UWF takes lead in Fla. in RecycleMania
Published: Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Updated: Tuesday, April 13, 2010 14:04
With only one day left before submitting the final percentages, the University of West Florida is in the lead with a 35 percent recycle rate over five other Florida schools competing in the Waste Minimization category of RecycleMania's international competition.
Currently, UWF has a larger recycle rate than the University of Miami, the University of North Florida, the University of South Florida, the University of Central Florida and Florida Gulf Coast University.
RecycleMania is an international competition between colleges and universities that promotes waste-reduction activities in campus communities.
Over a 10-week period, about 600 schools reported weekly recycling and trash data. It was ranked by who collected the largest amount of recyclables per capita, the largest amount of total recyclables, the least amount of trash per capita, or the highest recycling rate.
The first two weeks were a trial period and didn't count.
The competition was run by the Office of Environmental Sustainability from Jan. 17 to March 27, and all UWF campuses and centers participated.
UWF's single-stream recycling rate rose from 13 percent in the first week to an average of 34 percent during the entire eight-week period.
"For the weeks of Feb. 1 to March 17, we recycled 75 percent more cardboard, paper, plastics and cans than we did in the previous year," said Larry McGrady, coordinator for the Office of Environmental Sustainability.
"The Office of Environmental Sustainability, UWF Housing and Residence Life, Student Activities and the Student Government Association all contributed to RecycleMania," McGrady said.
RecycleMania is separated into two separate divisions. In the competition division, schools are shown in weekly results and eligible to win a given category.
In the benchmark division, schools are unregulated in how they choose to participate. This division does not include placement in the official rankings or eligibility to win any categories.
"We all came together as a team and decided to do the competition division," McGrady said. "We competed against the whole country."
Of all schools participating in the Waste Minimization category, so far, UWF is ranked 76 out of 200. "That's pretty good for our first time competing," McGrady said. "Some of these schools have done this for four years in a row."
The Waste Minimization category determines who produces the least amount of municipal solid waste, including both recyclables and trash.
According to RecycleMania's Web site, North Lake College is currently ranked No. 1 in Waste Minimization, and Union College is ranked last at 200.
UWF is currently ranked 117 out of 346 in the Per Capita Classic category, which collects the largest amount of acceptable recyclables, and 138 out of 346 in the Gorilla Prize category, which collects the highest gross tonnage of recyclables.
McGrady kept weekly records of garbage and recyclable amounts on a spreadsheet. Allied Waste Services provided the amounts for recyclables such as cans, cardboard, paper and plastics that were taken off campus.
The Office of Environmental Sustainability made estimates for 8-cubic yard, 4-cubic yard and 2-cubic yard garbage dumpsters, by using weight and conversion factors provided by RecycleMania.
The total garbage is divided by the total number of people on campus.
Read more of this article online at thevoyager.net
During the competition, Allied Waste Services provided 15 extra recycle dumpsters free of charge. "It would've cost about $1,400 a month," said Mike Brumfield, territory sales representative for Allied Waste Services.
Read more of this article online at thevoyager.net
During the competition, Allied Waste Services provided 15 extra recycle dumpsters free of charge. "It would've cost about $1,400 a month," said Mike Brumfield, territory sales representative for Allied Waste Services.
Allied Waste Services also provided a free cookout on campus during the event to help promote it. Flyers were handed out during the cookout, and a banner provided by Recyclemania was displayed around campus during the competition.
Flyers were also placed in "The Voyager" and on tables in the Commons. "It was a good way to gain awareness," Brumfield said.
McGrady said that his office and Allied Waste Services are in the process of negotiating whether UWF can keep about half of the recycle dumpsters provided during the competition.
"I think they're going to let us do it," McGrady said. "I talked to the contractor, and he said it shouldn't be a problem, but that he was going to check with the district manager."
Brumfield said that the dumpsters will be free of charge if approved.
Recycle dumpster locations include Village East and Village West Apartments, John C. Pace Library, the new School of Science and Engineering, the softball field and the trolley gate near Building 54.
McGrady said that his office is working with Common Area Solutions, a facility maintenance company, to improve the on-ground recycling on campus.
He said, "We're looking at sorting and separating the materials instead of single-streaming it."
Winners of the competition will receive an award with their school's name and competition category inscribed on it. They will also be acknowledged in a public awards ceremony.
Winners and final amounts will be revealed April 16 on RecycleMania's Web site.
McGrady said that although UWF will most likely not win any of the categories this year, he is proud of what it accomplished, and looks forward to participating in the competition again next year.
"We went from sending 22 tons of garbage per week to the landfill," he said. "We reduced that to 14 tons per week."
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