any recycling quality control mechanisms employed:
Signage is included on recycling receptacles and on dumpsters on campus. FGCU's Physical Plant conducts a daily visual inspection of all waste and recycling dumpsters 5 days per week. Physical Plant also provides educational opportunities / retraining for those that misue containers.
Programs and Initiatives
Office of Housing and Resident Life's Green Team and Resident Assistants provide educational events, signage, and videos to educate residents on what does and does not go into recycling, and the issues that contamination causes. Students also audit recycling to determine areas of concern. FGCU's Physical Plant Department has made clear and easy to read signage and works to ensure that wherever there is a trash bin there is also a recycling bin. Environmental Health & Safety provides outreach and social media campaigns to educate students and employees what can and cannot be recycled in this county.
A brief description of the institution's waste audits and other initiatives to assess its materials management efforts and identify areas for improvement:
Physical plant personnel inspect every trash dumpster and comingled recycling container DAILY (5-days per week) to ensure compliance. When things are found that are not in compliance, such as items in the wrong container or boxes not broken down, they use these examples as educational opportunities.
A brief description of the institution's procurement policies designed to prevent waste:
A brief description of the institution's surplus department or formal office supplies exchange program that facilitates reuse of materials:
When office supplies are no longer useful but still in workable condition the Property Manager sends an an email letting all property managers know of the availability.
A brief description of the institution's platforms to encourage peer-to-peer exchange and reuse:
When inventoried property is no longer useful but still in workable condition the Property Accountant sends an all departments email letting all property managers 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 agency.
Registered Student Organizations and Housing Residential Assistaints hold many peer to peer events with clothing swap events and freecycles.
A brief description of the institution's limits on paper and ink consumption:
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. FGCU has implemented an operating system called Workday that has eliminated paper leave approval slips, purchase orders, travel requests and property transfer forms.
A brief description of the institution's initiatives to make materials available online by default rather than printing them:
Faculty are encouraged to use the Canvas Learning Management System to distribute course materials and collect assignments as opposed to printing.
A brief description of the institution's program 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 strives to have move-in volunteers to ensure items than can and should be recycled do not end up in the trash or as litter. They also hold swap events with students prior to move out. During move out housing provides convenient drop off locations and students are encouraged to donate things that they no longer have use for or don't have space to bring home with them. 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 the institution's programs or initiatives to recover and reuse other materials intended for disposal:
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:
MATERIALS RECYCLED:: WastePro does not measure the weight of all 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 Recyclemania to calculate our annual average. We feel justified that, if anything, these numbers are an underestimation 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. MATERIALS REUSED, DONATED, OR RE-SOLD: This includes university property that is donated, resold, or traded as well as move out waste diverted by the Office of Housing and Residence Life through partnerships with local non-profit organizations. It also includes dining waste that goes to a local family farm to feed livestock, as well as to an energy project ran by faculty and students. Materials disposed through post-recycling residual conversion: These data are based on the amount of waste the county charged us for removal and do not reflect real performance. We are charged for waste hauling per square foot of building space. This means that our waste is estimated on the high side, while our recycling is estimated on the low side, to not overstate our progress.
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.