University of Texas at San Antonio
OP-18: Waste Minimization and Diversion
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
4.24 / 8.00 |
Scott
Reuter Asst. Director Customer Services Facilities |
Figures needed to determine total waste generated (and diverted):
| Performance Year | Baseline Year | |
| Materials recycled | 398.30 Tons | 36.28 Tons |
| Materials composted | 0 Tons | 0 Tons |
| Materials donated or re-sold | 186.60 Tons | 8 Tons |
| Materials disposed through post-recycling residual conversion | 0 Tons | 0 Tons |
| Materials disposed in a solid waste landfill or incinerator | 4,319 Tons | 26.75 Tons |
| Total waste generated | 4,903.90 Tons | 71.03 Tons |
A brief description of the residual conversion facility:
Materials donated or re-sold/redistributed on campus consists of donated materials to Veterans and elementary schools, re-sold to public, or redistributed around campus.
Start and end dates of the performance year and baseline year (or three-year periods):
| Start Date | End Date | |
| Performance Period | Aug. 1, 2022 | Aug. 31, 2023 |
| Baseline Period | Sept. 1, 2021 | Aug. 31, 2022 |
A brief description of when and why the waste generation baseline was adopted:
2022 was adopted for this report An additional 145,000 sq ft was added in 2023 with the construction of our new San Pedro Block campus. Additionally, we are reporting our newly added Southwest Campus which was acquired in 2023.
Figures needed to determine "Weighted Campus Users”:
| Performance Year | Baseline Year | |
| Number of students resident on-site | 4,585 | 20 |
| Number of employees resident on-site | 0 | 0 |
| Number of other individuals resident on-site | 0 | 0 |
| Total full-time equivalent student enrollment | 28,532 | 15,000 |
| Full-time equivalent of employees | 3,398 | 268 |
| Full-time equivalent of students enrolled exclusively in distance education | 7,397 | 19,344 |
| Weighted campus users | 19,546 | -3,052 |
Total waste generated per weighted campus user:
| Performance Year | Baseline Year | |
| Total waste generated per weighted campus user | 0.25 Tons | 71.03 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 | Yes |
| Other (please specify below) | Yes |
A brief description of other materials the institution has recycled, composted, donated and/or re-sold:
fluorescent lights, batteries, toner cartridges, vehicles, tires. We hold a creek clean up every year. The university participates in Basura Bash. A County wide creek clean up, a one day event. Numbers are posted on their website annually.
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:
Our recycling haulers will monitor our material destined for recycling and forward pictures of any contamination introduced into our single stream dumpsters. This allows us to investigate and mitigate any future issues by educating our personnel. Recycling training and tabling is done at campus events and as part of extended education.
A brief description of the institution's waste-related behavior change initiatives:
UTSA participates in Campus Race to Zero Waste. Due to COVID we were certainly challenged by waste reduction. However we increased the number of roll off containers at housing by engaging 3rd party apartment communities adjacent to the campus (two are located on campus property but run by outside entity), we increase recycling for events, our surplus department worked to find donation centers and redistributed printers, computers, scanners, keyboards, and cables to the Texas Dept. of Criminal Justice computer recovery program. They redistributed back to campus and have a long-standing agreement with local schools and veterans.
A brief description of the institution's waste audits and other initiatives to assess its materials management efforts and identify areas for improvement:
The Department of Facilities performs audits on it waste containers. These audits serve to identify which areas need more or less containers. UTSA Facilities recently took over waste disposal and recycling in Business Operations and works closely with Surplus.
A brief description of the institution's procurement policies designed to prevent waste:
UTSA allows for the purchase of used recycled paper and toner cartridges.
A brief description of the institution's surplus department or formal office supplies exchange program that facilitates reuse of materials:
The UTSA Surplus Properties Department collects, processes and redistributes unneeded property generated by the university. Surplus disposes of and holds auctions when property is no longer useful to the university.
A brief description of the institution's platforms to encourage peer-to-peer exchange and reuse:
Surplus Department has a very robust program to encourage electronic and furniture exchange. The web-page allows employees to view excess material on-line, file the necessary forms to acquire the material, and have that material delivered to their workplace.
A brief description of the institution's limits on paper and ink consumption:
UTSA students can print either in student computer labs or in printing hotspots located in various locations across the campus. Each registered student in UTSA receives an allocation of 200 free pages each semester. Printing allocations are controlled electronically through a software client the student's UTSACARD.
A brief description of the institution's initiatives to make materials available online by default rather than printing them:
UTSA course schedules and final exam schedules are only available electronically through the Automated Student Access Program (ASAP) system:
- https://asap.utsa.edu
Both the UTSA undergraduate and graduate catalogues are available online at the following websites:
- Undergraduate catalogue: http://utsa.edu/ucat/
- Graduate catalogue: http://utsa.edu/gcat/
A brief description of the institution's program to reduce residence hall move-in/move-out waste:
During the move-in Facilities partners with HRL to collect non-perishable food items for donation to the Food Bank, During move out, Facilities places roll off containers to collect electronics, kitchen items, clothing, and bed items for donation to Salvation Army. During move-in, all cardboard boxes are collected and recycled. Usually between 4-7 tons are collected during this event. COVID significantly changed our numbers. We have about 50% occupancy for Fall 2020
A brief description of the institution's programs or initiatives to recover and reuse other materials intended for disposal:
UTSA collects batteries, ink from computers and provides a Roadrunner pantry to collect lightly worn professional clothing and shoes for students. The campus garden donates it's produce to the Roadrunner pantry. Food drives also donate to the pantry.
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 university was closed in 2022 for COVID. A large part of the University was Closed for 2020, 2021 and partially in February 2022. Our waste numbers for the baseline are greatly reduced showing a great difference in our numbers. We have provided a adjusted number in the student body and staff relevant to the campus condition because we do not have sufficient tracking of onsite students. If we adjust for the timeframe from February 2022, We reflect an onsite number in 2022 of 15000 students. We know how many onsite staff, they were primarily operations and maintenance. We also know there were researchers here for faculty and health workers. Additionally, we added an entire new campus in 2023. We assumed the Southwest School of Art (which is a not a large campus) and we built a new campus the San Pedro Block, starting with a 144,000 sq. ft. LEED Gold certified building.
The university was closed in 2022 for COVID. A large part of the University was Closed for 2020, 2021 and partially in February 2022. Our waste numbers for the baseline are greatly reduced showing a great difference in our numbers. We have provided a adjusted number in the student body and staff relevant to the campus condition because we do not have sufficient tracking of onsite students. If we adjust for the timeframe from February 2022, We reflect an onsite number in 2022 of 15000 students. We know how many onsite staff, they were primarily operations and maintenance. We also know there were researchers here for faculty and health workers. Additionally, we added an entire new campus in 2023. We assumed the Southwest School of Art (which is a not a large campus) and we built a new campus the San Pedro Block, starting with a 144,000 sq. ft. LEED Gold certified building.
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.