Overall Rating	Gold
Overall Score	76.57
Liaison	Katie Koscielak
Submission Date	April 11, 2023

STARS v2.2

Cal Poly Humboldt
OP-18: Waste Minimization and Diversion

Status	Score	Responsible Party
	3.06 / 8.00	Elizabeth Whitchurch Director of Facilities Operations Facilities Management

"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Parts 1 and 2. Waste per person

Figures needed to determine total waste generated (and diverted):

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Materials recycled	348.93 Tons	214.60 Tons
Materials composted	258.67 Tons	6.25 Tons
Materials donated or re-sold	13.58 Tons	2.90 Tons
Materials disposed through post-recycling residual conversion	25.83 Tons	0 Tons
Materials disposed in a solid waste landfill or incinerator	503.10 Tons	713.20 Tons
Total waste generated	1,150.11 Tons	936.95 Tons

If reporting post-recycling residual conversion, provide:

A brief description of the residual conversion facility:

Grease trap and veggie oil are collected by Chartwells (Dining Vendor) and eventually made into biodiesel through services provided by vendor.

Start and end dates of the performance year and baseline year (or three-year periods):

	Start Date	End Date
Performance Period	Jan. 1, 2022	Dec. 31, 2022
Baseline Period	July 1, 2005	June 30, 2006

If end date of the baseline year/period is 2004 or earlier, provide:

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

This is the same baseline year that was used to report on this credit when the campus submitted its first STARS report in 2013. We continue to use this baseline to track progress in our waste reduction efforts.

Figures needed to determine "Weighted Campus Users”:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Number of students resident on-site	1,701	1,271
Number of employees resident on-site	4	3
Number of other individuals resident on-site	0	0
Total full-time equivalent student enrollment	5,334	6,850.85
Full-time equivalent of employees	1,156.60	1,231.02
Full-time equivalent of students enrolled exclusively in distance education	1,005	0
Weighted campus users	4,540.45	6,379.90

Total waste generated per weighted campus user:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Total waste generated per weighted campus user	0.25 Tons	0.15 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 by recycling, composting, donating or re-selling, performance year:

54.01

Percentage of materials diverted from the landfill or incinerator (including up to 10 percent attributable to post-recycling residual conversion):

56.26

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	No
White goods (i.e. appliances)	Yes
Electronics	Yes
Laboratory equipment	Yes
Furniture	Yes
Residence hall move-in/move-out waste	Yes
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:

Ceramics (from the Art Department), porcelain, plate glass, concrete and other hardscape materials are hauled to Kernen Construction (www.kernenconstruction.com), where these materials are ground up to be re-used as road base. Sheet rock is hauled to Alves Inert Debris Recycling Center (www.thinkalvesinc.com/recycling). Electronics are recycled through a contracted vendors. Ink cartridges (used and un-used) are recycled through PCR America (www.pcramerica.com).

In prior years and in the future, the campus has recycled/composted animal bedding, but in 2022, our greenwaste recycler did not accept animal waste.

Optional Fields

Active Recovery and Reuse

Materials intended for disposal but subsequently recovered and reused on campus, performance year:

0 Tons

Recycling Management

Does the institution use single stream recycling to collect standard recyclables in common areas?:

Yes

Does the institution use dual stream recycling to collect standard recyclables in common areas?:

Yes

Does the institution use multi-stream recycling to collect standard recyclables in common areas?:

Contamination and Discard Rates

Average contamination rate for the institution’s recycling program:

A brief description of any recycling quality control mechanisms employed:

The university’s contract with the local resource recovery facility stipulates that the facility conduct a minimum of two waste characterization studies of the university’s solid waste stream each calendar year.

Programs and Initiatives

A brief description of the institution's waste-related behavior change initiatives:

The Waste Reduction & Resource Awareness Program (WRRAP) is a paid student program that implements education and behavior change focused projects for the entire campus community. For example, WRRAP conducts “trash talks”, manning the trash, recycling and compost bins in the eateries to help educate campus users about proper disposal. WRRAP works with Residence life to hold a compost competition with the residence halls, which includes a prize for the least amount of contamination per person in the compost bin for your building. WRRAP works with the Office of Sustainability to implement “Zero Waste Zones” on campus, working with departments and custodial staff to reduce waste in office spaces.

A brief description of the institution's waste audits and other initiatives to assess its materials management efforts and identify areas for improvement:

Facilities Management conducts spot audits of dumpsters of concern, reporting the results to departments using the dumpsters in question. WRRAP conducts pre- and post-audits of departmental workspaces when developing Zero Waste Zones. Often Facilities works with sustainability-minded students to conduct waste audits of a certain area on campus and to develop behavior change projects. Campus franchise hauler conducts formal audits of recycling materials for contamination at least 2 times per year.

A brief description of the institution's procurement policies designed to prevent waste:

In addition to the items below, Dining services eliminated the public availability of plastic straws in the fall of 2018 ahead of the CSU-wide policy to reduce single-use plastics (see ICSUAM section 5236.00). In 2014 Campus Dining, which managed all campus eateries and markets, and the Bookstore phased out single-use plastic bags. In 2011 Dining and the Bookstore phased out the sales of bottled water. Contracts, Procurement and Accounts Payable has a Sustainable Procurement group that works on integrating sustainability into procurement policies and procedures. Go to https://procurement.humboldt.edu/sustainable-procurement for more information.

A brief description of the institution's surplus department or formal office supplies exchange program that facilitates reuse of materials:

Facilities Management (FM) oversees disposal of capital and non-capital assets, including computer equipment, science equipment, office furniture, vehicles, Grounds and building materials. If a capital asset, departments are required to determine whether or not an item slated for disposal is still in working condition. If a non-capital asset, FM determines whether or not the item should be kept for surplus. FM prioritizes re-use over recycling, and to this end stores surplus until it can hold a give-away (to other State and Public Agencies first, then to non-profits) and auction (general public). FM also works with local non-profits and charities that take used building materials, clothing, and other unusual items. The Reusable Office Supply Exchange (ROSE) depot is located on campus, where the campus community can donate and shop for lightly used classroom and office supplies. ROSE has one or more students to oversee its inventory, conduct outreach and hold workshops on creative re-use.

A brief description of the institution's platforms to encourage peer-to-peer exchange and reuse:

During Fall 2018 WRRAP implemented a platform to encourage peer-to-peer exchange and reuse (e.g. of electronics, furnishings, books and other goods) called "Campus Wall" (an online website for exchange of goods, designed to be restricted to the Humboldt State campus community). Read more about Campus Wall here: http://humboldt.mycampuswall.com/get-started/

A brief description of the institution's limits on paper and ink consumption:

Networked campus copiers and printers with duplex capability can be remotely set to automatically print double sided, unless the default is over-ridden. In April of 2014, as per mandate from the Vice President of Administrative Affairs, Information Technology Services (ITS) set networked printer/copiers in all of the Administrative Affairs division to default two sided, black and white printing. ITS has also set computer lab printers to default two-sided.

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

The campus course catalog, schedules and directories are all available online. The campus uses Canvas Learning Management System (LMS), an online system for faculty to conduct and keep all curriculum materials and student interaction/resources in electronic format. Many faculty also use remote devices in class, and hold/grade exams online. The campus has also converted most of the accounting approval, all Human Resources personnel action paperwork, and all accounting records retention to electronic document management systems.

A brief description of the institution's program to reduce residence hall move-in/move-out waste:

The week of move-out is also known as “Donation Dash.” During this time, local charities partner with Facilities Management and WRRAP to reduce move-out waste. These groups set up “Donation Stations” at the residence halls; all residents are required to bring their waste – trash, recycling, compost, donate-able goods – to the Donation Station, where volunteers help sort the items.

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:

https://facilitymgmt.humboldt.edu/sustainability-waste-diversion-0

Additional documentation to support the submission:

Stars_SupportDocs_230406_waste_data.xlsx

Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

Solid waste data derived from scale weights at acceptance vendors (Humboldt Waste Management Authority, Recology). Recycled materials are both scale weights for many items (Recology for single stream recycling, Arcata Scrap for metals, etc.) and estimates for items such as appliances, tires, etc. Composted materials are estimated from measured volumes sent to vermicomposting vendor. Donated and reuse materials are a combination of scale weights and estimates from Thrift vendors and weights from Recycling staff. Go to https://wrrap.humboldt.edu/ for more information on waste reduction education and outreach programs, the Reusable Office Supply Exchange, and other waste reduction resources. Go to https://facilitymgmt.humboldt.edu/sustainability-waste-diversion-0 for more information on campus-wide waste reduction initiatives.
To see the CSU policy section 5236 for reducing single-use plastics go to https://www2.calstate.edu/csu-system/news/Documents/5236-00.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.