The University of Wisconsin Oshkosh received top ranking in the state for the Grand Champion category of RecycleMania, a nation-wide competition among college and university recycling programs.
Over a 10-week period, campuses competed in a variety of contests to see which institution could 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. In addition to winning the Grand Champion category, UW Oshkosh ranked in the top five for bottles and cans, corrugated cardboard and paper collected as well as the Gorilla Prize, which totaled the highest gross tonnage of recyclables.
In 2010, 607 schools in 43 states, the District of Columbia and two other countries competed. Eight campuses throughout Wisconsin participated. The results are as follows:
The Waste Minimization contest ranked campuses by the lowest overall amount of waste (recyclables and trash) generated per person.
- UW-Platteville (14.09 pounds)
- Western Technical College (23.47 pounds)
- UW-La Crosse (29.37 pounds)
- UW-Whitewater (30.82 pounds)
- UW-Stevens Point (32.71 pounds)
The Per Capita Classic top five finalists were determined by total pounds of recyclables collected per person.
- Lawrence University (44.65 pounds)
- UW-Milwaukee (21.22 pounds)
- Saint Norbert College (20.48 pounds)
- UW-Green Bay (17.01 pounds)
- UW-Eau Claire (12.22 pounds)
The Grand Champion contest combines the results of the Per Capita Classic and the Waste Minimization competitions into a cumulative recycling rate.
- UW Oshkosh (48.44 percent)
- UW-Milwaukee (45.84 percent)
- UW-Platteville (45.45 percent)
- Saint Norbert College (41.20 percent)
- UW-River Falls (37.07 percent)
The winners of the Gorilla Prize were chosen for having the highest gross tonnage of recyclables.
- UW-Madison (312.4 tons)
- UW-Milwaukee (298.4 tons)
- UW-Eau Claire (69.6 tons)
- UW Oshkosh (61.4 tons)
- UW-Green Bay (50.4 tons)
In the Targeted Materials (Paper) category, schools competed to see which campus could recycle the largest cumulative amount of paper per person.
- UW-Milwaukee (7.69 pounds)
- College of Menominee Nation (7.47 pounds)
- UW-Whitewater (4.87 pounds)
- UW Oshkosh (4.24 pounds)
- UW-Stout (3.48 pounds)
The Targeted Materials (Corrugated Cardboard) competition measured the amount of corrugated cardboard recycled per person.
- UW-Stevens Point (3.85 pounds)
- UW Oshkosh (2.62 pounds)
- UW-Milwaukee (2.55 pounds)
- UW-Platteville (2.45 pounds)
- UW-Stout (2.26 pounds)
The following Targeted Materials (Bottles and Cans) competition participants had the largest amount of bottles and cans recycling rate per person:
- UW Oshkosh (3.72 pounds)
- UW-Madison (3.02 pounds)
- UW-Milwaukee (2.77 pounds)
- UW-Whitewater (2.68 pounds)
- UW-Stevens Point (2.46 pounds)
The Food Service Organics finalists recycled the largest amount of food service organics per person.
- UW-Eau Claire (7.43 pounds)
- UW-Stout (3.84 pounds)
- UW-Madison (0.89 pounds)
- UW-La Crosse (0.82 pounds)
- UW-Milwaukee (0.53 pounds)
RecycleMania is administered by the National Recycling Coalition (NRC) as a project of NRC’s College and University Recycling Council (CURC). RecycleMania is championed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s WasteWise program, The Coca-Cola Company, Keep America Beautiful, and the American Forest & Paper Association. For complete contest background and details, visit the RecycleMania website at www.recyclemaniacs.org.
Related stories: