| Overall Rating | Silver - expired |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 58.49 |
| Liaison | Richard Johnson |
| Submission Date | Nov. 11, 2014 |
| Executive Letter | Download |
Rice University
OP-23: Waste Diversion
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
0.84 / 3.00 |
Richard
Johnson Director of Sustainability Facilities Engineering and Planning |
Materials diverted from the solid waste landfill or incinerator:
Materials disposed in a solid waste landfill or incinerator :
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:
In the previous three years, several departments have created an infrastructure to allow employees to give away or trade their unwanted materials, rather than trashing them.
The IT department has created an electronic reuse program. In this program, professors and staff can call IT to collect their unwanted or outdated electronic waste. The IT department will then erase all memory from computers and devices and either sell them on Rice classifieds or palletize them for recycling.
The Environmental Health and Safety department also has a system in place to extend the life of lab equipment. Professors who close their labs can organize with Environmental Health and Safety to alert other professors on campus. They can visit the lab and collect chemicals and equipment still of use.
Rice instituted single stream recycling in 2011 which allowed everyone on campus to place all recyclables in one container.
During construction projects for new buildings, typically 85-90% of all construction and demolition waste is recycled. On occasion, materials for projects are reused elsewhere. For example, the wood from the former basketball practice court was re-used as a floor in a college masters house as well as for wall paneling in the Rice Coffeehouse.
A brief description of any food donation programs employed by the institution:
none.
A brief description of any pre-consumer food waste composting program employed by the institution:
At one of the kitchens on campus, compostable food waste is sometimes collected by the chefs. The food waste is stored in special containers designated to be composted instead of trashed with other waste. A local farm will then come and pick up the compostable food to use as on their farm. This is a pilot program with approx. 5 gallons of food waste collected per visit (typically once per week) when the program is operational.
A brief description of any post-consumer food waste composting program employed by the institution:
none.
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 | No |
| Food for animals | No |
| Food composting | Yes |
| Cooking oil | Yes |
| Plant materials composting | Yes |
| Animal bedding composting | No |
| Batteries | Yes |
| Light bulbs | No |
| 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:
eWaste, laboratory chemicals
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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.