Approach — Diversion

Diversion equation:

Tons recycled + Tons composted + Tons of surplus + Tons donated Tons landfilled + Tons recycled + Tons composted + Tons of surplus + Tons donated x 100

Diversion

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, 2022. The Zero Waste department gains more confidence each year in reporting as it seeks to eliminate gaps in data arising from university expansion, contract changes or programmatic shifts.

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:

• Deliberate purchase of easily diverted goods.

• Donations.

• Recycling and composting.

• Sale of whole goods.

Diversion is a function of the material makeup of goods purchased, individual choices community members make when disposing of goods and the institution’s diversion systems.

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.

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.

Overall diversion made modest gains in FY 2022. However, overall waste — landfill and diverted — was up 31.3% from FY 2021 because:

• Downtown Phoenix campus landfill waste increased by 13.2%.

• Overall green waste fell by 7.1%.

• Improved diversion measurement from front-load recycling monitoring. ASU made gains from key streams: mixed recycling, donations, food waste and inert, pallets, fats, oils and greases — underscoring the crucial role of centralizing operations and building community partnerships to increase overall diversion.