Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 48.64
Liaison Michelle Seppala Gibbs
Submission Date May 2, 2017
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.0

Hope College
OP-23: Waste Diversion

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.78 / 3.00 Kara Slater
Director of Operations
Physical Plant
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Materials diverted from the solid waste landfill or incinerator:
1,130.55 Tons

Materials disposed in a solid waste landfill or incinerator :
776.05 Tons

A brief description of programs, policies, infrastructure investments, outreach efforts, and/or other factors that contributed to the diversion rate, including efforts made during the previous three years:

In the Fall of 2016 we began a "Hope Recycles" campaign as a way to promote and engage students, faculty, and staff about recycling on campus. This included new signage on bins, posting information on various Facebook pages, and the campus intranet site.

Student interns for the Holland-Hope College Sustainability Institute hosted informational booths around campus during the 2017 Hope Recycles Week and even created a video that has since been published on the campus YouTube website. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_f78hJcbt4


A brief description of any food donation programs employed by the institution:

Hope College Dining Services donates all extra food to two local food missions - the Holland Community Action House and the Holland City Mission. These groups use this food for their daily meal programs in the Holland community.


A brief description of any pre-consumer food waste composting program employed by the institution:

Hope College Dining Services composts 100% of their pre-consumer food waste. All food waste collected during preparation, combined with other campus composting, and removed by Spurt industries.


A brief description of any post-consumer food waste composting program employed by the institution:

Hope College Dining Services composts all post-consumer food waste. All food waste filters through the dish rooms in the dining halls, where it is mulched to reduce volume by 50% and then placed in composting bins and later removed by Spurt industries, along with other composting on campus.

Dining Services uses environmentally friendly disposable products made of PLA (corn-based), potato, and pre- and post-consumer waste items.


Does the institution include the following materials in its waste diversion efforts?:
Yes or No
Paper, plastics, glass, metals, and other recyclable containers Yes
Food donations Yes
Food for animals No
Food composting Yes
Cooking oil Yes
Plant materials composting Yes
Animal bedding composting ---
Batteries Yes
Light bulbs Yes
Toner/ink-jet cartridges Yes
White goods (i.e. appliances) Yes
Laboratory equipment Yes
Furniture Yes
Residence hall move-in/move-out waste Yes
Scrap metal Yes
Pallets Yes
Motor oil Yes
Tires Yes

Other materials that the institution includes in its waste diversion efforts:

Approximately 120,000 cardboard boxes are added to our compost bins each year to help absorb moisture and help in the composting process.

In 2016, faculty in the Schaap Science Center began working with a local organization to collect and recycle Styrofoam materials. This was seen as a major source of waste for the labs due to shipping materials. The faculty in the Schaap Science Center are also making significant efforts to clean and re-use lab materials whenever it is possible (while complying with safety protocols).


Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

For additional information, please visit: https://hope.edu/offices/sustainability/campus-sustainability/recycling-waste.html

In the past, food waste from Dining Services was collected and given to the animals on campus, but with a change in staffing this practice was not continued for a while. However, we have started discussions on this again.


For additional information, please visit: https://hope.edu/offices/sustainability/campus-sustainability/recycling-waste.html

In the past, food waste from Dining Services was collected and given to the animals on campus, but with a change in staffing this practice was not continued for a while. However, we have started discussions on this again.

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.