4 minute read
Approach
Highlights
Bin upgrades
In response to COVID-19, Sun Devil Dining offered a to-go service using compostable and reusable containers. To enhance that effort, the Zero Waste department installed 18 compost-recycle dual-litter containers around the Tempe campus Memorial Union and Hassayampa dining halls for the fall 2020 semester.
The Zero Waste department also refurbished, replaced and installed 143 dual-litter bins, equating to about 25% of all bins.
Dialing in on data
The Zero Waste department launched a pilot program last year to monitor the volumes of front-load dumpsters to increase service use, such as ensuring only full containers are serviced. With added monitoring, we found that ASU was overreporting by about 30%. This information will help ASU reduce costs, report accurate data and make data-informed decisions to make ASU a more sustainable university.
Approach
Diversion
Diversion rate is an industry-standard term used to track waste-diversion efforts. Universities, government entities and private businesses use diversion to track outgoing waste, allowing ASU to compare itself with other institutions.
ASU diverts waste by sending post-consumer materials and goods outside the institution to be remanufactured or reused, including donations, the sale of whole goods, recycling and composting, and purposefully purchasing easily-diverted goods.
The Zero Waste department tracks diversion each year to measure the percentage of the waste stream being recycled, composted, reused and donated, and how ASU is moving closer to its 90% diversion goal.
The ASU diversion rate for FY 2021 was 41.3%
ASU calculates diversion by tracking the percentage of material sent from ASU campuses to landfills and diverted from landfills through recycling, composting, donation or reuse.
University diversion rate in tons
FY 2021
Landfilled
4,038 tons 58.7%
Diverted
2,843 tons 41.3% The FY 2021 diversion is down from FY 2020. Even though ASU reduced overall waste, diversion fell more than landfill, especially on the Downtown Phoenix, Lake Havasu and West campuses, while the Polytechnic and Tempe campuses experienced less variance. The only reason diversion did not decrease more was due to gains in motor oil, e-waste, green waste and lightbulbs. This underscores the role of centralization and partnerships.
These numbers indicate that while there was less activity on campus to generate waste, consistent with the fall 2020 and spring 2021 ASU Sync modality, people chose disposables for those activities. This demonstrates that people believed disposables were safer during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The ASU Zero Waste department monitors and tracks all solid waste that leaves the university.
The data in this report represents known tracking as of Sept. 1, 2021. The Zero Waste department gains more confidence each year in reporting as we seek to eliminate gaps in data arising from university expansion, contract changes or programmatic shifts.
Diversion equation:
Tons recycled + Tons composted + Tons of surplus + Tons donated Tons landfilled + Tons recycled + Tons composted + Tons of surplus + Tons donated
x 100
Total waste at ASU
FY 2008–FY 2021
Weight (tons)
10,000
9,000
8,000
7,000
6,000
5,000
4,000
3,000
2,000
1,000
0% 8% 14% 9% 6% -1% 2% 12% 20% 14% 14% 22%
27%
38%
100,000
90,000
80,000
70,000
60,000
50,000
40,000
30,000
20,000
10,000
FY 2008 FY 2009 FY 2010 FY 2011 FY 2012 FY 2013 FY 2014 FY 2015 FY 2016 FY 2017 FY 2018 FY 2019 FY 2020 FY 2021
Landfill Diversion Population
Aversion
ASU defines aversion, or aversion rate, as preventing waste from entering the institution and influencing practices of how waste is circulated to reduce overall solid-waste output.
Aversion is a function of the durability of goods individuals choose when they purchase and dispose of goods and the institution’s systems to support repair, reuse and exchange.
The Zero Waste department tracks aversion year-to-year to see if the overall amount of waste produced through educational, research and operational activities at ASU has reduced or increased compared to its 2008 baseline year.
ASU had a 38%
aversion rate* during FY 2021.
*The Zero Waste department believes this is an inflated aversion rate due to the COVID-19 effects on the university.
Waste produced per person in pounds
FTE students, faculty and staff Downtown Phoenix, Lake Havasu, Polytechnic, Tempe and West
FY 2008–FY 2021
300
250
Weight (tons)
200
150
100
50
FY 2008 FY 2009 FY 2010 FY 2011 FY 2012 FY 2013 FY 2014 FY 2015 FY 2016 FY 2017 FY 2018 FY 2019 FY 2020 FY 2021
Aversion is waste reduction and reuse.
Departments and individuals can positively impact aversion in these ways:
Reduce:
Purchase less. Be mindful of purchases and how items will be disposed.
Reuse:
Choose reusable items over items that need to be landfilled or recycled.
