CAMPUS
REDUCE, REUSE, . RECYCLE The University of Pittsburgh began its recycling program in 1990, and it continues to grow in both the quantity and diversity of materials recycled. In fiscal year 2013, Pitt recycled 1,420 tons of material—almost 42 percent of its total waste stream. What started as a program to recycle only higher-quality office paper has grown to include almost every grade of paper, plastic, aluminum, glass, metals, batteries, electronics, construction materials, landscape materials, and more. Pitt is continually working to ensure that recycling and waste minimization are a way of life across campus.
RecycleMania
Surplus Property Services
Pitt is participating for the sixth consecutive year in RecycleMania, a friendly competition and benchmarking tool for college and university recycling programs to promote waste reduction activities within their campus communities. Schools track recycling and trash weights over an eight-week period and are ranked in various categories. With each week’s reporting and rankings, participating schools watch how their results stack up against competing schools and use them to rally their campus communities. This event would not be successful without the enthusiastic support of Pitt’s student groups, who take on promotion responsibilities for the program. For more information on the University’s success in RecycleMania, see page 43.
Surplus Property was created to coordinate a program that collected and disposed of unused equipment and supplies from all University units. The Surplus Property Services team manages a Web site where materials that pass inspection are sold in as-is condition for fair market value (3,800 items in fiscal year 2013 alone). Items like office furniture, lab equipment, musical instruments and equipment, electronics and computer equipment, and even vehicles are sold this way and avoid taking up unnecessary space in landfills. Two of Surplus Property’s best-known programs include its recycling of used printer toner cartridges and the safe disposal of University-owned electronic equipment. In fiscal year 2013, Pitt recycled more than 4,350 toner cartridges and more than 17 tons of electronic materials.
Hydration Stations Found in an increasing number of high-traffic campus gathering places are hydration stations, a new approach to water fountains that make it easy to fill reusable water bottles. The first hydration stations were installed with funding from the Pitt Green Fund, and the University has continued to install these units across campus. The stations provide a tally of the equivalent number of disposable water bottles avoided by using the unit.
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UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH
The installation of hydration stations in 28 locations across the Pitt campus has resulted in the avoidance of more
than 484,000 disposable plastic water bottles . – as of October 2013.