| Overall Rating | Silver |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 54.69 |
| Liaison | Trevor Ledbetter |
| Submission Date | Jan. 6, 2025 |
University of Arizona
OP-18: Waste Minimization and Diversion
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
3.53 / 8.00 |
Trevor
Ledbetter Director Office of Sustainability |
Parts 1 and 2. Waste per person
| Performance Year | Baseline Year | |
| Materials recycled | 1,949 Tons | 2,363 Tons |
| Materials composted | 6 Tons | 12 Tons |
| Materials donated or re-sold | 57.40 Tons | 0 Tons |
| Materials disposed through post-recycling residual conversion | 0 Tons | 0 Tons |
| Materials disposed in a solid waste landfill or incinerator | 3,403 Tons | 3,131 Tons |
| Total waste generated | 5,415.40 Tons | 5,506 Tons |
If reporting post-recycling residual conversion, provide:
Start and end dates of the performance year and baseline year (or three-year periods):
| Start Date | End Date | |
| Performance Period | July 1, 2022 | June 30, 2023 |
| Baseline Period | July 1, 2018 | June 30, 2019 |
If end date of the baseline year/period is 2004 or earlier, provide:
Figures needed to determine "Weighted Campus Users”:
| Performance Year | Baseline Year | |
| Number of students resident on-site | 7,191 | 6,770 |
| Number of employees resident on-site | 30 | 0 |
| Number of other individuals resident on-site | 0 | 0 |
| Total full-time equivalent student enrollment | 47,008 | 34,153 |
| Full-time equivalent of employees | 11,194 | 11,842 |
| Full-time equivalent of students enrolled exclusively in distance education | 8,904 | 0 |
| Weighted campus users | 38,778.75 | 36,188.75 |
Total waste generated per weighted campus user:
| Performance Year | Baseline Year | |
| Total waste generated per weighted campus user | 0.14 Tons | 0.15 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 (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:
Facilities Management Recycling & Waste supports the University of Arizona's long-term sustainability goals by engaging the campus-wide community in waste reduction and increasing material diversion. Their primary focus is on material management by educating and providing the campus with best practices for waste reduction and recycling. Throughout campus, we provide a modified single-stream collection. Within all common areas, inside and outside of buildings, please deposit all:
- clean and empty bottles
- aluminum cans
- paper
- cardboard
Additionally, we collect and recycle books and journals, pre-consumer organic waste for compost, surplus office and lab materials, as well as hazardous wastes through Risk Management and Safety, including batteries, aerosol spray containers, enamel or oil-based paints, rubber cement, and thinner, white-out and thinner, and many others.
Optional Fields
Active Recovery and Reuse
Recycling Management
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?:
Contamination and Discard Rates
A brief description of any recycling quality control mechanisms employed:
The University trains custodial staff, students, and faculty about waste management best practices. For example, the UArizona Housing Department runs the Waste Auditor Program, in which waste audits are conducted on a regular basis at campus dorms by examining dorm recycling locations, giving visual estimates of contamination, and logging contaminants. Addiiotnally, Housing creates and posts signage at the recycling locations to address the biggest contmaination problems assesed. This real-time contamination education is supported by additional marketing/education campaigns delivred via email, social media, and distribuitng recycling education as part of Housing's Residential Curriculum. Additionally, our Facilities Management Department provides estimates of the amount of recycling they collect vs. the amount of contaminated recycling they throw away.
Programs and Initiatives
Paired containers, working with departments to identify material and solutions. Housing participates in an annual sustainability education and engagement competition called Recycle Mania. Housing employs large scale marketing like banners outside every dorm, as well as fliers provided to every Resident Assistant and electronic materials shared. Resident Assistants hang recycling-related bulletin boards in every dorm wing across two months. Student staff can earn points by hosting sustainability-related education such as dorm storm recycling collections or tabling in lobbies. In 2022, over 100 educational programs were hosted and 12 educational videos created. Recycling is monitored for contamination and bonus points awarded for clean recycling. The goals are to recycle more and recycle right. This is in addition to our recurring recycling contamination education that rotates as necessary to address real-time problems throughout the year. A student employee monitors dorm recycling contents and hangs labels and signage, and creates educational interventions, to change behavior and eliminate contaminants.
A brief description of the institution's waste audits and other initiatives to assess its materials management efforts and identify areas for improvement:
Quarterly waste and recycling audits performed at MRF. Housing conducts weekly visual inspections of exterior dorm recycling collections. Contamination percentage is approximated and contaminants recorded. Housing uses this information to guide real-time recycling education dedicated to combatting the most current problems. Signage rotates based on what is going wrong in each building's recycling every week. Additionally, social media and other programmatic interventions are also occurring, tailored based on the contamination data. Housing staff and student Resident Assistants (RAs) post bulletin boards and host events related to recycling. Housing's contamination expert keeps dorm staff apprised of major problems in individual buildings. At the same time, the Housing contamination program also produces resources like educational emails and quizzes to address common contaminants found across all dorms.
A brief description of the institution's procurement policies designed to prevent waste:
A brief description of the institution's surplus department or formal office supplies exchange program that facilitates reuse of materials:
Surplus Property provides campus with free pick-up and delivery of surplus property. Surplus sill dispose of the property through a Surplus Sorefront open to departmens and the public. Surplus also disposes of property through a once a month public auction. Other methods of disposal incluce government acency sales, special bid sales and recycling.
A brief description of the institution's platforms to encourage peer-to-peer exchange and reuse:
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:
During move-in, Housing and Facilities Management collaborate to collect and recycle as much cardboard packaging as possible. Temporary collection locations are set up at every dorm. Students are instructed to put all cardboard waste into these locations via signage and electronic communications. FM collects and recycles the cardboard separately. During move-out, donation locations are set up at every dorm. Students are encouraged to donate unwanted items to be recycled or reused by local organizations. Housing collaborates with community partners, including some UArizona organizations like our Campus Pantry. In 2022, students diverted about 70,000 pounds of material from the landfill by earmarking the items for donation instead of trash.
A brief description of the institution's programs or initiatives to recover and reuse other materials intended for disposal:
Surplus has a goal of generating at leat $30,000 in revenue through selling scrap metal each year. During FY22 we generated over $60,000.
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:
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.