Penn aims to raise recycling rate to 30 percent

Sunday marked the beginning of RecycleMania, the annual eight-week competition between Penn and over 600 colleges and universities across the United States and Canada.

This year, Penn has set a goal to recycle 30 percent of its waste by the end of the competition on April 2.

Participating colleges and universities will be ranked in four categories: highest overall recycling rate, largest amount of total recyclables, largest amount of recyclables per person and least amount of trash per person.

Penn also competes in the Ivy Plus Division against other members of the Ivy League as well as Georgetown and Johns Hopkins universities.

This will be Penn’s fourth year competing in RecycleMania. Last year, Penn recycled 23.5 percent of its waste, and placed fifth among the Ivy Plus schools for total overall recycling rate.

This year’s goal of 30 percent is “realistic,” Environmental Sustainability Coordinator Dan Garofalo said.

Penn’s current recycling rate falls between 25 and 28 percent, according to a Penn Green Campus Partnership press release.

Emily Schiller, Wharton associate director for Sustainability and Leadership, said she is “totally confident we’re going to hit our 30 percent goal” for recycled paper, cardboard, commingled glass, plastic and metal waste.

Instead of large, campus-wide events like those held during RecycleMania last year, this year’s competition will center around initiatives by individual schools and departments, Garofalo said.

The Wharton School will continue its pilot composting program in Joe’s Cafe, and Penn Athletics will host a zero-waste basketball game.

In addition, the Penn Green Campus Partnership will hold small events throughout the week, where students can pick up reusable coffee cups, personal recycling bins and educational information.

However, Garofalo stressed that individual student efforts are “essential” to increasing the recycling rate on campus.

“One thing we’ve realized at Wharton [is that] we cannot do things on our own as the administration,” Schiller said, adding that it is vital for students and staff to participate in recycling for Penn to see a positive change.

However, the biggest obstacle to Penn’s meeting its recycling goal is that “most people don’t know what goes where,” she added.

Schiller pointed to the coffee cups at Joe’s Cafe as an example. Many students are not aware that leftover coffee can be composted and coffee cups must be trashed, whereas the lid and sleeve can be recycled.

Engineering freshman and Eco-Rep Laura MacKinnon said that RecycleMania is educational because “a lot of people don’t know what items can be recycled.”

On Sunday, she held a tabling event with fellow Eco-Reps where students could play a “sorting game” to learn what items are recyclable.

“A lot … is changing,” Schiller said. “It’s an exciting time to be doing RecyleMania.”

Each week, the Penn Green Campus Partnership website will update Penn’s standing among the Ivy Plus.

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