Overall Rating Gold
Overall Score 65.49
Liaison Jun-Ming Chen
Submission Date Oct. 29, 2021

STARS v2.2

National Tsing Hua University
OP-18: Waste Minimization and Diversion

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 2.45 / 8.00 Fu-Ren Lin
Professor
Institute of Service Science, National Tsing Hua University
"---" 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 29.48 Metric tons 26.49 Metric tons
Materials composted 27.58 Metric tons 4.81 Metric tons
Materials donated or re-sold 18.42 Metric tons 32.75 Metric tons
Materials disposed through post-recycling residual conversion 0 Metric tons 0 Metric tons
Materials disposed in a solid waste landfill or incinerator 1,323 Metric tons 1,213.38 Metric tons
Total waste generated 1,398.48 Metric tons 1,277.42 Metric tons

If reporting post-recycling residual conversion, provide:

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, 2020 Dec. 31, 2020
Baseline Period Jan. 1, 2018 Dec. 31, 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:
---

Figures needed to determine "Weighted Campus Users”:
Performance Year Baseline Year
Number of students resident on-site 8,058 8,144
Number of employees resident on-site 412 432
Number of other individuals resident on-site 412 432
Total full-time equivalent student enrollment 16,917 15,436
Full-time equivalent of employees 2,767 2,632
Full-time equivalent of students enrolled exclusively in distance education 0 0
Weighted campus users 17,292.50 16,127

Total waste generated per weighted campus user:
Performance Year Baseline Year
Total waste generated per weighted campus user 0.08 Metric tons 0.08 Metric tons

Percentage reduction in total waste generated per weighted campus user from baseline:
0

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:
5.40

Percentage of materials diverted from the landfill or incinerator (including up to 10 percent attributable to post-recycling residual conversion):
5.40

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) No

A brief description of other materials the institution has recycled, composted, donated and/or re-sold:
The cleaning company contracted by the university to clean up the recyclables and food waste every afternoon, and then transfer them to the contracted recyclers for processing.

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?:
No

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?:
Yes

Contamination and Discard Rates 

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

A brief description of any recycling quality control mechanisms employed:
The recycling quality control in campus has been enforced by two mechanisms: (1) internal mechanism performed by the Office of General Affairs to check the recycling operations from time to time and assess the quality of recycled materials and the actual behaviors done by different buildings; (2) external mechanism performed by the Environmental Protection Bureau, Hsinchu City Government to monitor the recycling quality control, such as the proper classification of recycled materials.

Programs and Initiatives 

A brief description of the institution's waste-related behavior change initiatives:
Complying with the regulation of Taiwan's environmental protection practice, each building in campus is required to hand in its garbage and recycled materials to the collection vehicles on a daily basis. This changed the behaviors in handling the waste and recycled materials.

A brief description of the institution's waste audits and other initiatives to assess its materials management efforts and identify areas for improvement:
The campus property disposal shall properly dispose of it (including sale, reuse, gift, exchange, etc.) in accordance with the relevant provisions of the property management manual and the article management manual.
In conjunction with the new construction of the South Campus, each building requires earthwork excavation and backfilling, and the campus plans to exchange the earthwork for each project in the temporary earthwork area.

A brief description of the institution's procurement policies designed to prevent waste:
In accordance with the relevant provisions of the property management manual and the article management manual, the usable part can be donated to other units for use.

A brief description of the institution's surplus department or formal office supplies exchange program that facilitates reuse of materials:
The university leverages the information circulation among different departments to publicize the surplus of office materials, so that departments can exchange and reuse them.

A brief description of the institution's platforms to encourage peer-to-peer exchange and reuse:
The university leverages the information circulation among different departments to publicize the surplus of equipment, furniture, and goods, so that departments can exchange and reuse them. The books released from the library are also available for freely acquired at the end of each year in order to extend the life cycle of books.

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

A brief description of the institution's initiatives to make materials available online by default rather than printing them:
The university provides online learning management systems, such as Moodle, ILMS, etc. which allow instructors to upload teaching materials and students to submit homework. By this practice, it dramatically reduces the hard copies printed for courses. Moreover, many meeting materials, prospect students' application materials, and administrative documents are circulated online, and involved stakeholders can access and process them online. These practices reduce the need of hard copies and enhance the information flow.

A brief description of the institution's program to reduce residence hall move-in/move-out waste:
There are several online and offline channels established in campus and cross universities for students to freely give out or sell online their used items, so that when students move in or move out they can exchange needed items in campus or cross universities.

For example, the students of NTHU and NYCU independently established an online second-hand trading platform for students, to exchange or auction second-hand items. So that the use of items can get the most benefits. (https://www.facebook.com/groups/817620721658179/)

A brief description of the institution's programs or initiatives to recover and reuse other materials intended for disposal:
The expired electronics and office furniture are donated to some NGOs which may need them to extend the life cycle of these items. Moreover, a student group, T-Bike, recycles dispelled bikes on campus to repair and redistribute them to students for free to recreate the value of dispelled bikes.

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:
About Waste Yardage: http://construc.site.nthu.edu.tw/p/406-1167-195436,r7703.php?Lang=zh-tw

Online second-hand trading platform -- Facebook Group: https://zh-tw.facebook.com/groups/817620721658179/

Research done by students about the second-hand trading: http://cge.nthu.edu.tw/quality10901-28/
http://cge.nthu.edu.tw/quality10901-16/

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.