Recyclemania

Final Results

When the national Recyclemania competition wrapped up in April, MU was ranked 13 out of 292 participating schools in the "Gorilla" category, which measures the total weight of collected recycleables. MU's ranking is up from 42 in 2007, the last time it competed in this category. At the end of the competition, MU collected over 580,000 pounds of recycleables.

Rankings for most of the other categories in the Recyclemania competition are based on per-capita results, putting large schools at a comparative disadvantage. The chart to the right details MU's rankings in the other categories in which it was entered.

New this year for MU is entering the "Food Service Organics" targeted category, thanks to Sustain Mizzou's composting project.

Background

Recyclemania is a friendly competition that pits colleges and universities nationwide in a 10-week contest to see which campus can recycle the most waste. The event has grown exponentially since its inception eight years ago, when only two universities competed. This year, nearly 500 colleges and universities have registered to compete in several different contests from January 18 through March 28, 2009.

Participating schools report recycling and trash data during the contest, which are then ranked according to:

• who collects the largest amount of recyclables per capita
• who collects the largest amount of total recyclables
• who generates the least amount of trash per capita, and
• who has the highest recycling rate.

Results are posted online weekly; as the contest progresses, participating schools watch how their results stack up against the competition and use this information to rally their campus communitites to reduce and recycle more.

MU in 2007 collected 119 tons of recycleables and placed 42 out of 175 schools in the "Gorilla" competition, which measures the total tonnage of recycleables collected during the competion. In 2008, MU finished 11th nationally in the cardboard targeted material contest; participation was limited to collection in the residence halls. MU this year is expanding its participation by entering all of the available categories.

Results will be posted beginning Jan. 30, 2009. For more information on Recyclemania or to track MU's results, click the logo at the top, or go to www.recyclemania.org. For more information on recycling at MU, contact our recycling coordinator.