Loyola Marymount University won first place for its diversion and recycling efforts in the 2019 nationwide RecycleMania competition among 300 college campuses in 43 states.
LMU won for achieving the highest waste diversion percentage – 89 percent – and landed on top for recycling the largest combined amount of paper, cardboard and bottles and cans on a per person basis – 78 pounds – according to RecycleMania contest results announced on Tuesday, May 7.
RecycleMania, which is managed by the National Wildlife Federation, encourages students and faculty and staff members to compete for “best in category” by reducing and recycling the most waste over an eight-week period. The contest measures such factors as how much of a campus’s waste stream is recycled, how much is diverted, per capita results, food waste abatement, and more. It also examines the effect of education on young people concerning how to avoid single-use plastics like disposable bottles and packaging.
“RecycleMania not only helps campuses improve their recycling and reduce waste, its framework provides guidance for campuses to work toward zero waste” said Stacy Wheeler, president of RecycleMania, Inc. “The RecycleMania competition engages millions of students each year and helps them gain skills through their leadership as part of the RecycleMania teams.”
Added Kevin Coyle, the National Wildlife Federation’s vice president for education and training: “For 18 years, RecycleMania has engaged and educated millions of students, faculty and staff at more than 1,000 colleges and universities in how reduction, recycling and composting can save our environment and wildlife habitat.”
The competition was held from Feb. 3 to March 30, 2019. During that time, colleges and universities recycled or composted – and donated to food banks and farms and used for biofuels – 65.5 million pounds of waste. They also prevented the release of 99.254 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MTCO2E) into the atmosphere, which is equivalent to preventing the annual emissions from 20,895 of cars.
Complete results can be found at recyclemania.org
