This is where change begins.
Recycling Initiatives
UB has programs in place to recycle over twenty different materials. Find out how you can waste less on campus.
Finalized in September of 2024, this report focuses on progressing the University's Climate Action Plan by addressing one of the 10 in 10's key strategies: diverting 90 percent of waste generated as a result of campus operations. The goal of this report is to guide this work and provide a current baseline to measure progress against.
The strategic plan identified the following priorities to achieve zero waste by 2030:
- Develop Strong Management and Metrics Across All Zero Waste Initiatives. Ensure efficient and effective management, coordination, and governance of all zero waste initiatives across the university enterprise by defining clear roles and responsibilities including leveraging external professional services, while also ensuring strong metrics and measurement for operations, reporting and success.
- Create Standardized and Unified Zero Waste Infrastructure for UB. Ensure collection equipment across campus is easily identifiable and consistent; reduce confusion and barriers to participation; include clear, engaging and informative signage and labeling; is serviceable; and works within the existing built environment.
- Acquire and Deploy New Zero Waste Collection Infrastructure Across Entire University. Overhaul existing front-of-house trash, recycling, and organics infrastructure with new R/O/T (recycling/organics/trash) system across 200 buildings and outdoor space, leveraging the new infrastructure standards
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- Capture and Recycle All Organics. Integrate organics recycling as a new practice within university building zero waste infrastructure (recycling, organics and trash) and divert all yard and grounds organics (leaves, brush, etc.) from landfill
- Enhance Zero Waste Toolbox. Create a comprehensive toolbox (building from existing web presence) for all things zero waste that empowers the campus community with information, knowledge, and action steps.
- Create and Advance Policy Recommendations to Institutionalize University Zero Waste Practice. Develop policies that will support circularity and zero waste practices across the campus that will be adopted through the UB Policy Process and ultimately incorporated into the UB Policy Library.
- Advance Zero Waste Through Campus Participation. Require campus community to deposit their own trash, recyclables, and organics in centralized infrastructure, thereby creating better awareness by the individual and increased capacity for custodians to focus on critical infrastructure including restrooms and common areas.
- Institutionalize Custodial Zero Waste Practices. Create and implement standard procedures and protocols fro custodial teams to ensure management of resources are aligned with institutional zero waste goals.
- Capture and Reduce All Construction and Operational Landfill Material. Waste created from construction, renovation, and other "back of house" materials must be tracked and reduced, repurposed, or recycled.
- Compostable To-Go Dining. Ensure all single-use dining materials are compostable.
