Overall Rating	Platinum
Overall Score	86.17
Liaison	James Gordon
Submission Date	May 31, 2022

STARS v2.2

Thompson Rivers University
OP-18: Waste Minimization and Diversion

Status	Score	Responsible Party
	7.06 / 8.00	James Gordon Environmental Programs and Research Coordinator TRU Office of Environment and Sustainability

"---" 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	159.10 Tons	0 Tons
Materials composted	210.80 Tons	0 Tons
Materials donated or re-sold	4.50 Tons	0 Tons
Materials disposed through post-recycling residual conversion	0 Tons	0 Tons
Materials disposed in a solid waste landfill or incinerator	155.40 Tons	991 Tons
Total waste generated	529.80 Tons	991 Tons

If reporting post-recycling residual conversion, provide:

A brief description of the residual conversion facility:

n/a

Start and end dates of the performance year and baseline year (or three-year periods):

	Start Date	End Date
Performance Period	July 1, 2019	June 30, 2020
Baseline Period	Jan. 1, 2005	Dec. 31, 2005

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:

A 2005 baseline was adopted for the 2011 STARS Report; in order to be consistent, it will be used for this report.

Figures needed to determine "Weighted Campus Users”:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Number of students resident on-site	1,101	0
Number of employees resident on-site	0	0
Number of other individuals resident on-site	89	0
Total full-time equivalent student enrollment	14,176	5,702.50
Full-time equivalent of employees	1,512.60	872
Full-time equivalent of students enrolled exclusively in distance education	4,622	1,866
Weighted campus users	8,664.20	3,531.38

Total waste generated per weighted campus user:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Total waste generated per weighted campus user	0.06 Tons	0.28 Tons

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

78.21

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:

70.67

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

70.67

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:

TRU collects and recycles plastic bags/overwrap and Styrofoam, and donates bones and meat scraps from the Meat Processing Program to a local dog breeder. TRU also has a battery recycling program (working with Call2Recycle), and works with a third-party (Diabetes Canada) to collect and reuse textiles/clothing.

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?:

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:

A brief description of any recycling quality control mechanisms employed:

All materials from the standard mixed-recycling stream around the campus that the City of Kamloops picks up weekly is first sorted in-house by a TRU janitor to extract all contaminants. All materials are collected in the approximately 200 bins in the campus' 120 Zero Waste Stations.

Programs and Initiatives

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

All Zero Waste Station posters are updated on a regular basis to try to make it as easy as possible for users to figure out where they should put their waste-related items.
Sustainability student ambassadors spend time at stations guiding other students on how to use the stations.
During the 2019 2020 school year a 'zero waste video contest' was launched and 11 video entries were submitted.
The TRU Green Guide is available to students and includes information on how to sort waste items properly.

A brief description of the institution's waste audits and other initiatives to assess its materials management efforts and identify areas for improvement:

In the summer of 2014, small-scale waste audits were conducted by a co-op research student for the TRU Sustainability Office. The audits were conducted to compare the differences between contamination rates of single, stand-alone waste, recycling, and refundable bins compared to the use of a centralized Zero Waste station.
Between 2015 and 2018 TRU hired an external consultant to do extensive annual waste audits of all campus waste.
Starting in 2019 the Sustainability Office has been conducting quarterly audits of all campus waste.
There’s also been specific audits done only of recycling bins attached to the zero waste stations, as well as a recent audit in the fall of 2021 of two of TRU's residences.

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

At TRU, the identification of equipment and other reusable materials that need to be disposed of is undertaken by every TRU department on a regular basis. The actual disposal of such equipment is the responsibility of Procurement Services. There are several ways to dispose of equipment. If replacement equipment needs to be purchased, then every effort is made to obtain a reasonable trade-in-allowance for the old equipment by selling it. In this case, Procurement Services would negotiate with the vendors interested in supplying the replacement equipment. To sell old goods, personnel fill out a Asset Disposal Form and send it to Procurement Services. The Procurement Manager will then do one of the following to dispose of the unwanted equipment or materials: re-use it within another TRU department; post the item for sale on BC Auction; offer the item to other educational institutions; donate it to charity, or dispose of it in an environmentally appropriate manner. Electronic waste goes to a recycling plant to be reused or disposed of in an environmentally responsible manner.
single-source materials (like scrap metal or wood) are picked up and recycled. Confidential paper documents are shredded and then recycled. All toner cartridges are recycled through Grand and Toy or sent back to the manufacturer.

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

TRU runs a reuse site called TRU ReUse!. Here is the description on the site (https://one2.tru.ca/committee/TRUReUse/_layouts/15/start.aspx#/SitePages/Home.aspx): "This online warehouse is designed to assist TRU employees to find and exchange items between departments on campus. All items listed are owned by TRU and are available to be reused at no cost to TRU departments."
If items are not claimed through this site, then, once an Asset Disposal Form is filled in that shows the item is in working condition, it is posted for sale through BC Auction. Surplus non-working obsolete items get recycled through Electronic Recycling Association (ERA) or Encorp Recycling Corp. who pick up the goods in TRU Warehouse as required.

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

Please see the description directly above regarding TRU's reuse site called TRU ReUse!. TRU also working on a staff/faculty program called the Move Out Program which will make it easier for people when they are moving offices on campus or leaving TRU altogether (due to retirement or other reasons) to make sure their stuff gets reused, and if it can't be, then properly recycled. Avoiding landfilling their stuff is the last option.

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

Free printing does not occur at TRU photocopier stations in either the libraries or the Printshop, and all campus printers are set to print double-sided automatically by default. Students are required to bring their own paper to computer labs for printing, and can only print colour at the Printshop ($1.00 per page). All printing that occurs is doubled-sided by default and students are encouraged to use a size 11 font with one inch margins in order to reduce the amount of paper being printed. Students are also encouraged to read and edit journals online instead of printing.
All staff members are encouraged to use the large, centrally-located multi-function printers. It has been proven in other institutions that employing this tactic cuts down on the amount of paper and ink used, since most people think twice before printing something.

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

The university makes course catalogues, course schedules, and directories available online. Printed catalogues are available at an extra cost.

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

TRU is launching its first 5-Year Zero Waste Plan in March 2022 and one of the plan's main areas of focus is doing a much better job of dealing with all waste streams from the three residences. Initiating improved programs to manage waste streams specifically during move-in and move-out periods will be central to this new push.
Currently, there are several programs run in some or all of the residences to control waste at move-in and move-out. There is a donation bin outside one of the main entrances year-round and during peak times the number of pick-ups increase. One of the residences has hosted food drives for all leftover perishable food items, and provided an 'item swap' event for students. They continually search for new ways to reduce waste produced during these times.

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

The most notable initiative on this front is the development of TRU‘s first 5-Year Zero Waste Plan which will be launched in early 2022. The goal of the plan is 95% diversion from landfill within five years. A consultant has been hired to write up the plan and all stakeholders from three key areas of the campus (Operations, Residences, Construction) are involved in engaging with the plan's development. Currently, The university manages roughly 20 waste streams and is very active also in managing several reuse programs; with the intention of rolling out more recycling and reuse programs on a regular basis.

TRU signed onto the pan-Canadian National Zero-Waste Council about 7 years ago, and is very active in all aspects of waste management.

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

https://www.tru.ca/sustainability/everyday/zero-waste-recycling-composting.html

Additional documentation to support the submission:

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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

Regarding the question for the Baseline Year ‘Number of students resident on-site?’ (in Parts 1 and 2 in the section ‘Figures needed to determine "Weighted Campus Users”’), TRU did not have student housing or students living on campus in 2005. The first student residence building was completed in 2008.

Regarding why zero was reported for the 2005 Baseline year. Zero has been reported for both 2011 and 2015 STARS reports as TRU had no recycling, composting or reuse systems in place on campus. 2005 Data related to our waste streams measured total tonnage of waste to landfill but zero tonnage reported in any recycling or organics stream and no reuse programs were in place.

2005 baseline figures for FTE for employees provided by Paul Archer, former Manager, TRU HR Services.

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.