ASU Zero Waste Annual Report FY 2018

Annual Report Fiscal Year 2018

Annual Report | Fiscal Year 2018 Contents Program overview

Mission statement

Introduction 2

Goal 2

Diversion rate

3

Aversion rate

5

Key reporting

6

The Fiscal Year 2018 accomplishments

7

Waste Streams

2

11

A closer look at Specialty Recycling

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Waste makeup by location

13

Year highlights

14

Ditch the Dumpster at move-in and move-out

14

Points of Intervention Tour

15

Volunteer and Zero Waste Ambassador programs

15

Looking ahead

 

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2

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Program overview Mission statement Arizona State University’s Zero Waste department aims to create and implement programs to reach the university’s circular resources goal and strengthen overall institutional sustainability by designing lasting, universal models that support ASU as a global leader in sustainable solid-waste management.

Introduction The Zero Waste Annual Report for Fiscal Year 2018 provides an overview of the solid-waste program at ASU from July 1, 2017, through June 30, 2018. The sustainability reporting boundaries for the university lie within the four main ASU Phoenix-metro based campuses: Downtown Phoenix, Polytechnic, Tempe and West. The Colleges at Lake Havasu City are newly included in the reporting boundaries for the fiscal year 2018.* ASU’s SkySong, the Thunderbird campus, except for Ditch the Dumpster, and ASU Barrett & O’Connor Washington Center in Washington, D.C., do not fall within program and reporting boundaries.

Goal ASU has eight sustainability goals.

The Zero Waste department is responsible for managing outcomes of the Circular Resources Goal. ASU defines a circular-resource system as one that achieves zero waste by adapting the goods brought onto campus to maximize their use before sending them back into the economy for the most productive use possible.

Key targets of this goal are:

90%

waste diversion from landfill by 2025.

30%

waste aversion over Fiscal Year 2008 by 2025.

A Zero Waste team member helps out during Ditch the Dumpster at move-in.

View ASU’s Sustainability Goals and Visions for a full list of all university goals.

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Diversion rate ASU defines diversion as the act of purposefully opting to send post-consumer materials and goods outside the institution to be remanufactured or reused, which includes donation, the sale of whole goods, recycling and composting and purposefully purchasing goods that are easily diverted. Diversion is a function of the material make-up of goods purchased, the individual choices community members make when disposing of goods and the systems the institution provides to support diversion.

The Zero Waste department tracks diversion each year as a way of keeping track of what percentage of the waste stream is being recycled, composted, reused and donated, and how ASU is moving closer to its 90-percent diversion goal.

Diversion rate is an industry-standard term used to track waste-diversion efforts.

Universities, government entities and private businesses use diversion to track outgoing waste, which allows ASU to compare with other institutions.

University diversion rate in tons FY 2018

Landfilled 5,200.49 56.84%

Diverted 3,949.25 43.16%

Organics collection expanded to three new locations, including the Student Pavilion on the Tempe campus.

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The ASU diversion rate for FY 2018 was 43.2%.

ASU calculates diversion by tracking what percentage of the material sent from ASU campuses went to landfill, and what percentage was diverted from landfill by being either recycled, composted, donated or reused.

FY 2018 diversion is up 2.7% from FY 2017.

Sparky at Points of Intervention Tour 2018.

This increase is partly due to expanded partnerships, improved tracking methods and an ever-increasing understanding of the ASU waste stream. In FY 2018, the Zero Waste department expanded partnerships with ASU Materials Management to better track the pallets, toner and shredded paper leaving its facilities. ASU also partnered with the City of Phoenix to kick off a new palm frond collection project.

Organics collection expanded to three new locations: Taylor Place Dining Hall, Tooker House Dining Hall and the Student Pavilion. The department improved reporting techniques for parking garages and on-campus housing and saw an increase in specialty-recycling collection across the board.

Total waste at ASU

3 new

FY 2008 – FY 2018 10,0000

organics collection locations added in FY 2018.

Total waste (tons)

8,000 6,000 4,000 2,000 0

FY 2008 FY 2009 FY 2010 FY 2011 FY 2012 FY 2013 FY 2014 FY 2015 FY 2016 FY 2017 FY 2018

Diverted

Landfilled

Diversion Equation:

Tons Recycled + Tons Composted + Tons of Surplus + Tons Donated Tons Landfilled + Tons Recycled +Tons Composted + Tons of Surplus + Tons Donated

x 100

Accuracy Asterisk: The ASU Zero Waste department monitors and tracks all solid waste leaving the university throughout the year. The data in this report represents known tracking as of Aug. 31, 2018. Each year the Zero Waste department gains more confidence in reporting as we seek to eliminate gaps in data arising from university expansion, contract changes or programmatic shifts.

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Aversion rate ASU defines aversion as the act of preventing waste from entering the institution and influencing practices affecting how waste is circulated within the institution to reduce overall solid-waste output.

Aversion is a function of the durability of goods, the individual choices community members make when purchasing and disposing of goods and the systems the institution provides to support repair, reuse and exchange.

The Zero Waste department tracks aversion year-to-year to see if the overall amount of waste produced through educational, research, and operational activities at ASU using 2008 as a baseline year. ASU had a 14-percent aversion rate for FY 2018.

Despite an increase in population and square footage, institutional and individual activities,

ASU produced 14% less waste per person in FY 2018 than FY 2008.

Waste produced per person in pounds FTE students, faculty and staff Downtown Phoenix, Lake Havasu City*, Polytechnic, Tempe and West

FY 2008 – FY 2018 300

Waste (pounds)

250 200 150 100 50 0 2008 FY 2009 FY 2010 FY 2011 FY 2012 FY 2013 FY 2014 FY 2015 FY 2016 FY 2017 FY 2018 The average FY campus user created 242 pounds of waste in FY 2008, whereas the average campus user only created 209 pounds of waste in FY 2018. Total waste per person generated includes personal action and university operations.

Aversion is waste reduction and reuse. Departments and individuals can positively impact aversion in these ways: Reduce: Purchase less and be mindful of purchases made and how the item will be disposed of after its use.

Reuse: Choose reusable items over items that need to be landfilled or recycled.

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Students donate unwanted paper to the Earth Day Market on Taylor Mall during Earth Day 2018.

Aversion rate FTE students, faculty and staff Downtown Phoenix, Lake Havasu City*, Polytechnic, Tempe and West

FY 2008 – FY 2018 100,0000

8,000

80,000

6,000

60,000

4,000

40,000

2,000

20,000

0

FY 2008

Waste

FY 2018

Population

Waste (tons)

10,0000

0

Population

Since FY 2008 population has increased 27 percent while total waste has increased only 9 percent. Per person, ASU created 14 percent less waste in FY 2018 than in FY 2008.

Potential reasons for aversion rate fluctuations: • ASU’s increases in both population and square footage.

• Knowing more about our data.

• Programming available for waste reduction and reuse.

Key reporting AASHE STARS ASU participates in the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment and Reporting System of the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education, the standard sustainability reporting tool for the higher education community in the U.S. ASU updates its AASHE STARS reporting each spring.

A Zero Waste team member sorts waste during a waste audit.

Game Day Recycling Challenge The Game Day Recycling Challenge is a nationwide competition among universities to reduce and recycle the waste generated at home football games.

Pac-12 Zero Waste Football and Basketball Competition: Road to Zero Waste The Pac-12 Zero Waste Bowl provides a spirited platform for Pac-12 universities to engage in best practices in athletics waste diversion and to learn how each campus strives towards zero-waste goals. In addition to the overall waste diversion rate, the universities are scored on innovation, partnership and participation and fan engagement.

RecycleMania ASU participates in RecycleMania, an open competition among colleges and universities throughout the U.S. and Canada to encourage higher-education communities to increase waste diversion through reduction, reuse and recycling.

Sustainability Operations Report ASU’s annual sustainability operations review provides university-wide data on all sustainability goals.

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The Fiscal Year 2018 accomplishments Banner Bags The Banner Bag program creates bags from discarded ASU program banners. The program is in partnership with the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Institute of Sustainability, Arizona Apparel Foundation and The Centers for Habilitation. Bags are sold at the Sun Devil Campus stores.

To date, more than 150 bags have been created.

“The bags are a perfect example of extending the life of discarded materials and generating value in the community.”

— Alana Levine, associate director of Facilities Development and Management

Glove Pilot In partnership with ASU Environmental Health and Safety, the Zero Waste department expanded a student lab glove-recycling project into a pilot program now covering 40 cross-campus labs. In its first year, the program collected and diverted 616 pounds of lab gloves for recycling, or about 47,500 gloves.

Green Games During the 2017–18 school year, 10 Green Games were hosted among a range of sporting events on campus. The collaborative goal-driven efforts and a combined 287 hours of volunteers and Zero Waste Ambassadors supported a total of 22,950 pounds of waste being diverted from the landfill from Green Games. Similarly, 1,682 reusable Zero Waste cups were sold during Green Games, 1,314 refills were provided, which kept 3,000 single-use cups out of the landfill.

Football games had a record-high average diversion rate of 50 percent for the 2017–18 tailgating season and a 10-percent diversion-rate increase for the entire season.

ASU also ranked No. 1 in the Game Day Challenge for per-capita recycling among Pac-12 universities with a No. 2 ranking for greenhouse-gas reduction and No. 4 for overall diversion.

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Increased organics collection In partnership with Sun Devil Dining, the Zero Waste department expanded organics collection to the Downtown Phoenix campus Taylor Place Dining Hall as well as included a organics collection system in the new Tooker House Dining Hall. ASU collects organic material at all eight dining hall locations, allowing the university to divert more than 800 tons of organic material to be composted in FY 2018.

Dining hall organics collection in tons FY 2013 – FY 2018 900 800 700

Waste (tons)

600 500 400 300 200 100 0 FY 2013

FY 2015

FY 2016

FY 2017

FY 2018

Dining Hall Organics collection since program inception in FY 2013. ASU saw a significant jump in organics collection from FY 2017 to FY 2018. The increase is due in part to the additional collection set up at Taylor Place, Tooker House and the Student Pavilion this fiscal year, improved organics collection methods and an organics metric update.

Organics collection in dining halls increased almost 1,000% from FY 2013 to FY 2018.

Dining Hall organics collection by location in tons FY 2018 250 200

Waste (tons)

2

FY 2014

150 100 50 0 Memorial Tooker Union House and Dining Student Pavillion Hall

Citrus Dining Pavilion

Manzanita Dining Hall

Verde Dining Pavilion

Hassayampa Dining Hall

Barrett Dining Center

Taylor Place Residential Restaurant

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Plastic aversion Sun Devil Dining continues to offer discounts at all POD markets — full-service convenience stores — to those who bring a reusable cup. Between January and April 2018, Sun Devil Dining redeemed 23,730 refills on campus, which eliminated many single-use disposable cups from use.

Zero Waste and Sodexo collaborated to decrease single-use disposables at football games and were able to prevent 124,000 straws and 54,000 lids from becoming waste.

RecycleMania ASU thrived in the annual RecycleMania Competition with an overall diversion rate of 40 percent for the eight weeks of competition and a national ranking in the top 10 for the Total Recycling category. ASU collected 925 pounds of electronic waste during a one-month span and received 570 pledges from the ASU community committing to some form of waste reduction. ASU’s Men’s Basketball Green Game diversion rate was 77 percent, ranking fourth among Pac-12 universities.

Staff barbecue Since 2011, ASU has been working towards Zero Waste at staff barbecue events.

This year, all four staff barbecues were certified zero waste with a combined diversion rate above 90 percent. At the Tempe staff barbecue, staff was encouraged to bring a reusable fork. Zero Waste plans to expand the use of reusables at future barbecues.

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Staff members sign up for more Zero Waste information at the ASU Staff Appreciation Barbecue luncheon.

Undergraduate Student Government Club Composting Checkout program The Undergraduate Student Government Club Composting Checkout program allows student clubs on campus to check out compost bins for events. The programs aims to incentivize student participation in organics collection by providing club funds as compensation for clean event organic material. USG created a video about composting and a short quiz for clubs to watch and take to make them eligible to check out a organics collection bin. Bins were kept in a locked outside locker and were checked out by clubs through the use of Snapchat codes managed by USG.

In 2017, ASU ranked #1 in the Game Day Challenge for per-capita recycling among Pac-12 universities.

Overall, the USG Club Composting Checkout program had 15 uses during the 2018 spring semester, and three clubs used the program. The program will continue in the 2018–19 school year under the guidance of the new USG Director of Sustainability. The Zero Waste department looks forward to increasing future awareness and program participation.

Waste characterization To gain a better understanding of what is being thrown away at ASU, a large-scale waste characterization was conducted in April 2018. The characterization examined trash and recycling streams at the four Phoenix-metro campuses.

The waste characterization results will provide ASU with a better understanding of how to increase diversion and aversion by examining what recyclables are still getting into the trash, what items need to be targeted for reduction, and where Zero Waste needs to expand and improve programming. ASU reviewed single-use disposable plastics and plans to increase outreach efforts around reusables.

Zero Waste services The Zero Waste service team was busier than ever this year. The team established full-service routes at the Downtown Phoenix, Polytechnic and West campuses. Every week, the team completed set collection routes and accomplished daily service requests. On an average week, the service team completed 254 requests at 117 individual buildings across four campuses, or more than 1,000 requests a month.

Zero Waste team members complete more than

1,000

requests in an average month.

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Waste Streams ASU waste streams FY 2018 Inert 1%

Scrap metal 2% Green 5%

Specialty recycling 1%

Donations > 1%

Organics 12% Trash 57%

Commingled 21%

ASU collects different types of materials in streams that are listed below.

The Blue Bin commingle and organics programs had steady growth year-to-year.

In the fiscal year 2019, ASU is working to achieve growth in donation and reuse programs through targeted outreach and programming.

Writing instruments collected from Specialty Recycling.

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Material Category

Weight (Tons)

Trash

5,200.49

Commingle

1,877.15

Organics

1,102.65

Green

499.35

Scrap metal

155.68

Inert

132.97

Portion of the Composed of: total waste stream 57% Municipal and operational solid waste sent to landfill.

21% Paper, aluminum, cardboard, glass and plastic.

12% Food waste, napkins and compostable food service items from athletics events and dining halls.

5% Branches, grass clippings, palm fronds, plant trimmings, wood waste and yard waste.

2% Scrap metals salvaged from HVAC upgrades, plumbing retrofits and other operational projects.

1% Concrete, sand and asphalt.

Specialty recycling 118.21

1%

Donations

63.25

>1%

Total Waste

9,149.74

Items collected through specialty programming; the material breakdown can be found in the Specialty Recycling table.

Donations collected during Ditch the Dumpster at move-out as well as donations collected throughout the year in residence halls and items donated to Treasures for Teachers.

A closer look at Specialty Recycling The specialty-recycling stream makes up one percent of the total waste diverted from ASU. This steam encompasses many programs and tracking systems. The stream covers hazardous and difficult-to-recycle items such as batteries, light bulbs, and motor oil, as well as auxiliary items that cannot be recycled in the Blue Bin commingle program but can be recycled through other processes. Some material streams in the chart below are part of university operations, whereas others can be influenced by personal purchasing choices made by students, staff and faculty on campus.

ASU community members can engage with specialty recycling programs by visiting the Zero Waste website to find drop-off locations, participating in specialty-recycling options within their offices and departments and by working to decrease their use of single-use and difficult-to-recycle items whenever possible.

Material Mattresses Paper scraps Fat, oil, grease Light bulbs Electronic Batteries Toner cartridges Styrofoam Motor oil K-cups and coffee pods Soft plastic Rubber gloves Snack wrappers Banners and signs Shoes Writing utensils Total

Weight (tons) 30.18 25.39 19.95 19.03 8.24 6.49 3.32 2.50 1.38 0.69 0.41 0.31 0.12 0.08 0.08 0.03 118.21

The Blue Bag program complements the university’s widespread Blue Bin commingle recycling program.

 

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Waste makeup by location Waste makeup by location FY 2018 100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% Tempe campus

Downtown Phoenix campus

Diverted

Polytechnic campus

West campus

ASU Colleges at Lake Havasu City

Landfilled

Diversion rates differ Diversion Rate by Location Diversion rates vary by campus and are influenced by Tempe 40.88 % the type of waste generated at the different campuses Downtown Phoenix 25.08 % and ASU’s ability to divert it. Downtown Phoenix has the lowest diversion rate. As a more urban campus, Polytechnic 42.55 % its waste stream is mostly comprised of classroom, West 79.92 % dorm room and dining hall waste. With the addition Lake Havasu City 50.11 % of Taylor Place Dinning Hall organics collection and landscaping green waste collection, ASU expects to see improvement in Downtown Phoenix’s diversion rate in FY 2019.

West campus has a high diversion rate, in part because of its large property and robust green-waste collection program. The Polytechnic campus and the ASU Colleges at Lake Havasu City have similar diversion rates, due to the similar waste streams and the ability to divert it. The Tempe campus has the most diverse waste-collection program but also is the largest waste producer. With a diversion rate of 40.88 percent, Tempe is the most similar to the university-wide diversion rate.

West campus has a robust green-waste collection program.

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Year highlights Ditch the Dumpster at move-in and move-out Ditch the Dumpster 2017 at move-in was a huge success thanks to the Zero Waste department’s collaboration with Sparky’s Welcome Team. The Welcome Team consisted of 43 volunteers who helped during the two-day move-in period; working six-hour shifts and volunteering a total of 516 hours. Volunteers helped break down boxes for recycling, collected Styrofoam for specialty recycling and introduced incoming freshman to ASU Zero Waste efforts.

Ditch the Dumpster 2018 at move-out was bigger and better than 2017. Donations were at an all-time high with an institutional total of 58,820 pounds. Compared to last year’s Ditch the Dumpster efforts, recycling rates were higher, and landfill rates were lower per capita. Monetary donations to Tempe Dollars for Scholars totaled $5,467.90, donated on behalf of Republic Services, Big Brothers Big Sisters and Goodwill. Zero Waste ran a first-ever social-media photo competition to encourage students to donate and highlight how they ditched the dumpster.

Ditch the Dumpster 2018 donations at move-out were at an all-time high with an institutional total of 58,820 pounds.

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A student explores Zero Waste choices at the Points of Intervention Tour.

Points of Intervention Tour

The bag monster on campus consists of more than 500 single-use plastic bags, the number of bags an average American uses in one year.

In partnership with the Post Landfill Action Network on April 18, 2018, ASU hosted the Points of Intervention Tour. The tour was designed to raise awareness about circular resources and highlight the various on-campus and community intervention points students, staff and faculty could join. The event recorded more than 2,500 individual interactions among the ASU community and the 31 organizations present to learn how to reduce, reuse and recycle on campus.

Volunteer and Zero Waste Ambassador programs The Zero Waste department established a general volunteer program to increase ASU community opportunities to participate in waste-reduction and diversion programs.

The Zero Waste Ambassador program fosters a culture of zero waste through leadership development of ASU student organizations via hands-on-experience in waste-diversion strategies. Student organizations registered to participate in pre-determined Zero Waste Ambassador opportunities and, in exchange for their completed service, were awarded funding for use within their organization. Since the program began in 2015, 329 ASU students from 17 student groups participated and contributed more than 778 hours of service in support of ASU’s Zero Waste goal.

Zero Waste Ambassador groups assisted the department with successfully recycling 13,181 pounds and collecting 9,764 pounds of organics material from 10 sporting events throughout the 2017–18 athletics season. With the help of 11 Zero Waste Ambassador groups, ASU was able to achieve an overall 65-percent diversion rate for Green Games, which highlights the university’s commitment to sustainability during athletic events.

ASU also offers ongoing volunteer opportunities focused on sorting Blue Bag material and engagement at sporting events.

During ASU’s Devils in Disguise Day of Service, six volunteers helped divert and sort 500 pounds of Blue Bag materials.

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Through all of ASU’s volunteer opportunities this past fiscal year, 74 individuals participated in 27 different volunteer opportunities completing 174 hours of service.

Looking ahead ASU changes recycling rules ASU adjusted what can be recycled in the Blue Bin commingle program. The change occurred Oct. 17, 2018, in response to global shifts in materials import policies and remanufacturing industries.

Single-use disposable items like paper cups, paper plates and plastic utensils no longer are accepted in the Blue Bin commingle program. These changes will ensure ASU is producing the highest quality recycled material.

Recycling changes: • Expansion of diversion programs like organics collection.

• Increased emphasis on purchasing and using reusable, durable items.

• Strengthened partnerships at the local level to build resiliency and support new regional recycling markets.

• Updates to recycling and landfill bin signs across the university.

A staff member stacks cardboard for recycling in a collection hamper.

What you can do: Check what you purchase against the Zero Waste big list to ensure recyclability.

Connect with Zero Waste to share programming ideas.

Continue to reduce, reuse and recycle.

Outfit your office, classroom, or dorm room with new signage. Request updated signage from the Zero Waste department.

• Replace single-use plastic utensils and paper cups with reusable options.

• • • •

ASU encourages everyone to continue to reduce and reuse wherever possible.

The ASU community has been successful in many sustainable initiatives. These changes support ASU’s sustainability goals in both leadership and practice.

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Green Games The 2018 ASU football homecoming game was the designated Green Game.

ASU highlighted the sustainability efforts the university is making in Sun Devil Athletics.

ASU hopes to increase ranking and game diversion rate above 93 percent for football and basketball to the Environmental Protection Agency, Pac-12 Conference Green Team and Recycle Mania. ASU also plans to work with Pac-12 sponsorship to support Green Game initiatives.

Sun Devil Stadium and ASU dining-partner Sodexo will make larger efforts to increase stadium-generated organics collection. For the 2018 football season, fans only were offered compostable plates, cutlery and napkins with their concession purchases. Single-use plastic plates and cutlery previously were used in the stadium, which caused customer confusion on what could be recycled and food contamination in recycling bins. By using palm frond and sugar cane plates, paper napkins and wooden cutlery, ASU anticipates a decrease in food contamination in the recycling bins and increased organics collection numbers this season.

Integration with the ASU Facilities Service Request system In FY 2019, the Zero Waste department plans to integrate with the Facilities Development and Management service request system to better track service requests throughout the year and serve customers in a more streamlined manner consistent with the rest of the university.

Staff barbecues At the four upcoming 2019 staff barbecues, ASU plans to implement “The raffle for reuse.”

Staff members will be encouraged to bring their reusable cutlery to the barbecue to decrease waste at these events.

Waste characterization With waste-characterization results, the Zero Waste team will define new goals and focus areas for 2019. The waste characterization results will allow ASU to update the Roadmap to Zero Waste, and make an online living document, both describing program availability and performance while giving ASU community members a platform to participate in program expansion and creation.

Visit zerowaste.asu.edu for more information about recycling markets, diversion-program changes and help with purchasing decisions or switching to reusables.

* The Colleges at Lake Havasu City are newly included in the reporting boundaries for the fiscal year 2018.

Copyright © 2018 Arizona Board of Regents for Arizona State University.

Photography by Deanna Dent, Charlie Leight, Anya Magnuson, Emmanuel Padilla and Elaine Rettger.

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