Recyclemania returns: the race to stop the waste

recyclemania medium

For the fourth year in a row, Northwest is participating in the national collegiate waste-reduction contest known as Recyclemania.

First-week results from about 400 participating colleges and universities nationwide will be posted on Friday, Feb. 8. The contest concludes Saturday, April 5.

Northwest came in seventh overall last year among schools vying for the Grand Champion trophy. It was the institution’s second consecutive top-ten finish.

The University also placed 27th out of 175 schools competing in the Stephen K. Gaski Per Capita Classic by collecting an average of 36.03 pounds of recyclables per student. In a third category, Waste Minimization, Northwest finished 23rd out of 66 schools by averaging 77.91 cumulative pounds of waste per student.

As always, this year’s competition is designed to motivate campus communities to increase recycling efforts while reducing overall waste streams. Weekly results and other contest information are available at www.recyclemania.org.

Northwest students, faculty and staff are urged to make a special effort over the next 10 weeks to dispose of paper, corrugated cardboard and beverage bottles and cans in campus recycling receptacles, which are located in major campus facilities and all residence halls.

Recyclemania categories in which Northwest has signed up to compete include:

Grand Champion

Schools that participate in both the Per Capita and the Waste Minimization competitions are automatically eligible to become the Recyclemania Grand Champion. The grand champion will have excelled in source reduction, waste prevention and recycling, and will have exemplified a more holistic view to the school's waste reduction efforts.

The winner will have the highest recycling rate, which means that they not only have reduced trash disposal through waste prevention, but also focused on making sure that a majority of the Recyclemania-accepted materials generated on campus were recycled.

Recyclemania calculates the standings using the following equation:

weight of recyclables
----------------------------------------
weight of recyclables + weight of trash X 100

Stephen K. Gaski Per Capita Classic

The Per Capita Classic is the traditional Recyclemania competition format in which schools compete to see who can collect the most combined recyclables. This competition involves the most basic format and is the easiest to carry out for most universities.

To participate in the Per Capita Classic, schools report their total weights for paper, cardboard and beverage containers. Schools may either report these materials separately or as co-mingled weights.

Recyclemania calculates the standings using the following equation:

weight of recyclables
-----------------------
campus population

The Per Capita Classic is named in honor of Steve Gaski of Miami University, an early supporter of Recyclemania since its founding in 2001.

Waste Minimization

This competition focuses on overall waste reduction instead of recycling. Schools compete to see who can generate the lowest amount of total waste per capita, which includes both trash and recycling.

Results are calculated by taking the volume of acceptable recyclables and adding it to the volume of trash and dividing this number with the population figure. The measurements can come from the entire campus or a sub-section of the campus (such as residential areas, student union, etc).

Recyclemania figures the standings using the following equation:

weight of recyclables + weight of trash
----------------------------------------
campus population

Gorilla Prize

The Gorilla Prize is a new recognition for schools that collect the highest gross tonnage of recyclables regardless of campus population. Schools that participate in either the Per Capita or the Waste Minimization competitions are automatically eligible to win the Gorilla Prize.

Recyclemania created this prize to honor schools with outstanding recycling programs that have the infrastructure in place to handle a large volume of recyclables. The winner will be the school that has the highest recycling total.

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Recyclemania is supported by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s WasteWise program and the National Recycling Coalition (NRC), and is coordinated as a project of NRC’s College and University Recycling Council (CURC).

For more information, please contact:

Anthony Brown,
News Bureau Manager
E-Mail: abrown@nwmissouri.edu
Phone: 660.562.1704
Fax: 660.562.1900

Northwest Missouri State University
219 Administration Building,
800 University Drive
Maryville, MO 64468

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