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With the help of RecyclingWorks in Massachusetts, Bridgewater State University is making huge strides for sustainability on campus.
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Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is paving the way for a sustainable future with its ambitious Climate Action Plan for the Decade aiming to decarbonize campus operations by 2050. The heart of MIT’s sustainability mission lies in its quantitative impact goals that will touch every aspect of MIT life, from energy consumption to sustainable food…
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A green demolition project at Simmons University in Boston recovered over a dozen tons (24,000 pounds) of material including furniture, fixtures, and glassware items. This massive reuse undertaking emerged from the remodeling of the University’s Park Science Center. The project entailed one year’s worth of planning and coordination among Simmons University staff, Elkus Manfredi Architects…
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Replacing single-use foodservice container options with reusables can reduce both disposal costs and long-term purchasing needs for restaurants and other food service businesses. According to Clean Water Action, packaging waste makes up approximately 30% of waste disposed of in the US, and these products “consume a tremendous amount of resources — including oil, trees, energy,…
Case Study
Learn how Brandeis University, a research institution in Waltham, implemented a dorm and public space recycling program with support from RecyclingWorks, and established a performance plan for their food service provider focused on eight sustainability goals.
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In April this year, Boston University announced its new Zero Waste Plan. Named “Reimagining Waste as a Resource,” the institution has big plans for shifting mentalities in the Boston University community around waste, and eliminating wasteful practices throughout material life cycles. The ambitious plan aims to reuse or recycle at least 90% of the institution’s…
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Has your business ever lost food inventory as result of an emergency or other unplanned event? Once an emergency happens, it is likely too late to create a plan that prevents wasted food from being disposed of as trash. With a plan in place in advance, you can reduce the amount of food that is…
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As foodservice businesses expand their operations or re-open after a period of closure, volumes and patterns of food waste are likely to shift. LeanPath recently hosted a webinar on how to identify and manage food waste as kitchens re-open. By carefully tracking and reducing food waste, businesses and institutions can respond to increased customer expectations…
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This spring, many food service businesses temporarily closed or began operating at a reduced capacity, disrupting the local and regional food system. With fewer commercial and institutional outlets for food products, farms, manufacturers, distributors, and other entities along the supply chain are finding themselves with surplus food. At the same time, food rescue organizations that…
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RecyclingWorks in Massachusetts (RecyclingWorks) hosted the 2020 College & University Forum as a webinar on April 16. The webinar provided college & university professionals with a chance to discuss waste-related challenges during disrupted operations, as well as opportunities to make program improvements in anticipation of students returning to campus. Click on the photo to view…
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Many corporate cafeterias, colleges & universities, healthcare facilities, and other businesses and institutions contract with outside food service providers to manage dining operations. With recent closures, these entities are recognizing the decrease in food orders and purchasing while understanding the growing need to donate food to the local community. Green Biz recently described how one…
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Clark University is a private institution in Worcester with over 3,000 students, faculty, and staff. Through dedicated leadership and Sustainable Clark, the university has engaged the campus community in a variety of waste diversion programs. In addition to running a comprehensive recycling and composting program, Clark continually re-evaluates their waste programs by identifying opportunities to…
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On November 14, UMass Dartmouth hosted RecyclingWorks in Massachusetts (RecyclingWorks), the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP), and the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for the 2019 Fall WasteWise Forum. This year’s fall forum focused on reducing contamination in recycling collection programs and using technology to reduce food waste. Below is a summary of the day’s highlights. Welcome and Updates The…
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Despite significant increases in food waste diversion, Massachusetts businesses and institutions still dispose of an estimated 640,000 tons of food material in the trash each year. A recent GreenBiz article looks at opportunities for corporate and institutional foodservice operations to divert food waste and realize cost savings. The article identifies four key strategies, listed below,…
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RecyclingWorks in Massachusetts (RecyclingWorks) hosted the 2019 College & University Forum on March 7, 2019 at Wellesley College. These forum events are attended by facility managers, dining service operators, and recycling and sustainability coordinators, and are particularly useful for networking and discussion. This year’s forum focused on recycling in public spaces and dormitory areas, highlighting…
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According to Project Bread’s 2016 status report, nearly 10 percent of Massachusetts families, or more than 266,000 households, experience food insecurity. The staggering amount of edible food that is thrown away daily is a lost opportunity to combat chronic hunger. The PBS NewsHour recently reported on the food donation program at Harvard University, where student volunteers are…
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Earlier this month, the US Environmental Protection Agency recognized three Massachusetts entities with 2018 Food Recovery Challenge (FRC) awards. Food Recovery Challenge participants pledge to prevent and divert wasted food in their operations, and receive recognition for their achievements. The 2018 FRC National Award Winners include Green Schools Andover, an education and outreach program for…
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Wicked Local reports that the United States Environmental Protection Agency recently recognized Wellesley’s 3R Working Group with a 2018 Environmental Merit Award for its food rescue initiative. One of 28 recipients to receive the award, Wellesley’s program diverts edible, surplus food from disposal and donates it to people in need. The Wellesley food rescue initiative…
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The Boston Globe recently examined how several Massachusetts higher education institutions are responsibly managing the substantial accumulations of reusable materials on campus. When college and university students leave campus at the end of the school year, they collectively leave behind large quantities of furniture, appliances, clothing, and more. Additionally, many schools are left with surplus…
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The Berkshire Eagle recently reported on Berkshire Community College (BCC) successfully defending its statewide title in the diversion category of the RecycleMania competition managed by Keep America Beautiful. RecycleMania is a friendly competition among colleges and universities that engages students to promote recycling and waste reduction activities across campus. In 2018, teams from 300 higher…
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On May 10, the College of the Holy Cross hosted RecyclingWorks in Massachusetts, Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP), and US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for the Spring 2018 WasteWise Forum. The forum began with remarks from John Cannon, Director of Facilities Operations at the College of the Holy Cross, who described the College’s commitment to waste reduction, including its…
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Waste 360 recently reported on data from LeanPath that identifies overproduction as the primary cause of waste in foodservice operations. While trim waste and spoilage also contribute to this problem, simply preparing too much food is the single biggest reason that foodservice establishments waste food. New tools and technologies are helping foodservice establishments reduce overproduction,…
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Two Massachusetts higher education institutions recently shared the efforts they are taking to divert food from disposal and to combat hunger in surrounding communities. Wellesley College is joining the list of Massachusetts schools, colleges, and universities participating in the Food for Free donation program. Food for Free is a Cambridge-based non-profit that rescues excess fresh…
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Colleges produce a lot of waste throughout the year, but there may be no time when campuses produce more than the end of the school year when students move out. During move out, rather than hauling their mini-fridges and futons home, students often opt to get rid of them. According to the Daily Hampshire Gazette,…
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Coalesce, an organization that works with colleges and universities to develop collaborative solutions to improve sustainability, recently wrote on the challenges posed by compostable plastics for food waste diversion programs. Many institutions, especially universities, have switched to BPI certified disposable compostable products, such as cold cups and cutlery, rather than traditional plastic options. Most compost…
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When Berkshire Community College (BCC) saw the opportunity to defend their 2016 statewide RecycleMania title, they didn’t waste it. Four Massachusetts schools – BCC, Hampshire College, Endicott College, and UMass Amherst – placed in the top 50 of the college & university recycling challenge. BCC took the top prize for the state and claimed 4th…
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RecycleMania, a national competition to mobilize waste reduction at colleges and universities, is accepting case study submissions for creative waste reduction or educational campaigns. The RecycleMania Campus Engagement Case Study Competition is a way for colleges and universities to showcase their efforts to reduce waste and influence institutional and personal practices. There are three types…
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An article in To Market Magazine highlights a variety of pioneering food waste initiatives at New England colleges and universities. The article splits the campus food waste initiatives into four categories: Feeding the System, Feed the People, Source Reduction, and Cultural Shift. The food waste programs mentioned in the article demonstrate that colleges and universities…
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The University of Louisville published an, “Organics Recovery Program Development Tool for Colleges and Universities.” This tool is for institutions interested in organizing or expanding existing organics recovery programs. The guide reviews the methods of organics recovery, the permitting and regulatory issues, institutional partners, funding mechanisms, and operational models. The on-site organics recovery methods include…
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The Quad, Boston University’s Independent Online Magazine, discussed the food diversion initiatives currently underway at the university. Hallie Smith, author of the post, used RecyclingWorks Food Waste Estimation Guide, to calculate the average food waste generated at Boston University (BU). To reduce this food waste the university has implemented diversion and prevention programs. According to…
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Wicked Local Cambridge highlighted the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s recent award to Lesley University, located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The EPA presented the ‘Regional Food Recovery Achievement Certificate’ to 26 New England organizations, including Lesley University. Lesley University received this award in recognition of their sustainable food management practices. The certificates are part of the…
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The MetroWest Daily News reported on Framingham State University’s effort to reduce wasted food on campus, including source reduction, education, food donation, and composting. FSU uses LeanPath to track and reduce the amount of wasted food. The university donates edible surplus food to local shelters, and dehydrates remaining food scraps to reduce its volume and…
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The Sustainable Campus Competition is now accepting submissions! Kimberly-Clark Professional offers this competition to implement new green initiatives or expand current sustainability programs on campus. Round 1 submissions are due by 11:59 PM ET, August 19th. Round 1 includes a 500 word summary that describes a campus sustainability program focused in the areas of energy…
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Medical Academic and Scientific Community Organization (MASCO) reports on the impacts of the Massachusetts Commercial Organics Waste Ban on their members. MASCO, a nonprofit organization for Boston’s Longwood Medical and Academic area (LMA), strives to benefit those who live, work, study or receive care in the area. MASCO members have increased their food waste diversion…
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The Huffington Post reports on the Food Recovery Network’s role in reducing the amount of wasted food on college campuses. The article cites RecyclingWorks’ Food Waste Estimation Guide in calculating that an average student living on campus throws away 141 pounds of uneaten food annually. Because of the large volume of wasted food on college…
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Berkshire Community College (BCC) in Pittsfield, Massachusetts placed 1st in the state and 5th in the nation for recycling rates in the RecycleMania Tournament! The college earned this title with a 75% recycling rate. The recycling rate was measured by the percentage of total waste that was recycled and composted over the course of the…
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BioCycle Magazine reports on Food Recovery Networks success on college campuses. The Food Recovery Network (FRN), a 501 (c) 3 nonprofit, works to fight food waste and hunger in America. Spanning across 40 states and 171 chapters on college campuses, the Food Recovery Network has donated 1.1 million pounds of food. Every semester thousands of…
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GreenBiz reports a new collaboration to research and identify strategies for reducing food waste known as Rethink Food Waste through Economics and Data (RFED). ReFED is led by a group of businesses and foundations including Sodexo, Deloitte Consulting, MissionPoint Capital Partners, and the Closed Loop Fund. ReFED research has identified $165 billion in annual lost revenue in the…
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The Harvard Food Law and Policy Clinic (HFLPC) recently produced a video, EXPIRED? Food Waste in America, on how inconsistent date labeling laws contribute to the problem of wasted food. This video expands on the issue identified in the Date Labeling Fact Sheet that HFLPC produced for the Food Donation Guidance for Massachusetts businesses on…
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UMass Amherst recently published a report on a residential compost pilot program in one of their dormitories. A trash sort in the fall of 2014 determined that more than a quarter of the waste from the North Apartments was food waste. The original pilot in one dorm, North D, was completed during the fall of…
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With the help of the Food Recovery Network, students have been fighting food waste and hunger by donating food from college campuses to food rescue organizations. Nine colleges in Massachusettes have Food Recovery Network chapters. The newest additions in the state are Olin College of Engineering in Needham and Gordon College in Wehnam. Students can apply on the…
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Wicked Local Cambridge reports that Lesley University received a 2015 Food Recovery Challenge Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The award, a “Regional Food Recovery Achievement Certificate”, recognizes Lesley University as a leader in food waste diversion. Lesley partners with the food rescue organization, Food For Free, to donate surplus food to those…
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Clark University recently received two awards from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recognizing their outstanding waste reduction initiatives. Clark was the only awardee to receive awards for both the Food Recovery Challenge and WasteWise programs in the same year. The EPA awarded Clark with Honorable Mentions in the Narrative Categories for the Food Recovery…
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The Telegram reports on Food Recovery Network chapters at the College of the Holy Cross, Becker College, and Nichols College. The Food Recovery Network (FRN) was founded in 2011 by students at the University of Maryland who recognized how much dining hall food was being wasted. Currently, FRN has more than 150 chapters at colleges…
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The results of the 2015 GameDay Recycling Challenge have been posted. MassLive reports that UMass Amherst received first and second place awards for their recycling efforts. UMass students collected recycling at three tailgating parties at McGuirk Alumni Stadium this fall. UMass recycled 18.693 pounds of materials. They placed first in the Mid-American Conference for…
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An article in the Boston College student publication, The Gavel, describes the college’s food donation program. Every Bite Counts (eBC) is a student volunteer group that has been helping donate leftover dining hall food since 2005. Five nights each week, student volunteers package and label leftovers from dinner. The group works with Lovin’ Spoonfuls Food…
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MetroWest Daily News reports on a range of food waste reduction efforts going on across the MetroWest region. The Massachusetts Commercial Organics Waste Ban, which went into effect in October of 2014, has motivated increased interest in diverting surplus food and food scraps from landfills and incinerators. The article describes examples of businesses and institutions…
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A recent article on the Sustainable City Network website features three large institutions that have implemented food waste diversion programs. The article describes the logistics and challenges that each institution had to address to collect food waste on a large scale. One of the featured institutions is Boston University, which diverts food waste from both their…
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The MetroWest Daily News reports that Framingham State recently became Food Recovery Certified. This certification recognizes business that donate surplus food to non-profit food recovery organizations. Framingham State is the second entity in Massachusetts to attain this certification. Their surplus food is delivered to Pathways Family Shelter and Pearl Street Shelter. Food Recovery Certified businesses…
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In a recent survey by AASHE, nearly a third of Americans said they would be more likely to attend a game or concert at a stadium if they knew that all of the stadium waste would be recycled or composted. One in five of those surveyed also said they would be likely to buy more…
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A Boston Magazine article recently highlighted the work of Food For Free, a Cambridge-based non-profit, collects unused food from farmers’ markets, grocery stores, bakeries, and universities and donates it to food pantries, schools, and individuals in need of healthy food. Sasha Purpura, executive director of Food For Free, says “Our mission is to address hunger…
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In Fall 2014, Simmons College, Emmanuel College, Wheelock College and Wentworth Institute of Technology all partnered with Casella Resource Solutions on waste diversion improvements, including single-stream recycling and back-of-house food waste diversion. This article highlights the increased diversion rates and positive behavior change these colleges have experienced as a result of working with Casella…
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This article from Boston University’s (BU) independent student newspaper, The Daily Free Press, discusses the increase in food waste diversion to alternative organic waste processing methods like composting as a result of the Commercial Food Waste Disposal Ban that took effect October 1, 2014. The article highlights BU’s food waste diversion program, which was successfully…
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This article explains the various waste reduction and diversion initiatives that Fitchburg State has implemented since 2008. These include removing straws from dining halls, diverting food waste to a local pig farmer, and single-stream recycling. In addition, signage with alarming food waste statistics has been placed near disposal areas in dining halls, with the intention…
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This press release details the results of the 2015 RecycleMania tournament, a waste reduction and recycling competition among colleges and universities across 49 U.S. states and Canada. This year’s competition engaged 4.1 million students at 394 schools to recycle or compost 80.1 million pounds of recyclables and organic materials, preventing the release of 129,411 metric…
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This article from sustainability@BU highlights the new recycling initiative that was implemented at Boston University’s Warren Towers dormitory during the Fall 2014 semester. By installing dual stream recycling on every floor of Warren Towers, the recycling rate in the building increased ten percent from September 2014 to December 2014. Multiple student and faculty groups…
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This press release from Bentley University highlights food waste diversion that is taking place at the university. Sodexo staff in all of Bentley’s campus kitchens separate pre-consumer food waste. Additionally, in Seasons, the campus’ main dining hall, back-of-house staff separate and divert all food waste that is left on plates. Since Fall 2014, Bentley’s dining program has been…
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Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts, began a food waste diversion program at the Higgins Cafeteria in 2007, and has since expanded the program to include multiple residence halls and most recently, the Academic Commons at Goddard Library. This article provides an overview of how food waste diversion to composting has spread across Clark’s campus, helping…
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UMass Lowell celebrated the start of the Massachusetts Commercial Organics Waste Ban with state officials including DEP Commissioner David Cash, who led by example, taking an active role in the day’s kitchen scrap collection. UMass Lowell made an early commitment to food waste diversion, and began composting a year ago at the behest of a student…
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This article from The Fall River Herald News highlights the Green Move Out program at UMass Dartmouth, run by a group of students. During this year’s move-out the group collected 4,300 pounds of items to donate to charity, diverting that material from the waste stream. This represents a 3,100 pound increase from last year’s results. UMass…
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Making Move-Out a Sustainability Success Story College and University Recycling Coalition (CURC) Webinar, Thursday, February 13, 2014, 1:00-2:30 PM EST Click here to register! For the 2,100 colleges and universities with on-campus housing serving nearly 3 million student residents, move-out will generate a tsunami of reusable clothing, electronics and other household goods. Find out how…
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The Massachusetts College and University Recycling Council (CURC) will meet Tuesday, January 14th at 9 AM to discuss the issue of textile recycling. The robust and innovative market for re-purposed textiles will be discussed and success stories shared from the industry. Speakers will include: Bill LaBelle – Goodwill Industries – “Goodwill Not Landfill” – http://www.bu.edu/sustainability/what-were-doing/waste-reduction/goodwill-not-landfill/ Larry…
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This year’s America Recycles Day, two Massachusetts colleges were honored by the EPA for their efforts to reduce food waste on campus. UMass Amherst and Clark University were part of only nine national winners of the EPA’s Food Recovery Challenge in 2013. Through such solutions as student-run composting programs and the use of anaerobic digesters,…
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Retail Dining Operations: Opportunities for Source Reduction and Effective Materials Management Webinar, Thursday, December 12th, 2013 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm Join the College & University Recycling Coalition for the last of their 2013 webinar series. Collecting food waste in retail dining operations is challenging but the opportunities for food waste reduction are immense. Join CURC…
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Did you miss the last College & University Recycling Coalition webinar on composting food waste on campus? Listen to speakers from Food Recovery Challenge partner Middlebury College in Vermont along with two other great speakers! Presenters -Joe Rasmussen, Ed.D., LEED AP BD+C, Integrated Waste Management Specialist, CalRecycle -Missy Beckwith, Assistant Director for Support Services, Middlebury…
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Thursday, December 5th, 2013 – Composting Strategies for Colleges and Universities Webinar, Thursday, December 5, 2013 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM In this Webinar, the EPA’s Food Recovery Challenge (FRC) will be explained and success stories from partners will be shared. Whether your school has been composting for years or is just beginning to contemplate a composting…
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Learn about the Boston University Dining Services composting program, which diverted over 850 tons of organic waste in 2011. Find the case study PDF here, or check out our business guidance page for colleges and universities!
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Check out our new page providing valuable waste management guidance for colleges and universities.
Included is a case study describing how the University of Massachusetts at Amherst diverted an additional 1200 pounds of food waste per day by expanding their composting program!