Overall Rating	Silver - expired
Overall Score	60.60
Liaison	Jay Price
Submission Date	March 2, 2018
Executive Letter	Download

STARS v2.1

University of Tennessee at Knoxville
OP-19: Waste Minimization and Diversion

Status	Score	Responsible Party
	1.95 / 8.00	Preston Jacobsen Sustainability Manager Facilities Services

"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Parts 1 and 2: Waste Minimization

Figures needed to determine total waste generated (and diverted):

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Materials recycled	1,634.63 Tons	984.57 Tons
Materials composted	1,571.99 Tons	96.50 Tons
Materials donated or re-sold	26.62 Tons	6.12 Tons
Materials disposed through post-recycling residual conversion	970 Tons	0 Tons
Materials disposed in a solid waste landfill or incinerator	7,934.92 Tons	11,995.25 Tons
Total waste generated	12,138.16 Tons	13,082.44 Tons

If reporting post-recycling residual conversion, provide:

A brief description of the residual conversion facility, including affirmation that materials are sorted prior to conversion to recover recyclables and compostable materials:

UT Recycling is committed to making the university a Zero Waste campus by 2028 and has established a timeline to help achieve this goal. Currently the campus diverts an average of 30% of its waste from the landfill each year. UT Recycling aims to reach 50% diversion from the landfill by 2020, 75% by 2024, and 90% or more by 2028. An increase of 60% from our current recycling rate to Zero Waste over the next decade is an ambitious goal on par with other large public universities across the country. In order to reach this goal, all university operations must be informed by a Zero Waste policy. The outdated view of recycling as being solely the responsibility of waste collection/recycling staff must be replaced with a whole-system approach. This approach will be holistic and farsighted, taking into account the entire life cycle of products purchased on campus. The approach will also involve coordination between departments, contractors, students, and faculty at every level to ensure waste is disposed of properly. This kind of coordination can only be achieved with a structured outline in place, hence the need for a written Zero Waste Plan. The Zero Waste Plan will include the following components: • Create an Environmentally Preferable Purchasing (EPP) Program to prioritize products made from recyclable or compostable materials over materials that must be sent to the landfill (e.g. Styrofoam) • Educate and train staff from all departments on proper recycling and composting practices for waste generated and collected all over campus • Expand recycling staff to coordinate waste sorting on Steam Plant Hill and in all buildings on campus (two new positions proposed) • Allow UT Recycling to coordinate with contractors for all construction/demolition projects on campus to ensure as much material is recycled as possible • Incorporate waste management considerations into new building designs (e.g. hand dryers instead of paper towels, bulk hygiene products, etc.) • Develop individualized Zero Waste strategies for each building on campus • Perform routine waste audits on designated Zero Waste buildings to ensure maintenance of diversion ratio • Continue promoting ongoing outreach campaigns as well as developing new campaigns to engage a larger portion of the student body in reducing their waste and diverting it from the landfill

Start and end dates of the performance year and baseline year (or three-year periods):

	Start Date	End Date
Performance Year	July 1, 2016	June 30, 2017
Baseline Year	July 1, 2007	June 30, 2008

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 (e.g. in sustainability plans and policies or in the context of other reporting obligations):

Figures needed to determine "Weighted Campus Users”:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Number of students resident on-site	7,157	8,132
Number of employees resident on-site	11	0
Number of other individuals resident on-site and/or staffed hospital beds	609	0
Total full-time equivalent student enrollment	24,535	24,672
Full-time equivalent of employees (staff + faculty)	9,417	7,986
Full-time equivalent of students enrolled exclusively in distance education	140	0
Weighted campus users	27,760	26,526.50

Total waste generated per weighted campus user:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Total waste generated per weighted campus user	0.44 Tons	0.49 Tons

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

11.34

Part 3: Waste Diversion

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

26.64

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

34.63

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	Yes
White goods (i.e. appliances)	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)	Yes

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

UT recycles old carpet by sending it to Southeastern Recycling's Knoxville location. According to their website, Post Comsumer Carpet (PCC) can be used for a variety of applications. "The materials from this carpet could become new carpet again, plastic resin for making plastic parts, plastic drainage pipe, new carpet pad, acoustic matting, sorbent material for water pollutants or as an energy substitute for natural gas and coal. Southeastern Recycling actively participates in the Carpet America Recovery Effort, CARE, with the objective of diverting 40% of the Post Consumer carpet from the landfills in the USA by the year 2017." http://serecycling.net/ UTK also recycles all types of light bulbs by sending them to Lighting Resources LLC, who accepts flourescent tubes, plastic coared and shattershield tubes, compact fluorescent, circular fluorescent, U-Bend/FB40 tubes, biax, flood lamps, incandescent, halogen, neon, argon, and other cold cathode, HID lamps, and bi-medal, metal halide and high pressure sodium lamps, among other types. Lighting Resources manages "almost all aspects of the lamp recycling process in house by operating the very best lamp processing equipment, using mercury retort ovens to remove mercury from phosphorus powder, and even triple distillation equipment to recycle mercury back to virgin specification." http://lightingresourcesinc.com/services/lamp-recycling-services

Optional Fields

Active Recovery and Reuse

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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Recycling Management

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?:

Yes

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?:

Yes

Contamination and Discard Rates

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

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:

Receptacles located across campus have distinguishing colors and custom shaped lids for paper, glass, cans, and plastic recycling versus trash. The narrow slits in the paper recycling receptacles, as well as the circular openings for glass, cans, or plastic, serve as a quality control mechanism to keep trash items out. The black trash receptacles are not labeled "Trash", but rather are labeled "Landfill." These methods reduce the possibility for confusion while informing people of where their waste is going. In other efforts to minimize contamination, collection drivers will hand-sort contamination from paper and cardboard recycling. UT Recycling student workers and AmeriCorps workers also pick out contamination from campus compost collection sites when they collect and deliver the compost.

Programs and Initiatives

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:

The UT Recycling Office has been working to maximize waste diversion for several years. Some of these efforts include: providing recycling bins in all buildings, starting a compost program (including an investment in $230,000 wood grinder), a campus-wide initiate to eliminate single-use containers called The Mug Project, and the annual participation in RecycleMania and Recyclympics, among many other projects. Additionally, the UT Zero Waste Campaign for the football stadium has greatly increased the overall waste diversion of the campus.

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

Non-food waste audits are preformed intermittently by the Recycling Office to measure current amounts of waste generated and inform future programs and policies.

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

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

The UT Surplus Department collects all surplus materials from around campus and sells it at auctions to the public. https://www.auction.utk.edu/xcAuction.asp

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):

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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):

Students must pay for all printing done on campus. The default settings in the labs is to print duplex with black and white text or images on both sides of the paper. Color printing is more expensive than black and white print jobs.

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:

Current and archived course catalogs are readily available online via the online catalog management system. Students who desire a paper copy must visit the admissions office to request one.

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

In the spring of 2015, UT Recycling partnered with Goodwill Knoxville to collect unwanted clothes, household items, cleaning supplies, and food items from residence halls move-out. UT Recycling donated the cleaning supplies to the Knoxville Area Rescue Mission and delivered the food items to Smokey's Pantry, the on-campus food pantry that serves students, faculty, staff, and community members.

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

Volunteers and members of the Recycling team pass out recycling bags to tailgaters before football games that are later picked up to be recycled. While they pass these bags out, they engage and educate the community about recycling and divert many tons of recyclables from the landfill.

The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:

http://recycle.utk.edu/

Additional documentation to support the submission:

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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

https://www.auction.utk.edu/xcAuction.asp http://lightingresourcesinc.com/services/lamp-recycling-services http://serecycling.net/ https://www.utk.edu/aboutut/numbers/

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.