Overall Rating	Silver - expired
Overall Score	62.98
Liaison	Briar Schoon
Submission Date	March 5, 2021

STARS v2.2

Portland Community College
OP-18: Waste Minimization and Diversion

Status	Score	Responsible Party
	2.93 / 8.00	Stephania Fregosi Sustainability Analyst Academic Affairs

"---" 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	338.62 Metric tons	81.18 Metric tons
Materials composted	26.37 Metric tons	0 Metric tons
Materials donated or re-sold	4.08 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	1,152.53 Metric tons	1,107.58 Metric tons
Total waste generated	1,521.60 Metric tons	1,188.77 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	July 1, 2018	June 30, 2019
Baseline Period	July 1, 2005	June 30, 2006

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:

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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	23,887.86	23,011
Full-time equivalent of employees	2,246.80	2,492
Full-time equivalent of students enrolled exclusively in distance education	4,538.60	0
Weighted campus users	16,197.04	19,127.25

Total waste generated per weighted campus user:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Total waste generated per weighted campus user	0.09 Metric tons	0.06 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:

24.26

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

24.26

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	No
Residence hall move-in/move-out waste	No
Scrap metal	Yes
Pallets	Yes
Tires	Yes
Other (please specify below)	Yes

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

Yard debris, concrete, wood.

Optional Fields

Active Recovery and Reuse

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

0.45 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?:

Yes

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:

10.90

A brief description of any recycling quality control mechanisms employed:

Bins and signage have been updated and increased in number, recycling presentations are made at some staff and student events,

Programs and Initiatives

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

Our MiniMax program aims to make faculty and staff more aware of the waste they generate daily. Employee desks now have a standard desk-side recycling bin and a much smaller trash bin -- about 1/5 the size of the recycling bin. Employees also are now responsible for emptying their own trash and recycling bins into centralized bins, which both causes them to recognize and take ownership over the amount of waste they generate and frees up custodial staff time.

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 annually at selected sites to monitor rates of recycling, composting, and contamination.

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

Vendors are asked to reduce unnecessary packaging and to take back pallets when possible.

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

- PCC has an extensive material surplus property department manged under our Central Distribution Services. This department is responsible for gathering items across the district that are to be donated, recycled, re-sold and reused. Any department can request items be picked up by the surplus properties team via an internal on-line request form. The items that are picked up are typically the larger, unwanted college supplies that would otherwise be land-filled. These item include, but are not limited to automobiles, computer electronics, all types of office furniture, aviation equipment, fire trucks, grounds maintenance machinery, AV equipment, and others. PCC also just joined Public Surplus, a website where surplus items can be bid on and sold to the public.

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

Departments have small storage areas for small equipment reuse. The college has storage for larger items and electronics that can be put to use later. A public space is provided in the student commons area for people to drop off and/or take for free small personal items such as clothing, thermoses, etc.

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

•Each currently registered student is allocated the equivalent of 100 double sided pages per term for free.

•Pages allocated for the previous term do not "roll" (so a prior term balance would not be added to your present term total).

•You may purchase additional printing directly from your workstation with a credit or debit card (MasterCard or Visa). Minimum purchase is $5.00.

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

Course catalogs are available free online as PDF. Students may purchase a catalog at any PCC Bookstore for $3 or order one by mail for $6.

Additionally, course schedules, directories, and other student resources can all be found online.

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

N/A: No on-campus residency.

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

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

http://www.pcc.edu/about/sustainability/recycling.html

Additional documentation to support the submission:

PCC Solid Waste Management Policy.pdf

Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

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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.