Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 49.02
Liaison James Speer
Submission Date June 30, 2016
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.0

Indiana State University
OP-22: Waste Minimization

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.90 / 5.00 Paul Reed
Manager of Custodial and Special Services
Facilities Management
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Waste generated::
Performance Year Baseline Year
Materials recycled 910.81 Metric tons 810.12 Metric tons
Materials composted 24.49 Metric tons 9.98 Metric tons
Materials reused, donated or re-sold 826.30 Metric tons 880.35 Metric tons
Materials disposed in a solid waste landfill or incinerator 295.74 Metric tons 411.86 Metric tons

Figures needed to determine "Weighted Campus Users”::
Performance Year Baseline Year
Number of residential students 3,881 2,774
Number of residential employees 43 2
Number of in-patient hospital beds 0 0
Full-time equivalent enrollment 10,452 7,882.60
Full-time equivalent of employees 1,308 1,300
Full-time equivalent of distance education students 1,519 0

Start and end dates of the performance year and baseline year (or three-year periods):
Start Date End Date
Performance Year Aug. 1, 2014 July 31, 2015
Baseline Year Aug. 1, 2005 July 31, 2006

A brief description of when and why the waste generation baseline was adopted:
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A brief description of any (non-food) waste audits employed by the institution:
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A brief description of any institutional procurement policies designed to prevent waste:

Purchasing encourages the use of durable and reusable products, giving some weight to the best long-term value when selecting products. Procurement in bulk or concentrated form will be encouraged in an effort to minimize our impact on transportation resources.


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

Central Receiving collects all used materials on campus and first attempts to redistribute those materials on campus where they can. If the campus community does not want to use the materials, they are auctioned off to the public.


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

ISU Purchasing encourages the sending and storing of documents electronically, saving on paper usage. The course catalog, course schedules, and directories are available electronically and are printed as the default option.


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

ISU Purchasing has begun to encourage the broader long term view in the procurement of items such as printers, copiers, and fax machines that have the capability of duplex printing and the ability to cut paper consumption in half. Information Technology also limits the number of pages that each student can print for free.


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

Residence Life works with Goodwill and ReStore to collect reusable items during move out. These groups distribute collection bins near the residence halls so that students can put reusable items in these bins rather than in the trash.


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:

A zero-waste lunch in Sycamore Dining was sponsored by Food Recovery Network, making students, staff and faculty aware of food waste on campus. At the end of the lunch, the amount of wasted food was as follows: 44.5 pounds of salad, 51.5 pounds of entrées, 46 pounds of sandwiches and pizza, 8 pounds of dessert. That's over 150 pounds of food, not counting 39 liters in discarded beverages.


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:

Sodexo recovers food not served and donates to local charities.
The dining facilities also take part in a composting program with campus grounds for prep waste, spoilage, and post-consumer food waste.


A brief description of programs and/or practices to track and reduce post-consumer food waste:

Currently 25% of all of our food services are trayless and we are working to increase that percentage on campus. Faculty and staff dining and large portion of our retail services and catering are trayless. Planned renovations to Sycamore Dining Hall include replacing the current tray return system to a conveyor belt that will enable us to remove trays from this dining hall. We have plans to convert Lincoln Quads Dining to a trayless process by August of 2014. Currently Lincoln Quads Dining Hall implements Trayless Tuesdays every week for breakfast and lunch hours.


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):

Lincoln Quads Dining Halls has a reusable to-go meals program. Diners can buy into the program for a one time fee that lasts the entirety of a semester. They are given a reusable container for their carry out meal. The diner may then rinse out the container and bring it back to the dining hall in exchange for a sanitized container when they are ready for their next to-go meal for the regular cost of eating in the hall. These containers are microwavable, washable, and recyclable and help reduce waste in the dining hall.


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):

Post-consumer waste is removed from reusable service ware and composted. Service ware is cleaned and sanitized through the Ecolab Apex dishwashing system for future use.


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 are considered refills and are charged as such at $1.00 per refill. This is a savings of $0.50 for small beverages and more for larger beverages.


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

Dining Services uses Ecolab’s Apex™ dishwashing system. Apex combines technology and products designed to save water and energy, minimize the impact of products on the environment, and has a built-in method of measuring results. The Apex system further supports Dining Services' sustainability initiatives with non-caustic chemistry and 95% less packaging material than current methods. Apex products come in a compact solid form that significantly reduces transportation shipments compared to bulkier liquid detergents.


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

Numbers for materials reused, donated, or resold were taken from the Facilities Report recycle collection data.


Numbers for materials reused, donated, or resold were taken from the Facilities Report recycle collection data.

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.