The University of Texas at Dallas
OP-18: Waste Minimization and Diversion
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
2.89 / 8.00 |
Gary
Cocke Sustainability Director Office of Sustainability |
Figures needed to determine total waste generated (and diverted):
| Performance Year | Baseline Year | |
| Materials recycled | 485.61 Tons | 682.80 Tons |
| Materials composted | 26.17 Tons | 30.16 Tons |
| Materials donated or re-sold | 22.45 Tons | 21.70 Tons |
| Materials disposed through post-recycling residual conversion | 0 Tons | 0 Tons |
| Materials disposed in a solid waste landfill or incinerator | 1,978.43 Tons | 1,396.90 Tons |
| Total waste generated | 2,512.66 Tons | 2,131.56 Tons |
A brief description of the residual conversion facility:
Start and end dates of the performance year and baseline year (or three-year periods):
| Start Date | End Date | |
| Performance Period | Sept. 1, 2021 | Aug. 31, 2022 |
| Baseline Period | Sept. 1, 2016 | Aug. 31, 2017 |
A brief description of when and why the waste generation baseline was adopted:
The performance year is the most previous fiscal year. The baseline year matches the baseline year in other STARS credits.
Figures needed to determine "Weighted Campus Users”:
| Performance Year | Baseline Year | |
| Number of students resident on-site | 5,154 | 4,768 |
| Number of employees resident on-site | 0 | 0 |
| Number of other individuals resident on-site | 0 | 0 |
| Total full-time equivalent student enrollment | 24,954 | 20,856 |
| Full-time equivalent of employees | 3,450 | 3,188 |
| Full-time equivalent of students enrolled exclusively in distance education | 54 | 612 |
| Weighted campus users | 22,551 | 18,766 |
Total waste generated per weighted campus user:
| Performance Year | Baseline Year | |
| Total waste generated per weighted campus user | 0.11 Tons | 0.11 Tons |
Percentage reduction in total waste generated per weighted campus user from baseline:
Percentage of materials diverted from the landfill or incinerator by recycling, composting, donating or re-selling, performance year:
Percentage of materials diverted from the landfill or incinerator (including up to 10 percent attributable to post-recycling residual conversion):
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 |
| Electronics | Yes |
| Laboratory equipment | Yes |
| Furniture | Yes |
| Residence hall move-in/move-out waste | Yes |
| Scrap metal | Yes |
| Pallets | Yes |
| Tires | No |
| Other (please specify below) | Yes |
A brief description of other materials the institution has recycled, composted, donated and/or re-sold:
Ink & Toner Cartridges, Batteries, Plastic Film, Shoes & Clothing, Disposable Masks, and Nitrile Gloves
https://sustainability.utdallas.edu/operations/recycling/#special
Materials intended for disposal but subsequently recovered and reused on campus, performance year:
Does the institution use single stream recycling to collect standard recyclables in common areas?:
Does the institution use dual stream recycling to collect standard recyclables in common areas?:
Does the institution use multi-stream recycling to collect standard recyclables in common areas?:
Average contamination rate for the institution’s recycling program:
A brief description of any recycling quality control mechanisms employed:
The Office of Sustainability manages a website where information on what is acceptable in the recycling programs are available. Recycling bins on-campus have the recycling symbol and tape located on them to help differentiate recycling from trash. It is also required that our waste hauler apply and manage signage on outdoor trash/recycling dumpsters that indicate what is acceptable in the single stream recycling. Recycling dumpsters are green and trash is blue.
A brief description of the institution's waste-related behavior change initiatives:
The Office of Sustainability manages the UT Dallas participation in RecycleMania on an annual basis.
A brief description of the institution's waste audits and other initiatives to assess its materials management efforts and identify areas for improvement:
Facilities Management (FM) performs a small scale waste and contamination audit within FM. This is managed internally as FM transitioned to smaller clip-on trash bins within the larger blue recycling desk-side bins. This reduces custodial labor hours allocated to emptying trash bins in FM therefore reducing the need for plastic trash bin liners.
A brief description of the institution's procurement policies designed to prevent waste:
The University Sustainability Committee adopted the Sustainable Procurement Guideline – 201802. This guideline encourages the purchasing of office supplies, tools, equipment, and other products that possess and “environmental preferable” designation.
A brief description of the institution's surplus department or formal office supplies exchange program that facilitates reuse of materials:
Surplus (Property Administration) can pick up most types of smaller technology-related equipment such as desktop computers, laptop computers, docking stations, monitors, desktop printers, desktop scanners, desktop copy/fax/print machines, keyboards, speakers, mice, cables and servers. The Move and Events team can pick up larger equipment such as furniture (desks, chairs, file cabinets, bookcases), books, server racks, large copy/fax/print machines, large televisions and pallets of mixed items (e.g.: computers mixed with furniture).
Inventory and Surplus designates specific sales periods that are announced on the Auxiliary Services website throughout the year that allow students, faculty and staff to purchase certain properties, such as furniture, bicycles and computer equipment.
A brief description of the institution's platforms to encourage peer-to-peer exchange and reuse:
The university bookstore offers a book buyback program.
Clothing Donation for reuse: The Comet Closet seeks to supply students with business professional and business casual attire. Their purpose is to help students land interviews for their first internship(s) and/or job(s). The Gender Center Transition Closet accepts clothing donations for students, staff, and faculty going through life transitions including gender transition, disaster, pregnancy, and more.
A brief description of the institution's limits on paper and ink consumption:
The Eugene McDermott Library offers printing services for a small charge per page. Departments that do offer free printing, limit the printing pages to 20 at a time and allow only black and white. Certain departments allow $20 free black and white printing/year.
A brief description of the institution's initiatives to make materials available online by default rather than printing them:
UT Dallas has all institutional policies available online. Each policy is available in PDF format to discourage printing.
A brief description of the institution's program to reduce residence hall move-in/move-out waste:
Every Fall semester during move-in, The Office of Sustainability and Housing partner to host the annual Move In Cardboard Recycling event to reduce the cardboard sent to the landfill.
A brief description of the institution's programs or initiatives to recover and reuse other materials intended for disposal:
Waste minimization is encouraged through materials readily available in online formats. For example, shared drives are used among university staff to reduce the need for individual printing.
The Sustainability Office, in partnership with Trex Recycling, has implemented a recycling program that targets plastic wrap and film materials at UT Dallas.
Trex Recycling Program Website
http://www.trex.com/recycling/recycling-programs/
Operation Upcycle, hosted by the Office of Student Volunteerism, allows students to participate in the process of transforming by-products, waste materials, useless, or unwanted products into new materials or products of better quality or for better environmental value.
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:
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.