Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 50.92
Liaison Gretchen Vanicor
Submission Date June 22, 2021

STARS v2.2

University of Louisiana at Lafayette
OP-18: Waste Minimization and Diversion

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 2.84 / 8.00 Joe Nelson
Grad Assistant
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 345 Tons 6.88 Tons
Materials composted 4.80 Tons 0 Tons
Materials donated or re-sold 3.45 Tons 0 Tons
Materials disposed through post-recycling residual conversion 0 Tons 0 Tons
Materials disposed in a solid waste landfill or incinerator 1,135.10 Tons 1,477.79 Tons
Total waste generated 1,488.35 Tons 1,484.67 Tons

If reporting post-recycling residual conversion, provide:

A brief description of the residual conversion facility:
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Start and end dates of the performance year and baseline year (or three-year periods):
Start Date End Date
Performance Period July 1, 2018 June 30, 2019
Baseline Period July 1, 2013 June 30, 2014

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:
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Figures needed to determine "Weighted Campus Users”:
Performance Year Baseline Year
Number of students resident on-site 3,270 2,209
Number of employees resident on-site 119 10
Number of other individuals resident on-site 0 0
Total full-time equivalent student enrollment 14,412 14,074
Full-time equivalent of employees 2,071 1,862
Full-time equivalent of students enrolled exclusively in distance education 953 96
Weighted campus users 12,494.75 12,434.75

Total waste generated per weighted campus user:
Performance Year Baseline Year
Total waste generated per weighted campus user 0.12 Tons 0.12 Tons

Percentage reduction in total waste generated per weighted campus user from baseline:
0.23

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:
23.73

Percentage of materials diverted from the landfill or incinerator (including up to 10 percent attributable to post-recycling residual conversion):
23.73

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) No

A brief description of other materials the institution has recycled, composted, donated and/or re-sold:
Plastic bags and films

Optional Fields 

Active Recovery and Reuse

Materials intended for disposal but subsequently recovered and reused on campus, performance year:
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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?:
No

Does the institution use multi-stream recycling to collect standard recyclables in common areas?:
No

Contamination and Discard Rates 

Average contamination rate for the institution’s recycling program:
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A brief description of any recycling quality control mechanisms employed:
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Programs and Initiatives 

A brief description of the institution's waste-related behavior change initiatives:
The University's Sustainability Strategic Plan focuses on a variety of change initiatives. Resident assistants in campus housing are trained to be ambassadors for sustainability. They teach and encourage on-campus students to engage in sustainable behavior. The University has also placed co-located bins throughout campus, removed bags and straws from dining areas, and installed water fountains with a water-bottle-filling attachment.

A brief description of the institution's waste audits and other initiatives to assess its materials management efforts and identify areas for improvement:
The University has performed several waste audits to assess the type and quantity of material being disposed. A waste audit was performed in collaboration with Grainger in order to assess waste material at strategic locations on campus. The University's housing department also periodically performs visual audits of residential housing bins. Lastly, the University's waste hauler (Republic Services) periodically provides contamination reports.

A brief description of the institution's procurement policies designed to prevent waste:
The University's strategic plan encourages discussion and engagement with purchasing agents to consider purchasing decisions from a life cycle approach. The University has also banned the use of styrofoam products in university facilities.

A brief description of the institution's surplus department or formal office supplies exchange program that facilitates reuse of materials:
The UL Lafayette Surplus Warehouse stores all property purchased by the University not in use, and these items will be used by other employees of the University or sent to an auction hosted by the state government.

A brief description of the institution's platforms to encourage peer-to-peer exchange and reuse:
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A brief description of the institution's limits on paper and ink consumption:
The University uses a print management software (Papercut) to reduce costs associated with excessive printing. Students are allowed to print 250 pages for free and additional pages cost ten cents each.

A brief description of the institution's initiatives to make materials available online by default rather than printing them:
The University offers an electronic Academic Catalog and not a print version.

A brief description of the institution's program to reduce residence hall move-in/move-out waste:
Goodwill Not Landfill is an annual initiative to encourage resident hall students to donate their unwanted items in good condition to the local Goodwill stores. Goodwill places bins in each of the residence halls in order to collect the material.

A brief description of the institution's programs or initiatives to recover and reuse other materials intended for disposal:
The University of Louisiana at Lafayette collects and recycles plastic bags and film from home football games and throughout the University (multiple plastic bag and film stations throughout campus). By partnering with the company Trex, our plastic bags and film are recycled, and once the University recycles 500Ibs of plastic bags and film, Trex creates a bench out of recycled material and sends it to the University. We have received two benches.

Website URL where information about the institution’s waste minimization and diversion efforts is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
Data for total landfill and recycling is converted from waste bills provided by our hauler, Republic Services. Republic reports service in volume. To get tonnage for this report we assume a percentage full of dumpsters and adjust total volume before converting to tons using EPA weight of waste material numbers.

Our total bills include volume for waste collected at NIRC, which is outside of our campus boundary. The total weight submitted here is reduced by the amount of waste generated at this site.

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.