Overall Rating Bronze
Overall Score 42.24
Liaison Tyler Leary
Submission Date April 5, 2024

STARS v2.2

MGH Institute of Health Professions
OP-18: Waste Minimization and Diversion

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 3.56 / 8.00 Tyler Leary
Sustainability Coordinator
Office of Campus Services
"---" 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 22.98 Metric tons 16.57 Metric tons
Materials composted 0 Metric tons 3.04 Metric tons
Materials donated or re-sold 0 Metric tons 0 Metric tons
Materials disposed through post-recycling residual conversion 0 Metric tons 0 Metric tons
Materials disposed in a solid waste landfill or incinerator 49.60 Metric tons 54.36 Metric tons
Total waste generated 72.58 Metric tons 73.97 Metric tons

If reporting post-recycling residual conversion, provide:

A brief description of the residual conversion facility:
NA

Start and end dates of the performance year and baseline year (or three-year periods):
Start Date End Date
Performance Period Oct. 1, 2022 Sept. 30, 2023
Baseline Period July 1, 2015 June 30, 2018

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 is the average of 3 consecutive years to help reduce the impact of outliers. The 3 consecutive years are FY2016, FY 2017, and FY 2018. FY 2016 is the oldest data our waste hauler, Save that Stuff, was able to provide. Fiscal Year 2022 was used as the performance year as it was the most recent data set provided by Save that Stuff. Materials recycled data for both years includes weight of paper recycled through Shred-It, a paper shredding service that recycles shredded paper and recycled electronic waste.

Figures needed to determine "Weighted Campus Users”:
Performance Year Baseline Year
Number of students resident on-site 0 0
Number of employees resident on-site 0 0
Number of other individuals resident on-site 0 0
Total full-time equivalent student enrollment 1,679 1,662
Full-time equivalent of employees 253 205
Full-time equivalent of students enrolled exclusively in distance education 69 24.75
Weighted campus users 1,397.25 1,381.69

Total waste generated per weighted campus user:
Performance Year Baseline Year
Total waste generated per weighted campus user 0.05 Metric tons 0.05 Metric tons

Percentage reduction in total waste generated per weighted campus user from baseline:
2.97

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:
31.66

Percentage of materials diverted from the landfill or incinerator (including up to 10 percent attributable to post-recycling residual conversion):
31.66

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 No
Plant materials No
Animal bedding No
White goods (i.e. appliances) No
Electronics Yes
Laboratory equipment No
Furniture No
Residence hall move-in/move-out waste No
Scrap metal No
Pallets No
Tires No
Other (please specify below) No

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

Optional Fields 

Active Recovery and Reuse

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

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?:
No

Does the institution use multi-stream recycling to collect standard recyclables in common areas?:
No

Contamination and Discard Rates 

Average contamination rate for the institution’s recycling program:
---

A brief description of any recycling quality control mechanisms employed:
---

Programs and Initiatives 

A brief description of the institution's waste-related behavior change initiatives:
MGH Institute of Health Professions resulted conducted a survey of how many trash, recycling, and compost bins were on campus in March 2022. All classrooms and offices must have at least a trash and recycling bin. All lounges/kitchens must have trash, recycling, and compost bins. Areas missing any of these bins were noted and an order was made to replace them in August 2022. All bins in classrooms and lounge/kitchen areas were also outfitted with signage designed to increase consistency of messaging across campus and to clear any confusion over what goes into each bin. The installation of signage and new bins was completed by October 2022.

MGH IHP is also participating in the Campus Race to Zero Waste 2023 competition to help increase waste reduction education and help us benchmark our waste reduction efforts against other similarly sized schools.

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

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

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

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

A brief description of the institution's limits on paper and ink consumption:
MGH IHP uses the Pharos printing software on all of our campus printers to help limit the amount of unnecessary print jobs sent to the printer. When printing a document, individuals must choose the printer they wish to print from. Once at the printer, individuals must enter their username and password, choose the document they wish to print from their que, and then click print.

The IHP also participates in an ink recycling program through our ink supplier. Used cartridges are sent back to the company for recycling.

A brief description of the institution's initiatives to make materials available online by default rather than printing them:
Faculty are encouraged to have students complete more of their coursework online rather than from printed pages. Faculty are also encouraged to use course packs - compilations of articles, cases, textbook chapters - to take the place of textbooks or provide supplemental course readings. When printing, individuals are encouraged to print on both sides of a piece of paper.

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

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:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
---

Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
Compost data was not included in the performance year as it was not collected. During the COVID-19 pandemic, compost pick-up was on-call only as opposed to a weekly pick-up during the baseline year. Post-pandemic, compost pick-ups were instituted on weekly basis starting January 2024. This data will be included in future reports.

All data was provided by our waste hauler, Save that Stuff. The IHP also provides a shredding service through "Shred-It" that recycles all paper shredded. Weights of all paper shredded was also included in our 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.