Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 66.97
Liaison Teddy Lhoutellier
Submission Date March 13, 2019
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

University of Miami
OP-19: Waste Minimization and Diversion

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 2.70 / 8.00 Teddy Lhoutellier
Sustainability Manager
Environmental Health and Safety
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Figures needed to determine total waste generated (and diverted):
Performance Year Baseline Year
Materials recycled 1,424.70 Tons 849.22 Tons
Materials composted 342.03 Tons 502.30 Tons
Materials donated or re-sold 242.18 Tons 125.30 Tons
Materials disposed through post-recycling residual conversion 0 Tons 0 Tons
Materials disposed in a solid waste landfill or incinerator 3,798 Tons 4,481.55 Tons
Total waste generated 5,806.91 Tons 5,958.37 Tons

A brief description of the residual conversion facility, including affirmation that materials are sorted prior to conversion to recover recyclables and compostable materials:
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Start and end dates of the performance year and baseline year (or three-year periods):
Start Date End Date
Performance Year June 1, 2017 May 31, 2018
Baseline Year June 1, 2012 May 31, 2013

A brief description of when and why the waste generation baseline was adopted (e.g. in sustainability plans and policies or in the context of other reporting obligations):

FY 2013 is the start date of our most recent GHG inventory to ACUPCC/2nd Nature


Figures needed to determine "Weighted Campus Users”:
Performance Year Baseline Year
Number of students resident on-site 4,193 4,216
Number of employees resident on-site 23 21
Number of other individuals resident on-site and/or staffed hospital beds 45 30
Total full-time equivalent student enrollment 16,397 15,613
Full-time equivalent of employees (staff + faculty) 9,267 7,827
Full-time equivalent of students enrolled exclusively in distance education 546 369
Weighted campus users 19,937.50 18,392.50

Total waste generated per weighted campus user:
Performance Year Baseline Year
Total waste generated per weighted campus user 0.29 Tons 0.32 Tons

Percentage reduction in total waste generated per weighted campus user from baseline:
10.09

Percentage of materials diverted from the landfill or incinerator by recycling, composting, donating or re-selling, performance year:
34.60

Percentage of materials diverted from the landfill or incinerator (including up to 10 percent attributable to post-recycling residual conversion):
34.60

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:

Toner cartridges from copiers on our campuses.


Materials intended for disposal but subsequently recovered and reused on campus, performance year (e.g. materials that are actively diverted from the landfill or incinerator and refurbished/repurposed) :
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Does the institution use single stream recycling (a single container for commingled recyclables) to collect standard recyclables (i.e. paper, plastic, glass, metals) in common areas?:
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

Average contamination rate for the institution’s recycling program (percentage, 0-100):
5

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:

ECO reps in the residences and Green Patrols on campus spend few hours a week controlling, monitoring and surveying our different recycling programs and reporting on the rate of contamination of our bins.


A brief description of the institution's waste-related behavior change initiatives, e.g. initiatives to shift individual attitudes and practices such as signage and competitions:

Retrofitting of all buildings towards single stream recycling had started in 2012.
Educational outreach campaigns for Staff, faculty and students are done on a yearly basis. All new students and new hires receive a basic information about good waste segregation practices.
New consistent signage, outdoors bins and lids have been installed in the past 3 years.
UM is also participating in Recyclemania.
http://www.miami.edu/finance/index.php/green_u/recycling/


A brief description of the institution's waste audits and other initiatives to assess its materials management efforts and identify areas for improvement:

Visual Waste audits are done with our vendors experts. A list of recommendations is established and from there actions are taken to improve our rate of diversion.

In 2017, the Office of Sustainability and the Student Government ECO Agency along with ECO reps have performed a manual Waste Audit of one of our residences MSW container. Food waste and disposable plastic came as the 2 first waste stream in the results. It reinforced the rationale behind our new disposable plastic free focus for 2018
https://greenu.miami.edu/topics/waste-diversion/index.html


A brief description of the institution's procurement policies designed to prevent waste (e.g. by minimizing packaging and purchasing in bulk):

Waste minimization and bulk purchasing are part of the checklist items that offices need to follow for the Green Office program.
https://greenu.miami.edu/programs/green-office-program/index.html


A brief description of the institution's surplus department or formal office supplies exchange program that facilitates reuse of materials:

UM has a Surplus Property and Storage warehouse that handles all requests for transfers and disposals of University owned property. All materials are sold, refurbished or reused.
An online inventory of items on sale is available on the website:
https://greenu.miami.edu/topics/waste-diversion/reuse-initiatives/UM-Surplus-inventory/index.html


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):

Several Good Will donation drives (permanent stations, Move out campaigns...) are organized through out the year.
A student managed U Thrift market is hold every Wednesday during our regular Farmers Market.
A ReUse Store is available in one of the administrative buildings to Staff and Faculty to donate and/or procure small office supplies.
https://greenu.miami.edu/topics/waste-diversion/reuse-initiatives/index.html


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):

UM Managed Print Services has partnered with Canon Solutions to replace our fleet of printers with multi-task copiers set by default on black ink and double sided.
https://greenu.miami.edu/topics/supply-chain/managed-print-services/index.html

UM Enterprise Content Management is helping departments across the institution to transition to digital transactions, reporting and storage. The University is progressively going paperless.
http://www.miami.edu/index.php/ecm/

UM IT division has transitioned to Cloud based operations throughout the divisions
http://it.miami.edu/a-z-listing/box/index.html


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:

All new reports are available online, some of them still have a paper version.
The Platinum MarComm award winning Climate Change Special Report was only released digitally: http://climate.miami.edu


A brief description of the institution's program to reduce residence hall move-in/move-out waste:

Like every year, Housing and Residential Life at UM is partnering with Good Will, Feeding South Florida and Waste Management to make sure our used belongings, packaged food don’t end up in a landfill and are reused.

https://greenu.miami.edu/programs/green-housing/green-move-out/index.html


A brief description of the institution's programs or initiatives to recover and reuse other materials intended for disposal:

Toner Cartridge Recycling program:
https://greenu.miami.edu/topics/waste-diversion/toner-cartridges-recycling/index.html

Coffee Ground Composting program:
https://greenu.miami.edu/topics/waste-diversion/yard-waste-food-waste/index.html

E Waste Minimization program:
The U Tech Source in the Bookstore takes students old technology (tablets, phone, laptops). For every device, students receive a trade-in quote.
https://greenu.miami.edu/topics/waste-diversion/electronic-waste/index.html


The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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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.