Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 56.88
Liaison Dedee DeLongpre Johnston
Submission Date June 3, 2015
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.0

Wake Forest University
OP-23: Waste Diversion

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.02 / 3.00 Megan Anderson
Manager, Waste Reduction & Recycling
Facilities & Campus Services
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Materials diverted from the solid waste landfill or incinerator:
981.82 Tons

Materials disposed in a solid waste landfill or incinerator :
1,909.42 Tons

A brief description of programs, policies, infrastructure investments, outreach efforts, and/or other factors that contributed to the diversion rate, including efforts made during the previous three years:

Wake Forest University has created partnerships between the Office of Waste Reduction and Surplus Property (OWRSP) and various departments throughout campus. We work with a contact supervisor from each of these departments to promote waste diversion, recycling, re-use, etc. and keep accurate records of all waste diverted from the landfill. The main categories are listed below. Note that we do not count the Construction and Demolition, Computer Equipment, E-cycling or Hazardous and Non-Hazardous waste in the STARS Waste Diversion or Waste Reduction report sections.

One key addition to the OWRSP was our Surplus Property program. The Surplus Program started in July of 2011, and since that time it has diverted over 248,600 lbs. of waste from the landfill, repurposed over 3,000 items and furniture for on campus use, captured close to 30,000 lbs. of residential electronic waste through a free pickup program, and helped the University avoid costs of buying new items by over $1 million dollars.

The Surplus Program’s mission includes goals to minimize landfill waste, find creative ways to re-purpose items on campus, and support local organizations and non-profits with items that cannot be re-purposed on campus.

The surplus program allows various departments the opportunity to reuse items from other departments, reducing the university's overall need to purchase new furniture and office amenities. The program has also helped us streamline our e-waste (technotrash) collections, and allowed us to help departments find outlets to recycle or repurpose various items. For more information on surplus, please visit our website: http://facilities.wfu.edu/clean/surplus/

Material categories diverted from the landfill:

MIXED PAPER
• commingled
• contract shredded
CARDBOARD
DRINK CONTAINERS
YARD WASTE
• leaves/grass
• firewood
• chips
• Reynolda Gardens
METAL
• scrap
• white goods (appliances)
WOOD
• lumber
• pallets
CONSTRUCTION & DEMOLITION
• concrete
• stone
• asphalt
• brick/block
MISC
• computer equipment
• batteries
• bulbs/ballasts
• auto batteries
• tires
• oil/filters
• food rescue
• e-cycling
• toner cartridges
• spring move-out
• surplus furniture
• hazardous waste
• non-hazardous waste


A brief description of any food donation programs employed by the institution:

The Campus Kitchen at Wake Forest is a food "recycling" program that takes prepared but never served food from the campus dining hall and assembles healthy and nutritious meals for members of our community living in food poverty. Our Campus Kitchen has quite a history. It grew out of a student-run program called Homerun started by two Wake Forest Juniors in 1999. Karen Borchert and Jessica Jackson went on to start the national program called “The Campus Kitchens Project.”

Through a partnership with ARAMARK, we are able to repurpose an average of 600 pounds of food every month - food that is prepared but never served on campus and that would otherwise go to waste.

Our food is distributed by local social service agencies in Winston-Salem. These agencies use our food as a resource so that they can allocate existing but limited resources to increase their services to the communities they serve.


A brief description of any pre-consumer food waste composting program employed by the institution:

As of February 2012, all pre-consumer food waste from the Fresh Food Company is being picked up and taken to Gallins Family Farm for composting. In January of 2014, we opened a second Dining Facility and we collect pre-consumer and post-consumer waste at this facility. In addition, we compost coffee grounds from the on-campus Starbucks. The university also donates food that is not served to community agencies.


A brief description of any post-consumer food waste composting program employed by the institution:

The university composts pre-consumer waste at all of our dining halls. We opened a new dining hall in January of 2014 and we began composting post-consumer food waste with the addition of a food macerator system that grinds food waste to be collected for compost by Gallins Family Farm.


Does the institution include the following materials in its waste diversion efforts?:
Yes or No
Paper, plastics, glass, metals, and other recyclable containers Yes
Food donations Yes
Food for animals No
Food composting Yes
Cooking oil Yes
Plant materials composting Yes
Animal bedding composting No
Batteries Yes
Light bulbs Yes
Toner/ink-jet cartridges 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
Motor oil Yes
Tires Yes

Other materials that the institution includes in its waste diversion efforts:
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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.