University of Pittsburgh Pitt Pantry lockers won a national food waste reduction award

Pitt is the Food Waste Reduction winner in the National Wildlife Federation 2024 Campus Race to Zero Waste Case Study Competition. The University was recognized for its Pitt Pantry lockers, an innovative approach to minimizing food waste and addressing food insecurity on campus.

Two HEIs Receive Plastics Reduction Bronze Certification

The National Wildlife Federation, in partnership with the Campus Race to Zero Waste Program, has awarded Bard College and California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt a Plastics Reduction Partner Bronze level certification. This program recognizes higher education institutions (HEIs) for taking action to reduce the purchase and use of single-use plastics on campus.

SUNY Adopts Policy to Phase Out Single Use Plastics

The recently adopted policy details a staged elimination of single-use plastics across all SUNY campuses. Items covered in the policy include bags, beverage bottles, food service products, utensils, plastic wrap and packaging films. Additionally, the university system is partnering with a public service platform to create a plastics-free solutions hub.

U College Cork to Go Plastic Free

In 2023, the university will eliminate all single-use plastic in its operation throughout campus dining, shops and vending machines.

PLAN Releases Top 10 2022 Zero Waste Institutions

The Post-Landfill Action Network (PLAN) recently released its list of Top 10 Zero Waste Campuses in the U.S., as assessed by PLAN’s Atlas Zero Waste Certification Program. Atlas is a holistic assessment framework for measuring waste reduction on college and university campuses.

Concordia U invests $2M in Local Circular Economy Fund

The university's foundation recently announced a $2 million contribution to a Québec-based, circular economy initiative, launched in March 2021 by Fondaction, in partnership with the City of Montreal and Recyc-Québec. The fund aims to accelerate ecological transition through the circular economy, notably by reducing the production of residual materials and supporting their recovery, in addition to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

NWF & Recyclemania Announce Campus Race to Zero Waste Results

Three winners were selected in each major category, representing small, medium and large campus sizes, with individual winners announced for special categories.