Sustainability Action Plan: Recycling & Waste Minimization

The campus is transforming its waste management practices to influence recycling and reduce the amount of landfill waste created on the campus. By using the reuse, reduce, recycle model we can minimize our waste.

Sustainability Action Plan
Recycling and Waste Minimization Section

Objective 1: Reduce waste generated on campus
Objective 2: Increase the reuse of all reusable materials on campus
Objective 3: Increase recycling for all recyclable materials on campus

Top Accomplishments

In 2014 we invested a million dollars in 138 dual “Big Belly” outdoor recycling and trash receptacles
Recycling teams volunteer at home football game tailgating events to promote recycling among the attendees. NAU’s first “Green Game” was held in 2015
The Dining Halls compost 40,000 pounds of pre-consumer food waste, together with landscaping waste, 120,000 pounds of materials were diverted from the landfill preventing almost 100 tons of CO₂ into the atmosphere
Since the “Leave Green” program started in 2010, students have donated over 130,000 pounds of items to not-for-profit organizations in Flagstaff
For fiscal year 2016 (July 1, 2015-June 30, 2016) we estimate that the Flagstaff campus diverted approximately 942 tons away from the landfill and sent approximately 2809 tons to landfill. These numbers include waste and recycling from campus operations, construction waste and recycling, composting, leave green, and book recycling.
The Union, Castro SBS, Liberal Arts, and the Babbitt Administrative Center are participating in NAU’s new Recycling Pilot Program to streamline recycling across campus and bring better labeled recycling bins to the buildings
All new NAU construction is up to LEED gold standards for the minimization of construction waste
In 2011, the campus began putting in water bottle refill stations around campus
The Waste Minimization Team was developed in 2013 to create infrastructure and processes that will efficiently and effectively minimize all facets of waste generated on or by the NAU campus

Learn more at the NAU Recycling page.