| Overall Rating | Silver |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 59.70 |
| Liaison | Tracey Coronado |
| Submission Date | April 5, 2021 |
Missouri State University
OP-18: Waste Minimization and Diversion
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
2.30 / 8.00 |
Doug
Neidigh Sustainability Coordinator Environmental Management |
Figures needed to determine total waste generated (and diverted):
| Performance Year | Baseline Year | |
| Materials recycled | 327.19 Tons | 413.97 Tons |
| Materials composted | 268.73 Tons | 132 Tons |
| Materials donated or re-sold | 0 Tons | 0 Tons |
| Materials disposed through post-recycling residual conversion | 0 Tons | 0 Tons |
| Materials disposed in a solid waste landfill or incinerator | 1,902.93 Tons | 1,174.22 Tons |
| Total waste generated | 2,498.85 Tons | 1,720.19 Tons |
A brief description of the residual conversion facility:
Start and end dates of the performance year and baseline year (or three-year periods):
| Start Date | End Date | |
| Performance Period | Jan. 1, 2019 | Dec. 31, 2019 |
| Baseline Period | July 1, 2011 | June 30, 2012 |
A brief description of when and why the waste generation baseline was adopted:
This will be the last year using the 2011-2012 baseline. With our 2021 waste audit and development of an Integrated Waste Management Plan, calendar year 2019 will be the new baseline used at MSU starting in 2021.
Figures needed to determine "Weighted Campus Users”:
| Performance Year | Baseline Year | |
| Number of students resident on-site | 3,344 | 3,675 |
| Number of employees resident on-site | 17 | 9 |
| Number of other individuals resident on-site | 7 | 0 |
| Total full-time equivalent student enrollment | 18,463 | 16,801 |
| Full-time equivalent of employees | 2,104 | 2,274 |
| Full-time equivalent of students enrolled exclusively in distance education | 6,259 | 293 |
| Weighted campus users | 11,578.25 | 15,007.50 |
Total waste generated per weighted campus user:
| Performance Year | Baseline Year | |
| Total waste generated per weighted campus user | 0.22 Tons | 0.11 Tons |
Percentage reduction in total waste generated per weighted campus user from baseline:
Percentage of materials diverted from the landfill or incinerator by recycling, composting, donating or re-selling, performance year:
Percentage of materials diverted from the landfill or incinerator (including up to 10 percent attributable to post-recycling residual conversion):
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 | Yes |
| White goods (i.e. appliances) | Yes |
| Electronics | Yes |
| Laboratory equipment | Yes |
| Furniture | No |
| Residence hall move-in/move-out waste | No |
| Scrap metal | Yes |
| 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:
Items from residence halls move in/move outs are recycled and furniture donated to Habitat for Humanity. Also mattresses from residence halls are recycled. Most pallets are recycled. Surplus furniture and other items are reused by other campus departments or sold at auction. Tires are recycled through local automotive service centers. Unfortunately, volumes of these items are not currently tracked.
Materials intended for disposal but subsequently recovered and reused on campus, performance year:
Does the institution use single stream recycling to collect standard recyclables in common areas?:
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?:
Average contamination rate for the institution’s recycling program:
A brief description of any recycling quality control mechanisms employed:
A brief description of the institution's waste-related behavior change initiatives:
In 2019-2020, MSU began the process of conducting a waste audit and development of a waste management plan. The purpose of the project was to establish a new baseline and waste classification, as well as, developing a long-term plan towards zero waste. Unfortunately, due to Covid the project was postponed until 2021.
Missouri State University participates in RecycleMania in an attempt to raise awareness about recycling and encourage participation. RecycleMania efforts include a head to head competition in the residence halls, digital signage on campus displays and computers, food waste display tables and an upcycling event.
A brief description of the institution's waste audits and other initiatives to assess its materials management efforts and identify areas for improvement:
MSU started a waste audit in 2020 but has been postponed until 2021.
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:
MSU has a surplus property program where materials that are no longer needed (furniture, computers/TVs, vehicles, etc.) may be stored and be claimed for re-use by other departments. The originating department submits a "Surplus Property" form to procurement and relocates the property to a central storage location. Other units may go and request the available property and have it delivered to them. Unfortunately, at this time the only amount quantified from this process is the amount of trash if items are not re-sold or donated, and the amount of scrap metal for metal items not sold or donated. MSU is working on a process to quantify items sold or donated.
A brief description of the institution's platforms to encourage peer-to-peer exchange and reuse:
Reusing office materials is encouraged through our Sustainability Teams program described in EN-7.
A brief description of the institution's limits on paper and ink consumption:
MSU has a limited printing policy in effect in all computer labs on campus. This policy, known as BearPrint, provides a $60 printing allotment per semester for each student, with each printed page valued at $0.08 for black and white and $0.75 for color. Duplex pages can be printed on both sides for only $0.08, which doubles the allotment when used.
In an effort to further reduce paper consumption, McQueary College of Health and Human Services implemented the following practices:
- Used a software package called PaperCut to monitor all printers within the college. We allowed users to opt out if they preferred and only two people did. We monitored printing usage for 6 weeks in early to mid-fall of 2019 and then continued to monitor for the beginning of the Spring semester 2020. Even after this short period printing usage was down nearly 50%, we attribute this to people being more conscious about what they are printing and knowing that they were being monitored, even though the results were anonymous.
- Encouraged users and department head to eliminate personal printers and move towards using existing network printers and copiers. This allowed up to eliminate nearly 30 personal printers which cost much more for supplies than using shared network devices.
- Also, attributing to the paper reduction was our move to a digital signature solution called DocuSign that was started in early Spring 2020. This has been hugely successful with most areas in the university now accepting digital signatures and speeding up processes and saving resources. We also now have many others areas on campus looking into using the software.
- Migrated all college file servers to the existing Microsoft Office 365 solutions, such as Teams, SharePoint, OneDrive, Stream, etc. This allowed us to forgo replacing some old college servers and save about $30,000 that we would have used to replace them.
- In the process of moving all departments to the Evaluation Kit digital evaluation software and phasing out paper surveys for classes.
These successful projects will be reviewed for adoption across the campus.
A brief description of the institution's initiatives to make materials available online by default rather than printing them:
A brief description of the institution's program to reduce residence hall move-in/move-out waste:
The Residence Life and Services Department promotes waste reduction during move-out by sponsoring the Bear Share program. This program encourages students to donate their items including food, clothing, school supplies, and furniture directly to a local charitable organization. An area in the lobby of each dormitory is set aside for collection and the organization brings a truck and personnel to campus to collect the donated 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:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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.