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January 20, 2011

RecycleMania goals set

Banners and additional recycling containers are springing up across campus as Pitt prepares for the 2011 RecycleMania challenge.

The aim is to collect 7 pounds of corrugated cardboard, 1 pound of bottles and cans and 4 pounds of paper per person during the competition for a per-capita total of 12 pounds of recyclables, said Laura Zullo, Facilities Management’s senior manager of capital and special projects.

RecycleMania challenges colleges and universities across the country to step up their recycling and waste minimization efforts. Last year, Pitt collected 12.02 pounds of recyclables per person: 7.39 pounds of corrugated cardboard, 3.83 pounds of paper and 0.8 pounds of bottles and cans. (See April 29, 2010 University Times.)

The 2011 competition begins Jan. 23 with two weeks of trial collections that don’t count toward the totals, followed by competition weeks that run Feb. 6-April 2. Pitt’s 2011 goals are based on the amount of recyclables organizers hope to collect during the eight competition weeks, Zullo said, whereas last year’s totals were based on 10 weeks of collections.

Facilities Management is partnering with Housing and Residence Life as well as Sodexo and the student group Free the Planet in promoting the competition and raising awareness about recycling on campus.

While the efforts on campus are targeted mostly at students, employees are encouraged to participate. RecycleMania’s per-capita figures are based on a campus population of 45,021, which includes the number of full-time-equivalent students as well as faculty and staff.

Recycling information and updates on Pitt’s progress will be posted on the my.pitt.edu portal to broaden awareness across the University community.

Organizers also are asking faculty and staff to take time during the March 6 spring recess week to do some spring cleaning and recycle their accumulated office paper. Facilities Management can provide extra recycling containers upon request, Zullo said.

The Pittsburgh campus initially participated in the non-competitive benchmarking division in 2009, but moved up to the competition division in the 2010 challenge.

Last year Pitt’s recycling collection efforts were good for a No. 140 ranking in the per capita competition. Pitt’s total of 429,292 pounds collected placed the University at No. 29 among 346 competitors.

Another of this year’s goals is to improve in the waste minimization category, which tallies the amount of trash produced, Zullo said. Last year, Pitt ranked No. 107 with 47.64 pounds per person.

Working in Pitt’s favor is a new composting system that helps reduce food waste from Pitt’s largest dining facility, Market Central. (See related story this issue.)

This year’s eight-week goal is 35 pounds per person (compared to 37.8 pounds collected over eight weeks last year), although the true goal is to get the amount of waste as low as possible, Zullo noted.

The RecycleMania competition is a program of the RecycleMania steering committee in coordination with the College and University Recycling Coalition. Information and competition results are available at www.recyclemaniacs.org.

—Kimberly K. Barlow


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