| Overall Rating | Silver |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 54.23 |
| Liaison | Jeff Jeremiason |
| Submission Date | Nov. 30, 2021 |
Gustavus Adolphus College
OP-18: Waste Minimization and Diversion
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
3.32 / 8.00 |
Kari
Wallin Sustainability Manager Facilities/Johnson Center for Environmental Innovation |
Figures needed to determine total waste generated (and diverted):
| Performance Year | Baseline Year | |
| Materials recycled | 146.73 Tons | 252.16 Tons |
| Materials composted | 97.34 Tons | 0 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 | 345.23 Tons | 469.17 Tons |
| Total waste generated | 589.30 Tons | 721.33 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 | June 1, 2019 | May 31, 2020 |
| Baseline Period | June 1, 2011 | May 31, 2014 |
A brief description of when and why the waste generation baseline was adopted:
Figures needed to determine "Weighted Campus Users”:
| Performance Year | Baseline Year | |
| Number of students resident on-site | 2,234 | 2,362 |
| Number of employees resident on-site | 5 | 5 |
| Number of other individuals resident on-site | 0 | 0 |
| Total full-time equivalent student enrollment | 2,213 | 2,459 |
| Full-time equivalent of employees | 585 | 633 |
| Full-time equivalent of students enrolled exclusively in distance education | 0 | 0 |
| Weighted campus users | 2,658.25 | 2,910.75 |
Total waste generated per weighted campus user:
| Performance Year | Baseline Year | |
| Total waste generated per weighted campus user | 0.22 Tons | 0.25 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 | Yes |
| Plant materials | Yes |
| Animal bedding | Yes |
| White goods (i.e. appliances) | Yes |
| Electronics | Yes |
| Laboratory equipment | No |
| Furniture | No |
| Residence hall move-in/move-out waste | No |
| Scrap metal | Yes |
| 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:
Gustavus has several programs in place to capture hard-to-recycle materials, such as plastic film. Gustavus participates in the Trex Plastic Recycling Program, which involves collecting plastic that can’t be recycled normally (such as plastic bags, film, bubble wrap, etc), sorting it, and dropping it off at a designated location for the Trex program. In return for every 500 lbs of plastic we collect, Gustavus receives a high quality bench made of recycled plastic materials from the program. Gustavus also collects used batteries from students, faculty and staff at several drop-off locations around campus and recycles them. Gustavus Facilities also recycles or donates other items such as light bulbs, scrap metal, electronics, and appliances. In addition, Gustavus has been successfully rolling out a paper towel composting program in building restrooms, which aims to divert over 24,000 lbs of compostable paper towel waste annually from landfills to compost.
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:
Our recycling contractor rejects loads with contamination of 5% or higher and informs us, which they have not done.
A brief description of the institution's waste-related behavior change initiatives:
Gustavus has made substantial progress over the past several years to institute zero-waste initiatives as a part of day-to-day life and behavioral choices. The most recent initiative was a new residential compost bin program developed in summer of 2021, to implement a built-in compost system for each residence hall room using 2 gallon compost bins purchased by the Student Senate in May 2021 and rolled out Fall 2021, complete with training, instructions on using bins and support, to advance progress on the College’s Zero Waste goal and encourage a student-based shift in waste perspectives and ownership. Along with this compost bin roll-out in 2021, Gustavus also developed a short online sustainability and zero-waste course, focused on educating students about waste streams on campus and accurate sorting which has been successfully rolled out in August 2021. In addition, Gustavus recently updated all sorting signage in 2020 and rolled it out throughout campus, and has worked with Residential Life and Building Services to standardize waste-related instructional signage in residential halls. In addition, starting in 2019, mandatory sustainability training sessions with sustainability staff have been implemented into the orientation training schedule for Residential Life and Campus Activities student staff. Semi-regular updates are sent out from the President’s Environmental Sustainability Council, often referring to waste sorting behavior and initiatives. Several departments partner to hold zero-waste related events throughout the year, such as Earth Week events and tabling, and in April 2021 an Inter-Hall Waste Sorting Challenge was held to assess each hall’s waste sorting habits and support a friendly competition to work towards sorting waste more accurately.
A brief description of the institution's waste audits and other initiatives to assess its materials management efforts and identify areas for improvement:
Several waste characterization events have been held by sustainability interns over the past several years, documenting contamination and areas for improvement in sorting. As part of the Inter-Hall Waste Challenge in April 2021, sustainability staff, faculty and interns recorded weights and documented contamination regularly over a three week period to determine each hall’s sorting statistics. Sustainability staff and interns perform monthly data collection on waste streams that are not regularly monitored for each individual building, documenting weight and approximate contamination percentages. We also use a dashboard from our waste hauler, which shows approximate monthly tonnage and diversion rates for the waste streams that they haul.
A brief description of the institution's procurement policies designed to prevent waste:
Gustavus Dining Services has committed to purchasing compostable service ware for all disposable items provided in the Cafeteria, the two coffee shops on campus, and at events (take-out clamshells, utensils, coffee cups, etc. are all BPI certified). Facilities implements green cleaning purchases to facilitate waste prevention where possible.
A brief description of the institution's surplus department or formal office supplies exchange program that facilitates reuse of materials:
Usable office furniture, residential hall furniture and common space furniture and other supplies are stored in a central Facilities surplus storage area and are reused for new setups when needed.
A brief description of the institution's platforms to encourage peer-to-peer exchange and reuse:
In past years, sustainability interns have planned and held several on-campus pop-up thrift shop events, which involved collecting used clothes, decor, books, etc., in residential halls, organizing a swap event open to all students, and donating the remainder to local thrift shops. Since the pandemic, on-campus pop-up thrift shops have not been organized. In the future we hope to implement a more formalized, regular system for exchange and re-use of used items on campus.
A brief description of the institution's limits on paper and ink consumption:
Gustavus implemented a printing policy in Fall 2009 to track and appropriately charge for printing both black and white and color documents on campus. Gustavus uses PaperCut, a printing accounting system that notifies students, faculty and staff on how much paper and ink they have used and generates environmental impact reports detailing use represented by number of trees, amount of carbon and amount energy for each user and for the organization as a whole, in an effort to encourage less printing waste.There is also a Gustavus webpage with tips and strategies encouraging environmentally responsible printing habits.
A brief description of the institution's initiatives to make materials available online by default rather than printing them:
Many departments at Gustavus have made shifts to maximize online systems for invoices and work orders, utilizing Google Drive and other programs instead of printing. Additionally, the course catalog is available online, and several online platforms such as HandShake and WebAdvisor used for many administrative processes, eliminating the need for some printed forms.
A brief description of the institution's program to reduce residence hall move-in/move-out waste:
Similar to the pop-up thrift shop events in past years, sustainability interns have facilitated several move-out item swap events, which involved collecting used clothes, decor, books, etc in residential halls, organizing a swap event open to all students just before moving off-campus for the summer, and donating the remainder to local thrift shops. No data was recorded for these events. Sustainability staff and Facilities staff are working to formalize a plan to handle and divert the large amounts of move-in and move-out waste each year, including exchanges and better infrastructure for recycling and composting during move-in/move-out.
A brief description of the institution's programs or initiatives to recover and reuse other materials intended for disposal:
While not tracked, Gustavus Facilities reuse rock and other materials from building projects for landscaping on campus as often as possible.
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:
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.