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Five New England Colleges and Universities recognized for Recycling Efforts

Release Date: 04/20/2010
Contact Information: David Deegan, (617) 918-1017

(Boston, Mass. – April 20, 2010) – In only 10 weeks of work, college students among 76 New England schools competing in a nation-wide recycling competition recovered 9.27 million pounds of recyclables and organics. Five of the top New England schools will be recognized on Earth Day at EPA’s Merit Award ceremony for their recycling efforts during the competition, called RecycleMania.

The five winning New England colleges and universities were:

United States Coast Guard Academy – New London, Connecticut
• First in the “Per Capita Classic”
• Second in the targeted materials: organics category

Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering – Needham, Massachusetts
• First place in targeted materials: paper category
• Second place for the “Per Capita Classic”
• Third place in targeted materials: bottles and cans category

Harvard University – Cambridge, Massachusetts
• Second place in the “Gorilla Prize”

Westfield State College – Westfield, Massachusetts
• Second place in targeted materials: paper category

Middlebury College – Middlebury, Vermont
• Third place in targeted materials: organics category

Nationally, 607 schools participated in the 2010 RecylceMania challenge, resulting in over 84.5 million pounds of material being recycled, which in turn prevented the release of nearly 137,500 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent.

"RecycleMania is reinvigorating colleges to minimize their waste and help the environment," said Curt Spalding, regional administrator of EPA's New England office. "As we celebrate the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day, it’s exciting and gives us hope that college students throughout New England actively helping to protect our environment."

RecyleMania is affiliated with EPA’s WasteWise program, a free partnership helping U.S. organizations eliminate or reduce costly waste, which benefits both the financial bottom line as well as the environment. In March 2010, EPA recognized Suffolk University from Boston, Mass. with a 2009 WasteWise Gold Achievement Award in the Employee Education Category. EPA New England encourages all New England colleges to continue their waste reduction efforts year round and join EPA’s WasteWise program. Partners get free access to Re-TRAC, a web-based data management and reporting system.

More Information:

RecycleMania, including the 2010 participating schools and results (www.recyclemaniacs.org)

EPA WasteWise program, the Re-TRAC tool, and how to join as a WasteWise Partner (www.epa.gov/wastewise)

About RecycleMania
RecycleMania was launched in 2001 as a friendly challenge between Ohio University and Miami University to increase recycling on their campuses. The contest has expanded rapidly in nine years’ time from two schools in 2001 to 607 colleges and universities in 2010 spanning 49 states, the District of Columbia, and Canada. Over a 10-week period, campuses compete to see which institution can collect the largest amount of recyclables per person, the largest amount of total recyclables, the least amount of trash per person, or have the highest recycling rate. For complete competition background and details, visit the RecycleMania website at www.recyclemaniacs.org.

About WasteWise
WasteWIse was launched in 1994 and has over 2000 partners. WasteWise is a free, voluntary EPA program through which organizations eliminate costly waste, benefiting their bottom line and the environment. WasteWise members can join as partners, endorsers, or both. Partners join to change their own behavior and track their own internal waste reduction efforts with Re-TRAC, a web-based data management and reporting system. For more information on WasteWise, Re-TRACl or to join as a WasteWise Partner, visit www.epa.gov/wastewise.

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