Overall Rating Silver
Overall Score 46.29
Liaison Suchi Daniels
Submission Date March 4, 2022

STARS v2.2

University of South Florida
OP-18: Waste Minimization and Diversion

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 2.96 / 8.00 Suchi Daniels
Sustainability Manager
Facilities Management
"---" 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 87 Tons 87 Tons
Materials composted 0 Tons 0 Tons
Materials donated or re-sold 0 Tons 0 Tons
Materials disposed through post-recycling residual conversion 0 Tons 0 Tons
Materials disposed in a solid waste landfill or incinerator 485 Tons 485 Tons
Total waste generated 572 Tons 572 Tons

If reporting post-recycling residual conversion, provide:

A brief description of the residual conversion facility:
NA

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, 2018 June 30, 2019

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:
FY1819 represents the campus in the last fiscal year pre-COVID

Figures needed to determine "Weighted Campus Users”:
Performance Year Baseline Year
Number of students resident on-site 6,141 6,141
Number of employees resident on-site 26 26
Number of other individuals resident on-site 0 0
Total full-time equivalent student enrollment 44,055 44,055
Full-time equivalent of employees 10,784 10,784
Full-time equivalent of students enrolled exclusively in distance education 3,945 3,945
Weighted campus users 39,712.25 39,712.25

Total waste generated per weighted campus user:
Performance Year Baseline Year
Total waste generated per weighted campus user 0.01 Tons 0.01 Tons

Percentage reduction in total waste generated per weighted campus user from baseline:
0

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:
15.21

Percentage of materials diverted from the landfill or incinerator (including up to 10 percent attributable to post-recycling residual conversion):
15.21

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 No
Cooking oil No
Plant materials No
Animal bedding No
White goods (i.e. appliances) No
Electronics No
Laboratory equipment No
Furniture No
Residence hall move-in/move-out waste No
Scrap metal Yes
Pallets No
Tires Yes
Other (please specify below) No

A brief description of other materials the institution has recycled, composted, donated and/or re-sold:
Tire waste and metal is diverted

Optional Fields 

Active Recovery and Reuse

Materials intended for disposal but subsequently recovered and reused on campus, performance year:
---

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?:
Yes

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:
---

A brief description of any recycling quality control mechanisms employed:
---

Programs and Initiatives 

A brief description of the institution's waste-related behavior change initiatives:
2015-2025 Tampa Campus Master Plan
Objective 7.4.2: Define procedures to reduce University generated solid waste and increase scope of recycling and reuse programs.
Policy 7.4.2.1: The University shall continue to take steps to reduce the quantity of solid waste generated by expanding its recycling
program to include additional interior and exterior, easily accessible drop off locations. These drop off facilities shall be installed in the
individual buildings, residential areas or in other convenient locations. The University will strive to provide, at a minimum, for the
recycling of paper, corrugated cardboard, glass, plastics, and metals. Awareness programs directed toward students, faculty and staff shall
be included in this recycling program.
Policy 7.4.2.2: The University shall recycle and / or salvage construction, demolition and land clearing waste as practical and possible.

A brief description of the institution's waste audits and other initiatives to assess its materials management efforts and identify areas for improvement:
In 2021, USF submitted a case study to the Campus Waste to Zero Waste reference two student projects aimed at reducing food waste and contamination of recycling.

A brief description of the institution's procurement policies designed to prevent waste:
University will strive to provide, at a minimum, for the
recycling of paper, corrugated cardboard, glass, plastics, and metals. Awareness programs directed toward students, faculty and staff shall
be included in this recycling program.
Policy 7.4.2.2: The University shall recycle and / or salvage construction, demolition and land clearing waste as practical and possible.

A brief description of the institution's surplus department or formal office supplies exchange program that facilitates reuse of materials:
Formal campus furniture and supply exchange programs operate at the college level throughout the campus. In addition, prior to the disposal of materials in good condition, USF’s Property Management department offers the opportunity for other departments to acquire and use the materials. Before a unit can dispose of assets, their availability has to be advertised on the USF Property Listserv to other University departments for three consecutive days.
a. If another department wants the property, it is transferred to that department using the USF Form #3009. This ensures compliance with all University policies regarding asset transfers.
b. If the asset remains unclaimed after the three days, units can proceed to disposal.
USF has a listserv that is used to share information about furniture and office supplies that are available.

eBid - This is an online bid process conducted by the government surplus auction site Public Surplus and administered by the Department Requestor as listed on the USF Form #3008. The department will only receive money from the sale of asset(s) if it sells for $1,000.00 or more per item minus any advertising fee (Check with Public Surplus for advertising fee dollar amount). If the asset(s) sells at below $1,000.00 per item, the department receives nothing.

A brief description of the institution's platforms to encourage peer-to-peer exchange and reuse:
USFTALK, An Open Talk Forum for the USF Community (1166 Subscribers), is used for listed items no longer needed by a department including furniture and office supplies.
"The USF LISTSERV is industry standard list management software that allows you to maintain email lists used for your department, college, project, or any other activity requiring email communication. You can add and remove subscribers, and maintain the list and settings to best meet your needs.

A brief description of the institution's limits on paper and ink consumption:
Through a partnership with Student Government and USF Information Technology, enhancements have been made to the free printing program on campus. Students are given an allotment of $3.00 per day to be used for printing on campus. Any amount over $3.00 daily can be printed using Bull Buck$.

The benefits of these changes are:

• Students can use their free prints allocations for copies at all of the locations unless otherwise noted.
• Students can print from their personal computers.
• Students can print via email attachment
• Students can print to the free print locations from within the USF Application Gateway.
• Students can continue to print using Bull Bucks once their daily free prints allocation is reached.
• Black & White printing is only 11 cents per page
• Color printing is only 22 cents per page.

A brief description of the institution's initiatives to make materials available online by default rather than printing them:
USF Departments uses DocuSign for all types of documents, including timesheets.
USF Facilities Management uses an On-line review of plans, policies, and other documents saves large amounts of paper every year.

All course catalogs, schedules, and directories available online,many faculty make use of the digital drop-box feature on Canvas and review and return term papers and tests electronically.

Travel authorizations, purchases, admittance of students and review of faculty performance among many other tasks are all facilitated by online forms.

Facilities Managment launch FAMIS. "The University of South Florida Facilities Management implemented a new Work Order and Space Management system – Facilities and Asset Management Information System (FAMIS). FAMIS is a cloud-based application with self-service ability to submit Work Requests. FAMIS is utilized to submit requests to Facilities Management groups on all campuses and Parking & Transportation Services on the Tampa Campus. The new system went live on February 3rd, 2020."

Bull Runner Bus transit schedule and tracking is available as a phone app

All campus maps are available online and through a phone app.

Academics uses Canvas as a platform for class materials, books, and assignement submittals and grading.

MyUSF Mobile is an available app to manage email, courses, archivum, guides, maps, and MS Teams

A brief description of the institution's program to reduce residence hall move-in/move-out waste:
As with the move-in waste reduction strategy, the residence halls areas have outdoor recycling bins that have special (more frequent) collection times during move-out dates. The newest residence halls collects the cardboard boxes and recycles them with the dining hall in that area.

Also, Residence Life has a program with Good Will and unwanted items are placed in one of two trucks available in the residence hall areas. in 2014 a free yard sale was established where residents can put out unwanted electronics and furniture and other students can select it and take it for free with their student ID.

A brief description of the institution's programs or initiatives to recover and reuse other materials intended for disposal:
Assets can also be salvage (dispose of) if the Accountable Officer determines it is not appropriate for donation, cannibalization or trade-in. It is the department’s responsibility to dispose of the property at their own cost after insuring compliance with all environmental health/safety regulations and obtaining any required certifications of disposal. A USF employee designated by your department must accompany the surplus vendor to pick-up salvage/surplus assets and witness/verify that the assets are picked-up and the USF barcodes have been removed.

Website URL where information about the institution’s waste minimization and diversion efforts is available:
---

Additional documentation to support the submission:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
Residential Halls use single stream and contract independently of the main campus. The main campus buildings are managed by building serves. Waste is single stream on the main campus. The numbers reported represent the main campus not the residential halls.

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.