In a competition sponsored by the National Wildlife Federation, Neumann University placed first in the country in the 2024 Campus Race to Zero Waste contest for per capita recycling.
The university’s eco-friendly system logged 47.4 pounds of recycled material for every student, professor, and staff member on campus -- the best per capita total among all 150 participating colleges, regardless of size.
Rounding out the top five are Coe College (Iowa), Loyola Marymount University (California), Boston College, and Stanford University.
In 2023, Neumann finished second in the country (and first in the small campus division) with 39.6 pounds per capita.
The per capita metric measures the amount of recycled paper, cardboard, bottles, and cans collected per person. The results are calculated by dividing campus recycling weight totals by each school's full-time equivalent student, faculty, and staff populations. Neumann recycled 137,900 pounds of material during the 2023-24 academic year.
"The university's success in this year's Campus Race to Zero Waste contest reinforced the student body's focus on the environmental impact we achieve through recycling," said Bill Leonard, university director of facilities and maintenance.
According to contest officials, Campus Race to Zero Waste kept 105 million single-use plastics out of landfills and prevented the release of 23,174 metric tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, the equivalent of avoiding the annual emissions of 5,515 cars.
"Participating in the Campus Race to Zero Waste not only brought attention to the need for and importance of recycling but reiterated that what our campus is doing and the changes we have made regarding recycling is impactful and working," said Jess Webster, executive director of university events and conference services.
The Campus Race to Zero Waste was launched in 2001, starting as a challenge between Ohio University and Miami University.
To learn more about Neumann University’s sustainability programs, visit www.neumann.edu/sustainability.