Salisbury University
IN-47: Innovation A

Salisbury University intends to submit documentation from the National Wildlife Federation: Plastics Reduction Partner Certification - Silver in by December 2024. SU's Office of Sustainability and SU's Department of Horticulture-Recycling Program is currently working together to gather the necessary documentation for this certification. Information was presented to SU's President Lepre in August 2023 and the SU's Chief of Staff, Eli Modlin, has signed the Plastics Reduction Partner: Commitment Letter (see attached).

In a cross-department collaborative effort, Salisbury University will be implementing new recycling initiatives starting Spring ’24 semester. Working together SU’s Office of Sustainability, Horticulture-Recycling Program, and Physical Plant-Facilities Services have identified multiple ways the campus community can work together to increase SU’s recycling rate, decrease the amount of waste SU sends to the landfill, and reduce the use of single-use plastics on campus.

During the Spring 2023 semester, SU conducted its first office waste audit. The waste audit revealed that a significant percentage of recyclable material was entering our waste stream. To prevent recyclables from entering our waste stream, SU will be implementing the “Mini-Trashcan” program in all offices located on the main campus in academic and administrative buildings.

Individual office deskside trashcans will be replaced with liner-free deskside recycle bins and attached mini-trashcans. Instead of Facilities Services emptying the deskside office bins each evening, individuals at their own offices’ will be asked to service their own deskside recycle bins and mini-trashcans on an as needed basis. Staff and faculty are asked to transport their individual deskside office bins down the hall and empty them into larger communal bins. Facilities Services will place large communal recycle bins and trash bins in strategic locations in every academic and administrative building to minimize the distance faculty and staff must travel to service their deskside bins. Facilities Services will empty the large communal trash bins each evening and Horticultures-Recycling Program will service the communal recycling bins 2-3 times per week.

Facilities Services shared data with the Office of Sustainability revealing that the majority of the trashcans within classrooms, labs, and lecture halls only have a small amount of trash in them each night. In an effort to reduce our use of single-use plastics even more, these locations have been evaluated campus-wide to determine which rooms it is “essential” to have a trashcan in them. Examples of “essential” classrooms include art classrooms, medical, biology, and chemistry labs. All “non-essential” classrooms, labs, and lecture halls will have their trash and recycle bins removed from the room and students will be asked to practice “Leave no Trace” principles while attending class in these locations. “Pack it in. Pack it out.” Students are asked to place their recyclables and trash in the larger communal bins located in the hallways after class.