Oregon State University
OP-23: Waste Diversion

SURPLUS PROGRAM Weights for material reused, donated, or re-sold (i.e. processed through OSU Surplus Property) are not taken upon transfer, but we made a conservative estimate of the material processed and included it in the figure above. This means that the amount of total waste diverted is higher than represented above. Our surplus program is well-established in our state, and we sell used items to departments, agencies, non-profits and the general public (at our once weekly public sales). This accounts for a substantial amount of materials diverted from the landfill. In FY13 the sales volume of surplus items was $675,724. Surplus also disassembles and recycles products that cannot be resold, landfilling only the items that are neither resellable nor recyclable. RECYCLING PROGRAM As stated on our website, "Campus Recycling is responsible for managing a comprehensive waste management system that focuses on reducing, reusing and recycling with disposal as a last resort." In addition to collecting recyclables from all campus buildings, Campus Recycling offers many additional recycling and waste reduction programs: 1) With Surplus Property, we co-sponsor an annual donation drive in the residence halls during move-out week. In June 2013 we collected 25,979 pounds of material for donation and resale (http://recycle.oregonstate.edu/opportunities/moveout). 2) Campus Recycling provides event recycling as a free service for all campus events, and serves as a resource to event organizers who seek to plan sustainable events. 3) OSU has fairly extensive food composting programs as described below. 4) In addition to composting food and dining waste, OSU also collects the following for composting: landscape debris, scrap wood, and animal bedding. 5) Outreach efforts by Campus Recycling are extensive: Campus Recycling employs one full-time staff and two part-time student staff to work on outreach and developing new programs. Outreach for recycling and composting occurs via educational events (RecycleMania, Earth Week, etc), tabling at events, public presentations and workshops, collaborative partnerships, social media, etc. We are the primary organizer of the annual Earth Week celebration, which brings together 40+ on- and off-campus environmental organizations to offer a week full of educational and engaging events, including a community fair and many others. Campus Recycling and the Student Sustainability Initiative coordinate a student volunteer team called the Waste Watchers, which works on events and marketing, and provides leadership opportunities for students. Campus Recycling partners with Republic Services to coordinate a Master Recycler program for Linn and Benton counties in Oregon. This 8-week course educates community members about all aspects of waste reduction and is offered for free to anyone who volunteers for 30 hours after completion of the course. These Master Recyclers volunteer at OSU and in the community to educate others about waste reduction.

OSU Housing and Dining Services provides all leftover products to Linn-Benton Food Share. In addition, OSU provides a Food Pantry for students in need. Any tips left in OSU coffee shops are donated to the food pantry.

Republic Services of Corvallis has the first facility in Oregon's to be permitted to accept all food waste including meat, bread and vegetable products. This facility is called the Pacific Region Compost Facility (PRC) and it handles the large majority of compost for the OSU campus. The facility is about 10 miles from OSU, reducing transportation costs and fuel use. A few smaller, on-site composting sites also exist on the OSU campus. Here are the programs to collect pre-consumer organic waste: 1) All pre-consumer food waste is composted through the Dining Halls of OSU Housing and Dining Services. Campus coffee shops also collect used grounds. This pre-production waste is sent to the PRC. 2) OSU offers a Department Compost program for kitchens and break rooms. The material collected is a mix of pre- and post-consumer organic material and it is sent to the PRC for processing. Some of the departments are set-up with worm compost bins to manage their own waste, if requested. 3) In FY13 OSU ran a res. hall compost pilot program, offering compost to all residents in 3 res. halls. The material collected is a mix of pre- and post-consumer organic material and it is sent to the PRC for processing. 4) The Student Sustainability Initiative provides a couple composting systems at the Student Sustainability Center where people can donate kitchen waste from residence halls or off-campus living to be composted and used on-site in the permaculture garden. Using the this option at the SSC is helpful for students living in dorms or apartments who cannot or do not wish to compost at their residence. 5) The 4 co-op housing buildings share a composting system used to break down kitchen prep waste. 6) A compost system located at the Oak Creek Center for Urban Horticulture collects food scraps and coffee grounds and is utilized as a teaching tool for soils classes.

OSU's post-consumer food composting is similar to our pre-consumer programs listed above. 1) Post-consumer food waste is composted at all three of the Dining Halls of OSU Housing and Dining Services and one campus coffee shop. This waste is sent to the PRC. 2) OSU offers a Department Compost program for kitchens and break rooms. The material collected is a mix of pre- and post-consumer organic material and it is sent to the PRC for processing. Some of the departments are set-up with worm compost bins to manage their own waste, if requested. 3) In FY13 OSU ran a res. hall compost pilot program, offering compost to all residents in 3 res. halls. The material collected is a mix of pre- and post-consumer organic material and it is sent to the PRC for processing. 4) The Student Sustainability Initiative provides a couple composting systems at the Student Sustainability Center where people can donate food waste, some of which is likely post-consumer. 5) The 4 co-op housing buildings share a composting system used to break down kitchen prep waste. This system likely includes some post-consumer food waste. 6) A compost system located at the Oak Creek Center for Urban Horticulture collects food scraps and coffee grounds and is utilized as a teaching tool for soils classes. It may also process post-consumer food waste.

Styrofoam Electronic storage media (CDs, VHS, floppy disks, etc.) Electronics Batteries (alkaline, lead, lithium, NiCd, NiNH, Mercury) Fluorescent light bulbs and ballasts Servingware composting Resale includes additional categories such as computers, shoes/clothing/housewares, office supplies, tools, sporting goods, vehicles and more (http://surplus.oregonstate.edu)

The weight of surplus items is not taken upon their transfer. To estimate this weight, we queried our sales database to pull a list of all items sold in FY12, determined the quantity of the most common items sold (e.g. desks, computers, etc.), and multiplied that by an average weight of said items. There were many categories of items we did not account for, so the resulting number is less than what we expect is the actual total of material reused by being processed through OSU Surplus Property. Data is from Campus Recycling (http://recycle.oregonstate.edu) and Surplus Property (http://surplus.oregonstate.edu).