Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 46.00
Liaison Lisa Mitten
Submission Date March 4, 2015
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.0

State University of New York at New Paltz
OP-22: Waste Minimization

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 2.37 / 5.00 Lisa Mitten
Campus Sustainability Coordinator
Office of Campus Sustainability
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Waste generated::
Performance Year Baseline Year
Materials recycled 138 Tons 160.68 Tons
Materials composted 120 Tons 112 Tons
Materials reused, donated or re-sold 12.70 Tons 5.61 Tons
Materials disposed in a solid waste landfill or incinerator 738 Tons 860 Tons

Figures needed to determine "Weighted Campus Users”::
Performance Year Baseline Year
Number of residential students 2,798 2,759
Number of residential employees 16 16
Number of in-patient hospital beds 0 0
Full-time equivalent enrollment 6,946.42 7,081.23
Full-time equivalent of employees 1,126.67 1,087.33
Full-time equivalent of distance education students 91.10 74.75

Start and end dates of the performance year and baseline year (or three-year periods):
Start Date End Date
Performance Year Jan. 1, 2013 Dec. 31, 2013
Baseline Year Jan. 1, 2010 Dec. 31, 2010

A brief description of when and why the waste generation baseline was adopted:

This baseline was adopted because it was the earliest year with comprehensive data available for landfill, compost, and recycling data. The Office of Campus Sustainability had a high degree of confidence in the quality waste data available from 2010 to the present.


A brief description of any (non-food) waste audits employed by the institution:
---

A brief description of any institutional procurement policies designed to prevent waste:
---

A brief description of any surplus department or formal office supplies exchange program that facilitates reuse of materials:

The Office of Property Control maintains and inventory of all property owned by the college valued over $5,000. The Office also surpluses items through auction that no longer offer a tangible value to the university. Property Control can obtain items from other State Institutions for the campus. Employees across campus can reach out to Property Control prior to purchasing new items to see if there's an item in stock. Items available for reuse are found on the surplus webpage and are accessible to all college employees. Informally, employees regularly report reusable office supplies via a campus faculty-staff email list.


A brief description of the institution's efforts to make materials available online by default rather than printing them:
---

A brief description of any limits on paper and ink consumption employed by the institution:
---

A brief description of any programs employed by the institution to reduce residence hall move-in/move-out waste:

The Recycling Club organizes an annual move out reuse and donation program called Reuse 2 Reduce. During the fall of 2014, SUNY New Paltz custodial department was directed to actively recycle cardboard boxes during move-in weekend.


A brief description of any other (non-food) waste minimization strategies employed by the institution:
---

A brief description of any food waste audits employed by the institution:

Campus Auxiliary Servcies, Sodexo, and the Office of Campus Sustainability partnered on a post-consumer food waste audit in the fall of 2013 as part of a three-week long grant-funded food waste study.


A brief description of any programs and/or practices to track and reduce pre-consumer food waste in the form of kitchen food waste, prep waste and spoilage:

Sodexo tracks pre-consumer food waste at Hasbrouck Dining Hall with LeanPath. This program launched in the fall of 2013.


A brief description of programs and/or practices to track and reduce post-consumer food waste:

Hasbrouck Dining Hall is an all-you-can-eat dining hall and is a trayless dining facility. During the 2013-14 academic year, staff served students at an increasing number of food stations.


A brief description of the institution's provision of reusable and/or third party certified compostable to-go containers for to-go food and beverage items (in conjunction with a composting program):

Sodexo launched reusable to-go food containers in the fall of 2013 that continues today.


A brief description of the institution's provision of reusable service ware for “dine in” meals and reusable and/or third party certified compostable service ware for to-go meals (in conjunction with a composting program):
---

A brief description of any discounts offered to customers who use reusable containers (e.g. mugs) instead of disposable or compostable containers in to-go food service operations:
---

A brief description of other dining services waste minimization programs and initiatives:
---

The website URL where information about the institution’s waste minimization initiatives is available:
---

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.