Overall Rating	Silver - expired
Overall Score	50.74
Liaison	Catherine Lockhart
Submission Date	Sept. 23, 2019

STARS v2.2

Lawrence University
OP-18: Waste Minimization and Diversion

Status	Score	Responsible Party
	1.12 / 8.00	Kelsey McCormick Sustainability Coordinator President's Office

"---" 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	285.56 Metric tons	122.47 Metric tons
Materials composted	42.46 Metric tons	36.29 Metric tons
Materials donated or re-sold	0 Metric tons	4.54 Metric tons
Materials disposed through post-recycling residual conversion	0 Metric tons	0 Metric tons
Materials disposed in a solid waste landfill or incinerator	546.87 Metric tons	272.16 Metric tons
Total waste generated	874.89 Metric tons	435.45 Metric tons

If reporting post-recycling residual conversion, provide:

A brief description of the residual conversion facility:

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

	Start Date	End Date
Performance Period	Jan. 1, 2018	Dec. 31, 2018
Baseline Period	Jan. 1, 2016	Dec. 31, 2016

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:

The baseline year of January 1, 2016 to December 31, 2016 was the used as the performance year in Lawrence's 2017 STARS submission. Lawrence has chosen to compare the most recent, complete year for which data is available (2018) to the performance year from our last submission.

Figures needed to determine "Weighted Campus Users”:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Number of students resident on-site	1,303	1,491
Number of employees resident on-site	10	9
Number of other individuals resident on-site	9	0
Total full-time equivalent student enrollment	1,539	1,539
Full-time equivalent of employees	513	437
Full-time equivalent of students enrolled exclusively in distance education	0	0
Weighted campus users	1,876.25	1,857

Total waste generated per weighted campus user:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Total waste generated per weighted campus user	0.47 Metric tons	0.23 Metric 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:

37.49

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

37.49

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	No
Tires	No
Other (please specify below)	Yes

A brief description of other materials the institution has recycled, composted, donated and/or re-sold:

Lawrence University has battery collection bins in many building locations. Lawrence uses a company called The Big Green Box which accepts used batteries and electronics at their EPA permitted recycling facility.

Optional Fields

Active Recovery and Reuse

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

0.91 Metric 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?:

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:

Lawrence uses dual-stream receptacles in public spaces with each stream being clearly marked as "landfill" or "recycle". The dual-stream design ensures that each trash receptacle is accompanied by a recycling receptacle. Stickers with images of recyclable items from Waste Management, Lawrence's waste hauler, can be found on the front face of the recycling side of the receptacle. Prior to 2018 Lawrence did not have a consistent trash/recycling receptacle; in many cases each building had its own system. The implementation of uniform receptacles both indoors and outdoors is a significant improvement. Additionally, in 2018 recycling bins were installed in all student rooms on campus. Prior to 2018 only a trash can was provided, which lead to increased contamination.

Programs and Initiatives

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

To increase recycling knowledge and habits stickers with images of recyclable items were placed on the front face of all public recycling receptacles. Stickers are provided by Waste Management, Lawrence's waste hauler. Large signs (30"x20") are also hung in the residence hall lobbies near the trash and recycling receptacles.

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

Waste audits are conducted every other year, starting in 2018. On the day the waste audit is to be performed, custodians leave out 3 bags of trash and recycling for the selected buildings. The material in the bags is then sorted by type; plastic bottles/food containers, disposable coffee cups, white paper, food waste, paper towels/tissue, glass, aluminum/steel/tin, cardboard, paperboard, paper, non-recyclable plastic. We can improve our materials management efforts by determining a method to learn how much waste and recycling is leaving campus (by weight) and if recycling rates are increasing.

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

Lawrence does not have any official procurement policies related to waste minimization however, current practices do encourage reducing packaging. Lawrence contracts with Staples to purchase office supplies. Supply orders over $50 ship to campus for free. Employees are encouraged to only order office supplies once they have more than $50 worth of supplies in their cart, which reduces smaller orders.

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

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

Lawrence operates a food pantry that accepts donations of food, clothing and personal hygiene supplies. Students, faculty and staff can donate new or used items to the Food Pantry. Students may take up to 7 items that they need from the Food Pantry at a time.

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

Printers on campus are set to print double-sided by default. Lawrence is in the process of implementing a print allowance for each student (Summer 2019). Students that exceed their print allowance will need to pay for each image printed. This is a significant improvement to Lawrence's former practice which included free printing for all students.

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

Beginning in 2009, the university stopped printing course catalogs, schedules, and faculty directories, and instead, moved those resources to the web.

Lawrence uploads its course catalog as a PDF to the university website. Lawrence also has an online searchable directory for staff/faculty/students. Lawrence also decided to post its strategic plan online, only printing a limited number of hard copies. Lawrence transitioned to using Board Effect, a board governance software for distributing materials to Trustees which allows them to easily view meeting materials on their personal devices. Moodle, an online teaching platform allows faculty to post assignments and students to submit assignments online.

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

Each spring during move-out Lawrence provides donation bins where students can donate items that are no longer needed to the St. Vincent de Paul thrift store in Appleton.

A brief description of the institution's programs or initiatives to recover and reuse other materials intended for disposal:

Lawrence's designer and project manager works diligently to use previously used office furniture in all office remodel projects. In 2018 pre-owned workstations were installed in Lawrence's Center for Career, Life and Community Engagement to accommodate 7 employees. Lawrence's standard office chair is a pre-owned steelcase Leap chair that is recovered from the landfill by a local office supply referbishing company. Bon Appetit, Lawrence's food services provider recycles kitchen oil for fuel.

Website URL where information about the institution’s waste minimization and diversion efforts is available:

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Additional documentation to support the submission:

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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

Lawrence's waste provider is not currently able to provide weights for the waste and recycling material picked up from campus. Waste and recycling weights for performance year were calculated based on the number of scheduled pick-ups each week and the size of the dumpster. Additional dumpsters are brought to campus during move-out, weights are provided for these dumpsters. Move out waste was added to the total tons reported for the performance year. We were unable to find documentation of how the baseline year data were collected and have low confidence in their accuracy.

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.