Blog Post

Building a Greener Future: Bridgewater State University’s Sustainability Journey 

May 29, 2025

Guided by a strong commitment to waste reduction, Bridgewater State University (BSU) has taken several major steps to enhance environmental sustainability on campus. This includes strategies for wasted food reduction, comprehensive recycling around the entire campus, the introduction of reusable dining containers, and many other related activities designed to promote greener practices. With the continuous refinement of these programs, BSU emerges as a leader in supporting a sustainable campus, creating a culture of environmental stewardship among students, faculty, and staff alike. 

How BSU reduces wasted food:  

  • Leanpath Technology: Uses AI to track food waste in kitchens to provide data that enables kitchen staff to devise reduction strategies such as ordering less, menu reconsiderations, and portion adjustments.  
  • BSU Surplus Food Text Alerts: Notifies students and staff of excess food available from campus events, ensuring surplus food is not wasted.  
  • Food Scrap Collection Program: Diverts food scraps from disposal to create energy through anaerobic digestion. 

Other sustainability programs on campus: 

  • Whirley Reusable Takeout Containers: Reduces single-use waste and promotes sustainability in their dining halls.  
  • Small Appliances & Electronics Recycling: Allowing students and staff to recycle small appliances and old electronics.  
  • Insulation Technologies Styrofoam Recycling Machine: A Creative solution for Styrofoam recycling on campus by creating a drop-off site for collection. 

In the spring of 2024, Bridgewater State University reached out to RecyclingWorks to help advance its sustainability initiatives. Following a waste assessment conducted by a RecyclingWorks Waste Reduction Consultant, recommendations were made; for example, to move away from multi-stream to single-stream recycling all over campus, creating an educational program for students and staff about campus sustainability efforts, and clear and consistent labeling on bin receptacles to positively influence proper waste disposal.  RecyclingWorks also provided tips on how to effectively communicate with their community on their sustainability programs and shared numerous resources, including a Materials Management Tip Sheet that outlines recycling procedures by material.  

In order to get a sense of the campus needs from the staff perspective, RecyclingWorks sent out a survey on past move-out programs to determine what went well and what could be improved in the years to come. BSU is also considering forming a committee of sustainability minors and the Green Team to lead a successful move-out program. The committee will set timelines with milestones, formulate realistic objectives for materials management, provide guidance on donation organizations to partner with, design signage, and organize the area for collection. BSU’s journey in improving its move-out processes is going to be one to watch and learn from in the coming years. For more information regarding their sustainability initiatives, check out their website.  

If your business or institution is interested in implementing similar waste reduction and diversion programs, RecyclingWorks in Massachusetts (RecyclingWorks) is here to support you. We can create customized signage for your waste and recycling bins, offer in-person site visits and comprehensive, customized waste reduction recommendations, educational presentations, and more. Call our hotline at 888-254-5525 or email us at Info@RecyclingWorksMA.com to get started.

RecyclingWorks is a Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) funded program administered by CET.