Greenville Technical College bags first place in Recyclemania competition

Waste & Recycling  |  2012-04-27 07:21:34   |   By

Greenville Technical College has achieved first place in the Grand Champion category of the Recyclemania competition among competing colleges and universities in South Carolina, a competition category that measures the percentage of waste recycled.

GREENVILLE (Scrap Monster): Greenville Technical College has achieved first place in the Grand Champion category of the Recyclemania competition among competing colleges and universities in South Carolina, a competition category that measures the percentage of waste recycled.

Greenville Technical College was established in 1962 and is a four-campus system where nearly 30,000 students are annually preparing for the strongest careers of today and tomorrow.

Greenville Tech recycles 53% of all refuse, achieving an overall ranking of #22 out of 605 participants.

Greenville Tech is in good company in South Carolina, with the state's top five Grand Champions including Furman University, Clemson University, Erskine College, and the University of South Carolina.

Recyclemania is a competition and benchmarking tool for college and university recycling programs designed to encourage waste reduction activities.

During an eight-week period each spring, colleges from across the United States and Canada report the amount of recycling and trash collected each week and are ranked in nine different categories including collecting the most waste on a per person basis, recycling rate as a percentage of overall waste, producing the least amount of recyclables and trash per person, and recycling the highest gross tonnage.

The Grand Champion category combines trash and each of the core recyclable materials to determine an institution's recycling rate as a percentage of its overall waste generation.

To be ranked in this category, colleges must provide their trash, paper, cardboard and can and bottle weights. A high rank in this category indicates reduced trash disposal through waste prevention along with an effective recycling program.

Greenville Tech became serious about recycling on campus in 2008 when a recycling coalition led by biology faculty members began encouraging students and employees to recycle, reuse, and reduce. The group first celebrated Earth Day in 2008 with Earth Fest, an event aimed at leading the campus community toward environmental responsibility.

The effort led to a strong partnership with Keep Greenville County Beautiful, part of Keep America Beautiful.

Greenville Technical College was recently recognized nationally as an innovator in sustainability education by the American Association of Community Colleges and its Sustainability Education and Economic Development Center.