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| Waste Minimization and Recycling at Penn |
While waste may not be the largest contributor to Penn’s carbon footprint, it is certainly the most visible. A 2008 waste audit revealed the potential to double the University’s diversion rate of traditional recyclables by adopting campus standards for signage, receptacle design, and collection protocols. Promotional campaigns will inspire individuals to adopt the mantra of “reduce, re-use, recycle” across campus. The Climate Action Plan calls on the University to reduce its overall waste stream and increase its diversion rate of paper, cardboard, and commingled recyclables to 40 percent by 2014.
Implementing the Climate Action Plan will:
- Establish a comprehensive campus-wide waste reduction and recycling policy
- Enable proper waste reduction and recycling practices through education and communication efforts, events and competitions, and improved transparency of the campus collection system
- Expand the University’s focus beyond recycling by championing green purchasing practices, composting efforts, local food investments, and source reduction initiatives
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| Solid Waste Recycling |
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TRADITIONAL RECYCLABLES
Penn's municipal solid waste recycling efforts collect bottles, cans, plastics, and paper from 45 locations across campus. In 2007, Penn diverted over 1600 tons of recovered materials from landfills – about 20 percent of the total campus waste including an average of 400 pounds of "no value" mail each month.
To learn about what Penn recycles, click here.
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CONSTRUCTION WASTE
Working with a local construction waste management company, Penn salvages valuable materials from construction project sites, including carpet scraps, metals, ceiling tile, and drywall. When demolition of older buildings is necessary, deconstruction procedures salvage light fixtures, railings, carved stone, and windows for reuse on campus or sale. |
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RECYCLEMANIA @ PENN
Penn participates in RecycleMania, a friendly annual competition among colleges and universities nationwide to see which institution can collect the largest amount of recyclables per capita, the largest amount of total recyclables, the least amount of trash per capita, or have the highest recycling rate over an 8-week period. Penn competed in the Per Capita Classic, which measures the amount of recyclables per person and reported its total campus statistics, which includes all waste and recycling collected from all campus buildings. RecycleMania@Penn sponsored a number of events and helped focus campus wide attention around the issue of recycling. |
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PENNMOVES
For the past two years, Penn Business Services has conducted PennMOVES, a move-out recycling and re-use drive, with the goal of reducing waste and preventing usable items from going to landfills. In 2009, over 45 tons of material was diverted, and over $30,000 was raised from the sale of these items. Through United Way, this money was donated to West Philadelphia charity agencies.
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| Universal Waste Recycling |
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COMPUTERS AND ELECTRONICS
Computing equipment “e-waste” contains a lot of heavy metals and toxic materials that can seep into the water supply or poison the ground. All of these materials can be contained, and most can be reused, if they are properly disposed of. Last year, Penn recycled over 122,000 pounds of old electronic equipment through the local firm, Elemental. Visit the Green IT website to learn more about how to dispose of electronics responsibly.
Environmental Health and Radiation Safety (EHRS) provides awareness initiatives about electronic equipment that may contain heavy metals and other materials that can be hazardous to human health and the environment. |
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COMPACT FLUORESCENT LIGHT BULBS AND BATTERIES
Batteries and CFLs are both products that are considered hazardous or universal waste.
These types of products require special disposal and recycling procedures to ensure that
their contents and ingredients do not harm the environment. Like other fluorescent lights,
CFLs contain a small amount of mercury that is needed to make them energy-efficient.
While the amount of mercury in CFLs is very small (about 5 mg), it is still considered hazardous
waste and should be handled with care.
College House residents and staff can recycle their CFLs and batteries by placing them into
specially-labeled white buckets located at each College House information desk. |
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| Waste Minimization |
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GREEN PRODUCTS AT THE BOOKSTORE
The Penn Bookstore and Computer Connection offer many options for waste-conscious purchasing, including recycled-content school supplies, recycling bins for dorm rooms (smart power strips, EnergyStar laptops and appliances, and sustainably-produced apparel), as well as maintaining a recycling drop-off for printer ink and toner cartridges. |
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MINIMIZING WASTE IN DINING HALLS
Penn Dining sells reusable tote bags and reusable water bottles in the retail dining locations. Our dining services have also gone tray-less in residential dining halls; this both reduces food waste and conserves water and energy by eliminating the need to wash trays and reducing the volume of heated water required water for washing. Tray-less dining also reduces the use of chemicals that are found in detergents, and rinsing and drying agents needed to wash trays. Other waste management initiatives at Penn’s dining facilities include eliminating the use of plastic bags for to-go meals, introducing compostable takeout containers, and recycling used cooking oil |
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| Composting |
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FOOD WASTE COMPOSTING
Penn's facilities and real estate services partnered with local businesses to create the Moravian Street Recycling and Composting Center. At this center, waste from the adjacent restaurants and offices is captured and sorted, including food waste, fryer grease, and recycleables. This project was supported by a grant from the PA Dept of Environmental Protection. |
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URBAN COMPOSTING
100 percent of the leaves from Penn are composted on campus – over 650 cu yards annually – and used in university gardens, planting beds, and fields, saving both the cost and energy to dispose of the leaves and to bring compost to Penn. |
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FARM WASTE
The New Bolton Center’s large animal veterinary campus recycles 100 percent of its farm waste. |
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