Waste Audits & Recyclemania
Zero Waste Philosophy
Solutions
FAQs
For issues or questions related to recycle pick-up
Phone: 206-281-2330
Email: recycling@spu.edu
Waste Audits & Recyclemania
From 2004-2007, Ecovive conducted annual waste audits, measuring the volume of materials recycled and thrown away in order to track overall recycling trends and identify areas of improvement.
Over the course of a month, student employees recorded the fullness of garbage and recycle containers prior to pickup. These observations were compiled at the end of the month to determine the percent—by volume—of Seattle Pacific's waste that was diverted from the landfill.
The results of these waste audits show that the SPU community has tackled waste diversion head-on, going from a 15% landfill diversion rate in 1999 to a 67% diversion rate in 2007.
In 2009, SPU decided to combine its waste audit process with Recyclemania, a nationwide recycling competition for colleges and universities.
Recyclemania schools are required to use a consistent methodology to collect accurate waste stream data over the course of the ten-week competition. Recyclemania rankings are based on waste stream composition by weight.
In its first year of participation, Seattle Pacific recycled nearly 150,000 pounds of paper, bottles, and cans to achieve an impressive 52% recycling rate.
Check back for information on SPU's participation in Recyclemania 2010!