2017 Winter Semester Wrap Up: 1178 Tons Recycled!

From national recycling competitions, to Rufus’ Instagram debut, Waste Reduction and Recycling has had a busy Winter 2017 semester.

Waste profile

In total, U-M recycled 2,356,170 pounds throughout the winter semester. That’s equivalent to 1178 tons of paper, cardboard, plastic, and metal! We also composted 551,420 pounds (276 tons) of food waste and compostable material from the dining halls and select cafes on campus. 2,356,170 pounds (1857 tons) of waste were sent to landfills.

Bin Standardization

The Waste Reduction and Recycling division of the Office of Campus Sustainability is dedicated to lowering the amount of refuse sent to landfills. To improve campus recycling, Waste Reduction and Recycling is in the process of installing new recycling and landfill signs and bins in U-M buildings. The new signs use graphics to easily answer the question, “Can I recycle this?”

The following U-M buildings received new recycling and landfill labels, signs, bins or a combination of these since the start of the 2017 Winter semester:

• 

  Duderstadt Center
• Michigan League
• Michigan Union
• Hutchins Hall
• Haven Hall
• Mason Hall
• Shapiro Library
• Hatcher Library
• Fleming Administration Building
• Golf Course Club House
• Angell Hall
• Tisch Hall
• Bentley Historical Library

Recyclemania

If you follow Planet Blue, the home of all things sustainability at U-M, on Facebook and Twitter, you’ve probably heard about the 10 week national recycling competition, Recyclemania. This year, U-M recycled 1,363,940 pounds, ranking us 3rd in the nation for total recycling among universities. Our competition recycling rate was 45.46%, placing us in the top third of universities.

Rufus in the spotlight

This April, the UMich Instagram story featured everyone’s favorite recycling mascot to promote waste reduction and recycling efforts on campus. Don’t worry if you missed the Insta’ action! Lucky for you we have the adorable and informative footage of Rufus the Recycler saved on YouTube.

Spring move-out

As a finale to another great semester of waste reduction and recycling efforts, U-M provided spring move-out Donation Stations to the Residence Halls. This program asked students moving out of the Residence Halls to donate their excess clothing, bedding, nonperishable foods and toiletries, and household items to charity. There were 10.48 tons of total donations collected this year!

What’s next?

The fifth annual Office Supply Reuse Day takes place this June. FREE office supplies collected from U-M departments will be made available for other U-M departments and local nonprofit organizations to take. Find out more information at recycle.umich.edu.