By UW-Stout News Bureau
The University of Wisconsin-Stout is the state’s top recycling campus for the second consecutive year.
In a recently completed national collegiate competition, Recyclemania, (www.recyclemania.org), UW-Stout led all 12 public and private campuses from Wisconsin that entered the eight-week contest.
In the Grand Champion division, UW-Stout’s recycling rate was 53.6 percent, 2.6 percentage points ahead of the Wisconsin runner-up, UW-Oshkosh.
Eight UW System colleges entered the competition, along with three private state colleges and Western Technical College of La Crosse.
Nationally, UW-Stout placed 31st out of 232 colleges and universities in the Grand Champion division.
Among schools with enrollment between 7,000 and 17,000 students, UW-Stout ranked 10th nationally. UW-Stout’s enrollment in fall 2014 was 9,371.
UW-Stout moved into the top tier of schools in Recyclemania last year – taking first in Wisconsin and 24th nationally – after making campus-wide changes the year before. Trash cans were removed from all classrooms and meeting rooms across campus. Instead, sets of three bins for recycling, compost and trash were placed in hallways and entrances to buildings.
The new system has forced people to consider their recycling options, and it has boosted the campus-wide recycling and composting rates, according to Sarah Rykal, director of the campus Sustainability Office.
UW-Stout’s recycling rate has improved 79 percent from just two years ago, when it was 30.6 percent.
The recycling rate of 53.6 percent this spring means that more waste is being recycled and composted than is going into a landfill.
“It’s been so exciting to see how changing our recycling and compost system has made such an impact in our campus waste reduction efforts,” Rykal said. “Thanks to the dedication of many people on our campus, we continually reduce landfilled waste and increase recycling and compost.”
In the last three years, the amount of waste collected at UW-Stout has dropped by 361,000 pounds, or 180,000 tons.
For more information on UW-Stout’s sustainability efforts, go to www.uwstout.edu/sustainability.