Overall Rating Bronze - expired
Overall Score 40.54
Liaison Rebecca Quesnell
Submission Date Dec. 18, 2015
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.0

Roosevelt University
OP-22: Waste Minimization

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 2.53 / 5.00 Rebecca Quesnell
Sustainable Operations Coordinator
Physical Resources
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Waste generated::
Performance Year Baseline Year
Materials recycled 142.98 Tons 158.84 Tons
Materials composted 10.79 Tons 6.83 Tons
Materials reused, donated or re-sold 0 Tons 0 Tons
Materials disposed in a solid waste landfill or incinerator 320.79 Tons 349.04 Tons

Figures needed to determine "Weighted Campus Users”::
Performance Year Baseline Year
Number of residential students 610 626
Number of residential employees 0 0
Number of in-patient hospital beds 0 0
Full-time equivalent enrollment 4,814 4,724
Full-time equivalent of employees 848 876
Full-time equivalent of distance education students 142 134

Start and end dates of the performance year and baseline year (or three-year periods):
Start Date End Date
Performance Year Jan. 1, 2014 Dec. 31, 2014
Baseline Year Jan. 1, 2013 Dec. 31, 2013

A brief description of when and why the waste generation baseline was adopted:

The baseline was recently adopted. Primarily due to having more complete data.


A brief description of any (non-food) waste audits employed by the institution:

Typically, a waste audit is conducted by a university SUST class about once a year. For example, in 2014 a waste audit (waste and recycling) was initiated that covered spaces in the university's Auditorium Building (office, classrooms), Auditorium Theater, and Wabash Building (student services office spaces, meeting rooms, and upper administrative offices). In fall 2015, the waste audit solely focused on auditing waste and recycling on three residence hall floors. The collected data is then extrapolated and the fall 2015 has been planned to be shared with Residence Life--in the hopes that reduction and programming (i.e. floor-to-floor competitions) could result.


A brief description of any institutional procurement policies designed to prevent waste:
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A brief description of any surplus department or formal office supplies exchange program that facilitates reuse of materials:
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A brief description of the institution's efforts to make materials available online by default rather than printing them:
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A brief description of any limits on paper and ink consumption employed by the institution:

When printing on campus/using on campus printers, students must use GreenPrint, which also provides an incentive for minimizing print jobs (due to charging for printing). For faculty, all departments have budget allocations for copying/printing, which also provides a strong incentive to minimizing these practices (since they chew up $$ that could be allocated elsewhere). Many departments have centralized network printers instead of individual desktop printers; these network printers directly charge the academic Dept (in some Colleges and Departments, at least) for each page copied or printed. Scanning is free, which encourages paperless work when possible.


A brief description of any programs employed by the institution to reduce residence hall move-in/move-out waste:

There are no formal programs done through The Office of Residence Life; however, there are designated areas where students can donate their belongings that they aren't going to take with them during move-out.


A brief description of any other (non-food) waste minimization strategies employed by the institution:
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A brief description of any food waste audits employed by the institution:
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A brief description of any programs and/or practices to track and reduce pre-consumer food waste in the form of kitchen food waste, prep waste and spoilage:

All pre-consumer waste is collected in white white collection containers located throughout the kitchen. The material is reviewed daily to insure that any items which can be used or donated, are not disposed of. All of this pre-consumer waste is composted through our composting system.


A brief description of programs and/or practices to track and reduce post-consumer food waste:

Roosevelt University has a compost program at the Wabash Building. All service ware is either recyclable or compostable. In order to have the material (i.e. to-go containers, food waste,etc) composted, users of the dining hall must put said materials in the tray return area. From there, the materials get separated (i.e. compost, recycle, garbage) by a dining staff employee, and composted materials go through our SOMAT pulper machine. We have a vendor then pick up the slurry compost material and finish the composting process. The weight of material collected is tracked. This has helped us to reduce 'waste' and instead compost the applicable materials.


A brief description of the institution's provision of reusable and/or third party certified compostable to-go containers for to-go food and beverage items (in conjunction with a composting program):

All carryout containers, plates, soup cups, and coffee cups are certified compostable and are composted through our composting system.


A brief description of the institution's provision of reusable service ware for “dine in” meals and reusable and/or third party certified compostable service ware for to-go meals (in conjunction with a composting program):

All dining materials are compostable or recyclable (whether or not it is to-go or dine in).


A brief description of any discounts offered to customers who use reusable containers (e.g. mugs) instead of disposable or compostable containers in to-go food service operations:

Promotional discounts (i.e. during Bike2Campus week and Earth Week) are sometimes offered if users of on-campus dining bring a reusable mug during that time.


A brief description of other dining services waste minimization programs and initiatives:

Dining Services strives to divert 90% of traditional "garbage waste" (waste going into a landfill), by composting all pre and post consumer food waste (as much as possible) and packaging, and through recycling.


The website URL where information about the institution’s waste minimization initiatives is available:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

Both the baseline and performance years include our Auditorium Building, Wabash Building, and Schaumburg campus. Buildings in which our University rents space/is the tenant, have recycling programs but there is (to-date) no way to track our waste/recycling independently/while not including it for the whole building.

For 2013 and 2014, the Schaumburg campus data only goes from May-December. That is because we switched vendors in May 2013, and do not have access to data from our previous provider. In order to be consistent, Schaumburg campus data for 2014 also goes from May-December.


Both the baseline and performance years include our Auditorium Building, Wabash Building, and Schaumburg campus. Buildings in which our University rents space/is the tenant, have recycling programs but there is (to-date) no way to track our waste/recycling independently/while not including it for the whole building.

For 2013 and 2014, the Schaumburg campus data only goes from May-December. That is because we switched vendors in May 2013, and do not have access to data from our previous provider. In order to be consistent, Schaumburg campus data for 2014 also goes from May-December.

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.