FACILITIES MANAGEMENT | Loyola Marymount University again sits atop higher education’s recycling efforts: For the second year in a row, the university was crowned the winner in two of the top three categories in RecycleMania, the annual recycling tournament for North American colleges and universities. LMU has the the distinction of being the only school to win two main categories in the same tournament, and set another record by repeating the feat the following year.
LMU Recycling, part of Facilities Management, diverts more waste from landfills of any college in America or Canada. The university recycles 89 percent of all waste produced on campus, which accounts for 79 pounds of recycling per person.
These efforts, led by a team of 14 full-time employees and 12 student workers, place LMU at the top of the industry. Uniquely, nearly every item that has an end-destination for recycling is recycled on the LMU campus, rather than being exported for processing – this includes pallets, electronic waste, pre- and post-consumer food discards, batteries, and all of the traditionally recyclable materials such as paper, bottles, and cans.
In fall 2020, LMU Recycling will be testing new equipment that is one of only a few of its kind in the world today. It is the department’s hope that these continual advancements will help the university land an unprecedented three-peat in next year’s tournament.
RecycleMania Quick Facts:
- 5 million college students and staff participated in this tournament across the U.S. and Canada;
- LMU won the Diversion and Per Capita categories, making it the first school to win two events in the same year in back-to-back years – LMU repeated the same feat in 2019 and 2020;
- RecycleMania nationwide impact:
- 6 million pounds of waste recycled and composted;
- 380 million single-use plastic containers removed from the waste stream;
- Prevented release of 70,875 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent into the atmosphere, equivalent to the annual emissions of 15,047 cars.
Also, in 2020, RecycleMania announced it will be changing its name to the Campus Race to Zero Waste for the 2021 competition.
