Campus Race to Zero Waste diverts 105 million single-use plastic containers

Campus Race to Zero Waste, a program developed by the Reston, Virginia-based National Wildlife Federation and nonprofit RecycleMania Inc., has recognized 30 colleges and universities as winners in this year’s competition. Winners are selected in each major category representing small, medium and large campus sizes, with individual winners announced for special categories.

“This year’s college and university competition participants made enormous strides on waste reduction and integrating sustainable practices throughout their campuses,” says Kristy Jones, director of higher education programs at National Wildlife Federation. “These collective actions to reduce the schools’ waste footprints are inspiring and are making a tangible positive impact on the environment.”

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According to the program sponsors, more than 2.7 million college students and staff across more than 150 campuses competed to reduce their scrap footprint through minimization efforts by donating, composting and recycling more than 30.7 million pounds of material. As a result, they kept more than 105 million single-use plastic containers out of landfills and prevented the release of 23,174 metric tons equivalent of CO₂ into the atmosphere.

“Our 2024 winners show why colleges continue to be among our nation’s leaders on sustainability,” says Stacey Wheeler, co-founder and president of Campus Race to Zero Waste. “These schools run the gamut—urban and rural, public and private, large and small. Their success shows that waste reduction in any type of community is possible, and is a testament to every student, faculty and staff member who made these accomplishments happen.”

Winners from each category include:

• Zero Waste Category, Large Campus: University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; 
• Food Organics Category, Small Campus: Aquinas College; Medium Campus: Loyola Marymount University; ans Large Campus: Kent State University; 
• Diversion Category, Small Campus: Macalester College; Medium Campus: Seattle University; and Large Campus: University of Louisville; 
• Per Capita Category, Small Campus: Neumann University; Medium Campus: Loyola Marymount University; and Large Campus: Boston College; 
• GameDay Basketball, Diversion Category: University of Richmond; and Per Capita Recycling Category: University of the Incarnate Word; 
• Race to Zero Waste One Building Challenge: Pennsylvania State University; 
• Cleanup Category: Drexel University; 
• Electronics Challenge, Per Capita Recycling Category: Northwest Missouri State University; and Total Pounds Recycled Category: Rutgers University; and
• Green Events: Agnes Scott College, Georgia and University of Massachusetts Amherst (under 50 attendees); University of Michigan Dearborn and Villanova University (under 100 attendees); Southern Illinois University Carbondale and University of South Carolina Upstate (under 500 attendees); Iowa State University (under 1,000 attendees); and Coastal Carolina University, South Carolina and University of California, Irvine (more than 1,000 attendees).

For the University of Richmond, in particular, the first-place finish in the GameDay Basketball category was its first and the result of work performed by the school’s Rethink Waste team, which it says leads the diversion of material across campus year-round and educates the campus on recycling and composting programs, as well as sustainable living practices.

At a Spiders basketball game earlier this year, the Rethink Waste team managed a small group of staff, students and volunteers who helped sort and dispose of scrap during and after the game. This resulted in 98 percent of the scrap generated going to recycling or compost facilities instead of a landfill.

“The entire Rethink Waste team and all our campus partners were crucial to our success at the Rethink Waste basketball game, and the results from that evening are a clear reflection of those efforts,” Rethink Waste Manager David Donaldson says. “This success only makes me more excited and determined to continue our on-campus initiatives.”

More details about categories and winners can be found here.