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April 18, 2013

Pgh. campus gains in RecycleMania

recyclemaniaPittsburgh campus recycling efforts showed some huge gains in the 2013 Recycle-Mania challenge, with the total amount recycled up 70 percent and paper recycling more than doubling.

During the eight-week tournament, which ended March 30, colleges and universities across the United States and Canada competed in multiple categories to promote recycling and waste reduction on their campuses. Final results were posted April 12. Full results are available at http://recyclemaniacs.org.

The Pittsburgh campus’s recycling efforts during the 2013 RecycleMania competition saved 1,782 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent: comparable to taking 349 cars off the road or the annual energy consumption of 154 households.

Grand champion

In the grand champion competition, Pitt ranked No. 43 of 274 schools with a weekly recycling rate of 46.58 percent. Last year, Pitt ranked 94th with 34.11 percent of its total waste being recycled.

No. 1 in this year’s competition was the University of Missouri-Kansas City with a weekly recycling rate of 86.016 percent.

Gorilla award

This year, Pitt broke into the top 10 schools for the first time, ranking No. 8 of 411 schools in the gorilla category, which measures the total amount recycled. Pitt recycled a whopping 812,280 pounds — a nearly 70 percent increase over 2012 when Pitt ranked No. 33 with 478,650 pounds overall.

Rutgers was No. 1 in the 2013 gorilla competition, recycling more than 1.519 million pounds.

Laura Zullo, senior manager for energy initiatives in Facilities Management, said some new buildings, including the Petersen Events Center, were included in this year’s recycling collections, helping boost Pitt’s results. New marketing efforts by student groups, including graphics on message boards at the Pete, also were in place this year.

In addition, cleanup days in which staff — including Facilities Management staff members in the Eureka Building — brought in recycling bins and cleared paper from their offices contributed to the total, Zullo said.

Per capita classic

In the per capita classic, Pitt surpassed its goal of 12.5 pounds per person. The campus ranked No. 63 out of 406 schools, recycling 19.72 pounds per person. Last year, Pitt ranked No. 137 with 12.02 pounds per person.

California State-San Marcos was No. 1 this year with 53.105 pounds per person.

Waste minimization

In the waste minimization category, which measures the amount of solid waste generated per person, Pitt’s performance fell. It ranked No. 94 of 179 schools with 42.33 pounds per person.  Last year, the campus ranked No. 82 with 35.23 pounds per capita.

This year, Valencia Community College in Kissimmee, Fla., ranked No. 1 in waste minimization with 3.197 pounds per person.

Paper, cardboard, bottles and cans

In individual materials recycling:

• The Pittsburgh campus recycled 9.87 pounds of paper per person, boosting its ranking to No. 20 of 247 schools and more than doubling its 2012 collection of 4.21 pounds per person, which was good for a No. 79 ranking.

This year, California State-San Marcos was No. 1 with 35.513 pounds per person.

• The Pittsburgh campus recycled 9.14 pounds of corrugated cardboard per person, rising to No. 23 of 247 competitors. Last year, the campus collected 7.09 pounds per person, placing No. 37.

This year, Franklin and Marshall College ranked No. 1 with 25.986 pounds per person.

• The Pittsburgh campus held steady in recycling bottles and cans with 0.71 pounds per person, good for a No. 104 ranking among 244 schools. Last year, the campus recycled 0.72 pounds per person, also ranking No. 104.

Baldwin-Wallace College ranked No. 1 this year with 18.488 pounds per person.

Food service organics

Pitt ranked No. 149 of 195 schools in collecting food service organics with 0.23 pounds per person. Last year, Pitt collected 0.24 pounds per person, which was good for a No. 118 ranking.

This year, Johnson & Wales University in Denver  ranked No. 1 with 30.214 pounds per person.

Big East competition

Among Big East schools, Pitt ranked No. 1 in paper and corrugated cardboard collections, No. 2 in the gorilla competition, No. 3 in the per capita classic and waste minimization competitions, No. 4 in bottles and cans collection, No. 5 in the grand champion category and No. 6 in food service organics collections.

—Kimberly K. Barlow


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