| Overall Rating | Gold |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 78.11 |
| Liaison | Kristin Larson |
| Submission Date | Oct. 23, 2023 |
San Diego State University
OP-18: Waste Minimization and Diversion
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
3.56 / 8.00 |
Molly
Weber AASHE STARS Student Intern Office of Energy & Sustainability |
Figures needed to determine total waste generated (and diverted):
| Performance Year | Baseline Year | |
| Materials recycled | 753.40 Tons | 677.70 Tons |
| Materials composted | 289.62 Tons | 317.40 Tons |
| Materials donated or re-sold | 198.61 Tons | 15.60 Tons |
| Materials disposed through post-recycling residual conversion | 0 Tons | 0 Tons |
| Materials disposed in a solid waste landfill or incinerator | 1,992.62 Tons | 1,889.50 Tons |
| Total waste generated | 3,234.25 Tons | 2,900.20 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 | July 1, 2021 | June 30, 2022 |
| Baseline Period | July 1, 2015 | June 30, 2016 |
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 | 8,000 | 2,807 |
| Number of employees resident on-site | 35 | 69 |
| Number of other individuals resident on-site | 0 | 0 |
| Total full-time equivalent student enrollment | 33,402 | 29,955 |
| Full-time equivalent of employees | 4,103 | 3,491 |
| Full-time equivalent of students enrolled exclusively in distance education | 0 | 0 |
| Weighted campus users | 30,137.50 | 25,803.50 |
Total waste generated per weighted campus user:
| Performance Year | Baseline Year | |
| Total waste generated per weighted campus user | 0.11 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 | 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 | Yes |
| Tires | Yes |
| Other (please specify below) | Yes |
A brief description of other materials the institution has recycled, composted, donated and/or re-sold:
Our student-led Sustainability Commission, Green Love, hosts a campus-wide Swap Shop every spring on Earth Day. The initiative started on Earth Day 2017. Hundreds of students attend and participate in exchanging their secondhand clothing. In 2022, there were 174 participants who swapped 1,278 items, an estimated 715.68 lbs of clothes were diverted from the landfill!
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:
Bin signage with icons and words of what should/shouldn't go into each bin, student-led trash talking events at eateries. Our hauler contract, EDCO, has a significant focus on recycling and diversion.
A brief description of the institution's waste-related behavior change initiatives:
Office of Sustainability Zero Waste student intern, Charlotte Roberts, worked with EcoReps to host a DIY upcycled wellness event, a single-use plastic art exhibit, and an educational trash-talking day in East Commons to celebrate RecycleMania and cultivate conversations between campus stakeholders about waste. A waste diversion dashboard by building was created in 2020. New bins and signage has been placed in every building to increase continuity. Each classroom has a recycling bin to accompany the landfill bin.
A brief description of the institution's waste audits and other initiatives to assess its materials management efforts and identify areas for improvement:
Associated Students conducted a waste audit of two days-worth of landfill and recycling streams in the Student Union. The Student Union is pursuing TRUE Zero Waste Certification. We have color coded dumpsters and dedicated trucks for accurate weighing where individual dumpsters are weighed daily to determine diversion by area and look for improvements. Our granular recycling weights are stored and analyzed in our platform called SkySpark. We coordinate student and staff visits to the local materials recovery facility. All trash bags are now black and recycle bags are clear to provide chain of custody through the process. Custodial training on proper recycling is done each spring.
A brief description of the institution's procurement policies designed to prevent waste:
Student interns and our senate subcommittee on sustainability are working on a more robust EPP in coordination with Procurement. SDSU currently has a contract with Staples for automatically purchasing green alternative office supplies and other materials with an auto substitution program that mandates EPP for hundreds of items.
We also have a purchasing policy that states we must purchase recycled content paper, recycled glass products, recycled plastic products, recycled metal products, and other items whenever possible. The purchasing agents at our campus attend recycle product procurement training during the year.
Seeking to improve our electronics recycling program, SDSU hosted a full day workshop with EPEAT in 2019 to provide targeted training to SDSU appropriate personnel and local universities.
A brief description of the institution's surplus department or formal office supplies exchange program that facilitates reuse of materials:
Our campus has a State surplus sale program that prevents our used equipment and furniture from being thrown away in our landfills. Employees in campus departments have the opportunity of using surplus materials before they are put up for external auction.
A brief description of the institution's platforms to encourage peer-to-peer exchange and reuse:
We have a Green Office Certification Program and a student intern whose job is to visit offices on campus and teach about sustainability practices, which include reducing waste and reminding staff/faculty to call Surplus when they have electronics, furniture, clothing, etc. they no longer want.
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:
A brief description of the institution's program to reduce residence hall move-in/move-out waste:
We have zero-waste move-in and move-out for the residence halls each year, always with at least 95% diversion. Campus move-in has reached over 98% diversion, including a significant amount of film plastics and donations (2.6 tons of food and 19.4 tons of durable goods).
A brief description of the institution's programs or initiatives to recover and reuse other materials intended for disposal:
Some sustainability events bring their post-consumer food waste to our on-site compost pilot, and we are working on expanding this collection. Also, a network was started between our catering/dining organization on campus, Office of Sustainability, Student Union staff, Health Promotion and Wellness, and identity centers to coordinate strategies for getting excess catered food to hungry students. Excess food is given to the food pantry for students. Carpet gets disposed of in construction and demolition rolloff dumpsters.
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:
We do not have data for the satellite site at Imperial Valley or Research Foundation. Users have been reduced to match up with the data set.
We do not have data for the satellite site at Imperial Valley or Research Foundation. Users have been reduced to match up with the data set.
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.