Overall Rating | Gold - expired |
---|---|
Overall Score | 77.56 |
Liaison | Ruairi O'Mahony |
Submission Date | Feb. 15, 2019 |
Executive Letter | Download |
University of Massachusetts Lowell
OP-19: Waste Minimization and Diversion
Status | Score | Responsible Party |
---|---|---|
5.92 / 8.00 |
Tyler
Arrigo Program Coordinator- Sustainability Office of Sustainability |
"---"
indicates that no data was submitted for this field
Parts 1 and 2: Waste Minimization
Performance Year | Baseline Year | |
Materials recycled | 312.30 Tons | 248 Tons |
Materials composted | 277 Tons | 0 Tons |
Materials donated or re-sold | 86 Tons | 0 Tons |
Materials disposed through post-recycling residual conversion | 34 Tons | 0 Tons |
Materials disposed in a solid waste landfill or incinerator | 767 Tons | 1,896 Tons |
Total waste generated | 1,476.30 Tons | 2,144 Tons |
If reporting post-recycling residual conversion, provide:
UMass Lowell has all of it's fry oil converted into biodiesel for heating. Fry oil is separated from traditional waste by dining services staff and hauled to a conversion facility through a third-party.
Start and end dates of the performance year and baseline year (or three-year periods):
Start Date | End Date | |
Performance Year | July 1, 2017 | June 30, 2018 |
Baseline Year | July 1, 2007 | June 30, 2008 |
If end date of the baseline year/period is 2004 or earlier, provide:
The university started it's recycling program the year our baseline was addressed.
Figures needed to determine "Weighted Campus Users”:
Performance Year | Baseline Year | |
Number of students resident on-site | 4,425 | 2,248 |
Number of employees resident on-site | 11 | 0 |
Number of other individuals resident on-site and/or staffed hospital beds | 3 | 0 |
Total full-time equivalent student enrollment | 14,357 | 8,548 |
Full-time equivalent of employees (staff + faculty) | 1,719 | 1,255 |
Full-time equivalent of students enrolled exclusively in distance education | 3,876 | 825 |
Weighted campus users | 10,262 | 7,295.50 |
Total waste generated per weighted campus user:
Performance Year | Baseline Year | |
Total waste generated per weighted campus user | 0.14 Tons | 0.29 Tons |
Percentage reduction in total waste generated per weighted campus user from baseline:
51.05
Part 3: Waste Diversion
45.74
Percentage of materials diverted from the landfill or incinerator (including up to 10 percent attributable to post-recycling residual conversion):
48.05
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 |
Laboratory equipment | Yes |
Furniture | Yes |
Residence hall move-in/move-out waste | Yes |
Scrap metal | Yes |
Pallets | No |
Tires | No |
Other (please specify below) | Yes |
A brief description of other materials the institution has recycled, composted, donated and/or re-sold:
UMass Lowell also recycles mattresses through a local organization called the United Teen Equality Center (UTEC). UTEC is a Lowell-based youth services organization that picks up, deconstructs and recycles mattresses and part of it's workforce training program for proven risk youth.
The university also has an extensive electronics recycling program and it is free for campus members to utilize.
Optional Fields
Active Recovery and Reuse
---
Recycling Management
Yes
Does the institution use dual stream (two separate containers for recyclables, e.g. one for paper and another for plastic, glass, and metals) to collect standard recyclables (i.e. paper, plastic, glass, metals) in common areas?:
No
Does the institution use multi-stream recycling (multiple containers that further separate different types of materials) to collect standard recyclables (i.e. paper, plastic, glass, metals) in common areas?:
No
Contamination and Discard Rates
---
A brief description of any recycling quality control mechanisms employed, e.g. efforts to minimize contamination and/or monitor the discard rates of the materials recovery facilities and mills to which materials are diverted:
The university's waste hauler is Casella Waste Solutions they developed signs for us that are very clear and allow building occupants to easily identify what items can be recycled or thrown into the trash. In addition, due to Casilla's back-end recycling sorting program contamination is very low and material recovery is very high.
Casella sends all of it's single stream recycleables to its sorting facilities. They split the comingled materials into their respective streams before sending off for material conversion. You can learn more by visiting this https://www.casella.com/services/recycling/zero-sort-recycling or viewing this detailed video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_U6UuFLEGQ
Programs and Initiatives
The university actively works with students to teach them how to recycle and is actively working to improve signage and containers across campus.
A brief description of the institution's waste audits and other initiatives to assess its materials management efforts and identify areas for improvement:
Waste Audits are regularly conducted by our staff. A whole student position is focused on auditing and identifying waste issues.
A brief description of the institution's procurement policies designed to prevent waste (e.g. by minimizing packaging and purchasing in bulk):
UMass Lowell's Sustainability Initiative and Design Guidelines provides recommendations for preferred building material purchasing. The guidelines promote the purchase of materials with recycled content – either post-consumer or pre‐consumer recycled content as well as materials that are manufactured “locally,” within 500 miles.
A brief description of the institution's surplus department or formal office supplies exchange program that facilitates reuse of materials:
UMass Lowell uses surplus materials in house but does not track weight.
A brief description of the institution's platforms to encourage peer-to-peer exchange and reuse (e.g. of electronics, furnishings, books and other goods):
UMass Lowell encourages using materials on campus instead of disposing of them. It is a very common occurrence on campus.
A brief description of the institution's limits on paper and ink consumption (e.g. restricting free printing and/or mandating doubled-sided printing in libraries and computer labs):
UMass Lowell has a UPrint policy which is a green initiative that is aimed to reduce paper waste by eliminating unwanted and excess printing. UPrint is a software solution, a package called Pharos Uniprint, which is utilized by all UMass campuses and most Massachusetts public universities. UMass Lowell's libraries also host several online databases with resources that are not in print and only available online.
A brief description of the institution's initiatives to make materials (e.g. course catalogs, course schedules, and directories) available online by default rather than printing them:
UMass Lowell has made many strides to limit printing paper. Some illustrative examples are listed:
• For UMass Lowell offices there has been a large Document Imaging campaign encouraging people to digitize their paper files and store everything digitally. http://www.uml.edu/IT/DI/Intro-DI.aspx
• In the academic setting, the university uses program such as Turnitin, Blackboard, Wikispaces, and clicker technology to reduce the number of paper quizzes handouts necessary. Most classes are run with limited paper because of this.
http://www.uml.edu/IT/Services/Academic-Technology/default.aspx
• Nearly all academic departments and research groups have shared drives and file servers to make sharing and editing files digitally seamless and secure. http://www.uml.edu/IT/News-Events/Shareit.aspx & http://www.uml.edu/IT/Services/Get-connected/File-Shares.aspx
• UMass Lowell is improving software access so people can all be guaranteed to have the capacity to work digitally with the VLabs program. http://www.uml.edu/IT/Services/vLabs/default.aspx
A brief description of the institution's program to reduce residence hall move-in/move-out waste:
UMass Lowell works to reduce residence hall waste by hosting move in recycling programs and encouraging people to separate their waste at dumpsters. At the conclusion of every semester the Office of Sustainability hosts move out collection drives and donates all of the material to Lowell organizations.
A brief description of the institution's programs or initiatives to recover and reuse other materials intended for disposal:
UMass Lowell has programs in place to recycle: paper, plastic, cardboard, glass, aluminum, tin, steel, toner cartridges, lawn and yard waste, scrap metal, C&D waste, white goods, electronics & computers, batteries, vegetable oil, fluorescent lamps, waste oil, lab glass, ballasts, silver, empty metal drums & soil; also note: UMass Lowell Toxic Use Reduction Institute is expanding waste minimization beyond campus borders.
The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
---
Additional documentation to support the submission:
---
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
UMass Lowell has a well-developed Recycling & Waste Diversion program in place. The university’s primary goal is to reduce our overall output of waste. The majority of recycling occurs through our Zero-Sort program including all mixed paper, plastic, cardboard, glass, aluminum, tin and steel. Every effort is made to find a local organization to accept our materials and we prefer to only use organizations that are R2 certified or equivalent. Collection bins with clear signage are located throughout the university and picked up regularly.
This data is based off of our FY2018 Waste data.
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.