University of California, Los Angeles
OP-18: Waste Minimization and Diversion
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
5.66 / 8.00 |
Bonny
Bentzin Deputy Chief Sustainability Officer UCLA Sustainability |
Figures needed to determine total waste generated (and diverted):
| Performance Year | Baseline Year | |
| Materials recycled | 3,122.49 Tons | 6,376 Tons |
| Materials composted | 4,986.03 Tons | 2,525 Tons |
| Materials donated or re-sold | 125.11 Tons | 0 Tons |
| Materials disposed through post-recycling residual conversion | 0 Tons | 0 Tons |
| Materials disposed in a solid waste landfill or incinerator | 7,120.26 Tons | 13,068 Tons |
| Total waste generated | 15,353.89 Tons | 21,969 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, 2022 | June 30, 2023 |
| Baseline Period | July 1, 2007 | June 30, 2008 |
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 | 18,709 | 10,744 |
| Number of employees resident on-site | 99 | 45 |
| Number of other individuals resident on-site | 858 | 739 |
| Total full-time equivalent student enrollment | 49,746 | 37,554 |
| Full-time equivalent of employees | 39,848.50 | 28,112 |
| Full-time equivalent of students enrolled exclusively in distance education | 654 | 0 |
| Weighted campus users | 72,265.38 | 52,685.75 |
Total waste generated per weighted campus user:
| Performance Year | Baseline Year | |
| Total waste generated per weighted campus user | 0.21 Tons | 0.42 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 | Yes |
| 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:
Textiles, raw materials and clothes
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:
See audit information below.
A brief description of the institution's waste-related behavior change initiatives:
All liner colors have been changed to correlate with the appropriate stream, which in turn correlate with dumpster/compactor colors.
All custodial staff and trades on campus have been trained on what waste goes where, the colors and their role. Flip guides and other tools have been provided to them. All outdoor receptacle signage has been updated with additional detail, and installing tower signage on 30 locations. 32 buildings have received new centralized triple stream waste stations with detailed signage.
At least two "Trash Talks" are scheduled with departments around campus every week. Tabling is conducted at large events on campus at least monthly.
A brief description of the institution's waste audits and other initiatives to assess its materials management efforts and identify areas for improvement:
From 11/18 to 3/2020 - 47 detailed, hand sorted waste audits have been completed on waste streams around campus ranging and included facilities such as small offices, to basketball games to large buildings such as libraries. Audits are led by UCLA's Zero Waste Manager, designated student groups or sustainability staff from around campus. Due to the number of stakeholders conducting the audits, data are tracked in a joint spreadsheet - https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1HbU1y5HMA4XEJVh-T_6h_n8MDc32tInSFKkHHmgWJTU/edit?usp=sharing. Hand audits have been discontinued during and immediately after Covid years, but will resume in the coming year. In that time, material audits have been conducted on targeted locations by our waste partner.
Further - UCLA's waste hauler, Athens, conducts visual waste audits quarterly on compactors or dumpsters flagged by campus personnel. The receptacle is hauled separately to a facility, dumped, spread out and photos are taken. Contamination is counted and observations are compiled and returned to the Sustainability team for review.
A brief description of the institution's procurement policies designed to prevent waste:
The UC system has a Sustainable Procurement Policy that guides its RFP's, contracts and purchasing activities. UCLA Procurement requires all vendors to confirm that they'll follow the policy, with random checks to ensure compliance. Inventory offered to departments by major campus retail partners (such as Amazon Business and Office Depot) is currently under review to remove products that violate waste policies for the portals. All campus purchasing agents will receive a new training covering policy areas beginning October 2023. This is the first step in a runway that will lead to increased data tracking, education and eventually enforcement.
A brief description of the institution's surplus department or formal office supplies exchange program that facilitates reuse of materials:
Campus departments can advertise their excess and surplus property (ESP) free of charge on the UCLA Dollar Saver site.
A brief description of the institution's platforms to encourage peer-to-peer exchange and reuse:
The UCLA Surplus Stop is a space to give furniture, electronics, and other items a second life and keep items out of the landfill. UCLA students, staff/faculty, and departments may donate any item that they no longer need to the Surplus Stop, and other students, faculty, and departments can take these items for free. Spearheaded by UCLA Zero Waste, the Surplus Stop reduces waste on campus while providing accessible resources to those in need. https://www.sustain.ucla.edu/zero-waste/surplus-stop/
A brief description of the institution's limits on paper and ink consumption:
All major UCLA libraries and associated computer labs charge students and visitors for all printing including Powell library, Charles E Young Research library, and the UCLA law library.
There are some computer labs, like the Social Science Computing lab, which provide students taking a full course-load of classes, the opportunity to print up to $10 worth of free printing per quarter, but charge for any additional printing.
A study was completed by UCLA's Asset Management Department determining that at least 10% of office space is occupied by filing cabinets. This study has resulted in a program encouraging campus departments to adopt paperless practices and provides the resources to help them do so.
A brief description of the institution's initiatives to make materials available online by default rather than printing them:
UCLA makes its course catalogs and course schedules available online at the following links:
www.registrar.ucla.edu/schedule/schedulehome.aspx
www.registrar.ucla.edu/catalog/catalog-curricul.htm
While a limited amount of materials is still printed, UCLA still makes course directories, course schedules, and course catalogues available online. In addition, the university has switched to make W2 forms available online. UCLA is examining other potential paper publications that can be switched to online and the Chancellor’s office has requested that departments send online invitations and communications rather than paper.
In an internal email, the following initiative was instituted.
“Hard-copy “internal” marketing — brochures and other advertising materials sent by one department to another, or to internal audiences of faculty, students and staff — should be eliminated. Please use e-mail and the web for communications to internal audiences.
...Printed invitations can be replaced with E-vites, hard copy newsletters with email versions, etc.
Such efforts reduce costs and serve UCLA's sustainability objectives. A reduction of print and proper utilization of electronic media also can be more effective, as well as less expensive.”
UCLA is also looking into campus-wide savings in printing and publications.
A brief description of the institution's program to reduce residence hall move-in/move-out waste:
The Office of Residential Life runs a program called "Clothes Out" during the week that students move out every June. The program allows students to donate textiles, clothing, shoes, bedding, household items and small electronics. The usable products are donated to local charities, and unusable items are recycled, preventing many tons of material from entering a landfill.
Additional Link:
http://www.sustain.ucla.edu/our-initiatives/housing/living-green/
A brief description of the institution's programs or initiatives to recover and reuse other materials intended for disposal:
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.