Colorado State University is Second in the Nation for Recycling

Colorado State University placed second in the nation in the Grand Champion competition for RecycleMania, a 10-week recycling competition between colleges and universities across the nation.

CSU finished with a cumulative recycling rate of 51 percent of the total waste generated on campus, up from 41 percent last year. CSU also finished fifth in the country in the Waste Minimization category.

"We are so proud of the entire university’s recycling effort. It was the best finish yet for Colorado State University," said Tonie Miyamoto, director of communication for Housing and Dining Services at Colorado State. "Finishing second in the nation among the hundreds of participating universities underscores both university and student commitment to sustainability."

CSU finished first in the state among the four Colorado universities participating in the Whole Campus division of the competition.

RecycleMania is a 10-week recycling competition with 400 colleges and universities competing against each institution’s recycling program. A total of 58.6 million pounds of material was recycled by all schools involved in the competition. During the 10 weeks, CSU recycled 451,872 pounds of material.

Over a 10-week period, campuses compete in different contests to see which institution can collect the largest amount of recyclables per capita, the largest amount of total recyclables, the least amount of trash per capita, or have the highest recycling rate.

The main goal of the event is to increase student awareness of campus recycling and waste minimization. All participating schools are required to report measurements on a weekly basis in pounds.

Last year, Colorado State University placed ninth in the Grand Champion category.

To learn more about CSU campus recycling and recyclable materials, visit www.facilities.colostate.edu.

To learn more about the RecycleMania competition, visit www.recyclemania.org.

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