Alcoa Foundation Partners with Keep America Beautiful for Campus Recycling Competition

Alcoa Foundation is partnering with national nonprofit Keep America Beautiful and the College & University Recycling Coalition to provide a total of 20,000 recycling bins to colleges and universities during the RecycleMania competition.

Alcoa Foundation’s recycling bin grant program is an effort to help schools boost their results during the 8-week competition, and expand their recycling efforts throughout the year. Based on strategic plans to collect the most recyclable materials, Alcoa Foundation and Keep America Beautiful have awarded 33 grants to colleges and universities in the U.S., including 16 of which are Alcoa partner schools. The grantees will have the option to use the recycling bins in different on-campus settings — student housing, athletic facilities, academic buildings, administrative offices and outdoors.

The recipients are:

— Arizona State University (AZ)*

— Baldwin-Wallace College (OH)

— Blinn College (TX)*

— Butler University (IN)

— Case Western Reserve University (OH)*

— Clemson University (SC)*

— College of Charleston (SC)*

— Denison University (OH)

— Florida International University (FL)

— Hampton University (VA)*

— Indiana State University (IN)

— Ivy Tech Community College — Southwest (IN)*

— Kent State University (OH)*

— Lycoming College (PA)

— Missouri University of Science and Technology (MO)

— New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJ)

— Old Dominion University (VA)*

— Penn State Erie, The Behrend College (PA)

— Purdue University – West Lafayette (IN)*

— Randolph-Macon College (VA)

— Southern Illinois University Carbondale (IL)

— Spelman College (GA)

— Thiel College (PA)

— University of Akron (OH)*

— University of Houston (TX)*

— University of Iowa (IA)*

— University of Michigan (MI)*

— University of Missouri-Kansas City (MO)

— University of Mount Union (OH)

— University of Tennessee at Martin (TN)*

— University of Texas Medical Branch (TX)

— University of Virginia (VA)*

— Virginia Military Institute (VA)

*Alcoa campus partner

“Our continued support of RecycleMania is designed to ignite real change, to achieve one thing: dramatically higher recycling rates,” said Beth Schmitt, director of recycling programs for Alcoa. “Through the recycling bin grant program, we want to encourage a social shift toward recycling on college campuses. We want to show Millenials that recycling is not only the right thing to do, it’s the smart thing to do, and it’s something they should be in the habit of doing long after they leave college.”

In an effort to increase recycling at partner schools, Alcoa Foundation offered three types of recycling bins — small general purpose bins designed for residence hall rooms or offices, indoor public space bins and a public space bin ideal for outdoor venues. This year’s bin variety enabled selected schools to get the infrastructure where it is needed most to divert recyclables from the waste stream.

RecycleMania is a friendly competition that aims to change behavior about recycling and raise awareness about waste reduction programs on campuses. During the competition, which concludes on March 31, colleges and universities vie for top awards in nine categories to see which schools recycle the most on a per capita basis, produce the least amount of waste and recycle the largest percentage of their overall waste. In 2011, 630 colleges and universities participated in the challenge, collecting more than 91 million pounds of recyclables and compostable organics. This prevented the release of 127,553 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent into the atmosphere.

“RecycleMania provides colleges and universities with an easy way to boost recycling on campus and to instill students with a greater sense of obligation to recycle throughout their lives,” said Matthew M. McKenna, president and CEO of Keep America Beautiful. “We’re thankful for the support of Alcoa Foundation, and for the company’s continued leadership in advancing recycling nationwide.”

The Keep America Beautiful partnership further reinforces Alcoa and Alcoa Foundation’s commitment to increasing recycling across communities. Alcoa set a goal to increase recycling rates in the U.S. to 75 percent by 2015. Since 2008, Alcoa has distributed close to than 150,000 recycling bins, launched the Make an Impact program to help families live more sustainably, developed the free Aluminate(TM) recycling app, and, in the last five years, invested nearly $4.5 million in community-based recycling programs.