Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 70.07
Liaison Andrew Horning
Submission Date June 30, 2015
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.0

University of Michigan
OP-22: Waste Minimization

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 2.03 / 5.00 Kenneth Keeler
Senior Sustainability Rep
Office of Campus Sustainability
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Waste generated::
Performance Year Baseline Year
Materials recycled 4,158 Tons 4,444 Tons
Materials composted 744 Tons 253 Tons
Materials reused, donated or re-sold 0 Tons 0 Tons
Materials disposed in a solid waste landfill or incinerator 12,060 Tons 13,170 Tons

Figures needed to determine "Weighted Campus Users”::
Performance Year Baseline Year
Number of residential students 10,585 11,256
Number of residential employees 0 0
Number of in-patient hospital beds 990 990
Full-time equivalent enrollment 43,710 39,993
Full-time equivalent of employees 42,277 35,137
Full-time equivalent of distance education students 753 500

Start and end dates of the performance year and baseline year (or three-year periods):
Start Date End Date
Performance Year July 1, 2013 June 30, 2014
Baseline Year July 1, 2005 June 30, 2006

A brief description of when and why the waste generation baseline was adopted:

Baseline was chosen to correlate with established university sustainability goals.


A brief description of any (non-food) waste audits employed by the institution:
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A brief description of any institutional procurement policies designed to prevent waste:
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A brief description of any surplus department or formal office supplies exchange program that facilitates reuse of materials:

University of Michigan Property Disposition is responsible for the accountable disposal of University of Michigan property designated as surplus by University departments. Its mission is to recycle, sell, or dispose of surplus equipment to the best advantage of the University of Michigan.

http://www.finance.umich.edu/procurement/property-disposition


A brief description of the institution's efforts to make materials available online by default rather than printing them:
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A brief description of any limits on paper and ink consumption employed by the institution:
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A brief description of any programs employed by the institution to reduce residence hall move-in/move-out waste:
A brief description of any other (non-food) waste minimization strategies employed by the institution:
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A brief description of any food waste audits employed by the institution:
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A brief description of any programs and/or practices to track and reduce pre-consumer food waste in the form of kitchen food waste, prep waste and spoilage:

U-M Waste Management Services (WMS) has offered a ‘pre-consumer’ food waste composting program since 1997. Pre-consumer food waste, also known as prep waste, is unwanted or unusable foods that have not been served to people and is generated during meal preparation. This includes fruit & vegetable trimmings and peelings, spoiled produce, egg shells, stale bakery items, etc. Current participants include Betsey Barbour, East Quad, Hill Dining Center, Mary Markley, Palmer Commons, South Quad and West Quad.

http://www.plantops.umich.edu/grounds/recycle/composting.php#doesumcompost


A brief description of programs and/or practices to track and reduce post-consumer food waste:

In 2012, WMS began offering a ‘post-consumer’ food waste composting program. Post-consumer food waste is unwanted, leftover food that has been served to customers as well as compostable disposables. Plate scrapings, apple cores, half-eaten sandwiches, etc. are all collected and composted. Additionally, certified compostable disposables can be collected for composting. These include compostable plates, cups, flatware, bowls, napkins, etc. Many items claim to be ‘compostable’ or ‘biodegradable,’ but without certification, will not breakdown in a compost pile.

http://www.plantops.umich.edu/grounds/recycle/composting.php#doesumcompost


A brief description of the institution's provision of reusable and/or third party certified compostable to-go containers for to-go food and beverage items (in conjunction with a composting program):
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A brief description of the institution's provision of reusable service ware for “dine in” meals and reusable and/or third party certified compostable service ware for to-go meals (in conjunction with a composting program):
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A brief description of any discounts offered to customers who use reusable containers (e.g. mugs) instead of disposable or compostable containers in to-go food service operations:
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A brief description of other dining services waste minimization programs and initiatives:
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The website URL where information about the institution’s waste minimization initiatives is available:
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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.