University of California, San Diego
OP-18: Waste Diversion

Programs: The total campus diversion rate includes metal (scrap, bi-metal and aluminum), plastics 1-7, cardboard, mixed and white paper, landscape waste, furniture, small appliances and clothing from student move-outs, books, electronic and universal waste, pallets and other dimensional lumber, office furniture, non-perishable food items. All other material that cannot be recycled in the single-stream recycling program, e-waste recycling, donated, resold or re-used. UC San Diego does not incinerate waste. Polices: UCOP Sustainable Practices Policy Recycling and Waste Management 1. The university prioritizes waste reduction in the following order: reduce, reuse, and then recycle. 2. The university adopts the following goals for diverting municipal solid waste from landfills: • 50% by June 30, 2008 • 75% by June 30, 2012 • Ultimate goal of zero waste3 by 2020 http://www.ucop.edu/ucophome/coordrev/policy/sustainable-practices-policy.pdf UCSD climate action on waste Recycling and Waste Minimization: 1. Meet the UCOP goals, which are: • 50% waste diversion by June 30, 2008 • 75% waste diversion by June 30, 2012 • Zero waste by 2020 2. Reduce the total emissions from the life cycle of materials purchased, used, and discarded on campus, including the emissions and impacts from extracting the materials, processing materials into products, transporting products to the campus for use, and transporting waste materials for final disposal or recycling. This goal includes the intention of finding local producers for materials, as well as local markets for recycling of waste materials, when possible. This goal is also related to procurement, and is included in the procurement section of this report. http://sustainability.ucsd.edu/_files/UCSD_Climate_Action_Plan_12-08.pdf Outreach Efforts: The UC San Diego campus community participates in a recycling program competition against other colleges and universities across the United States and Canada. Dubbed, RecycleMania, the 10-week competition encourages schools to reduce waste, increase recycling and raise awareness of conservation issues across campus. http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/feature/recyclemania Infrastructure: UC San Diego invests in a waste minimization infrastructure by investigating the latest technology for recycling and waste diversion research that has been conducted on waste to energy fuel cells and the campus has already updated many receptacles to include “Big Belly” solar recycling and trash bins.