PHILADELPHIA –- As part of its Year of Games, the University of Pennsylvania is among the 600-plus colleges and universities across the United States and Canada competing during the next eight weeks in RecycleMania 2012. This competition is designed to see which schools will minimize their waste stream most significantly and achieve the greatest recycling rate.

As Penn gears up its recycling efforts for the tournament, it has set a goal of 32 percent – three percentage points higher than currently -- for recycling glass, plastic, metal, paper and cardboard.  The challenge is to reduce, reuse and recycle and compete against peer schools.

  “The industry is getting better at finding more ways to recycle more materials,” Dan Garofalo, Penn’s environmental sustainability coordinator, said.   “Those advances, along with our initiative to consolidate recycling and trash bins across campus, is making it easier than ever for the Penn community to recycle. RecycleMania is an opportunity to minimize the amount of waste you produce and make recycling a lifetime habit.”

Led by the Green Campus Partnership, which oversees Penn’s Climate Action Plan, various areas of campus have made public commitments about their recycling efforts:

• The School of Engineering and Applied Science plans to expand its battery recycling and desk-side recycling program in offices.
• The School of Arts and Sciences plans to pilot desk-side recycling in one of its buildings.
• The Perelman School of Medicine will offer hardcover-book recycling in Biomedical Research Building lobby during RecycleMania.
• Facilities and Real Estate Services will roll out Phase 2 of a campus bin-consolidation effort whereby single trash cans will be paired with single- or dual-stream cans.
• Business Services will pilot centralized-trash and desk-side recycling and participate in a recycling competition among offices in the 3401 Walnut St. building.  

Student Eco-Reps plan to hold events in their various residences throughout the competition.

In addition, Staff and Faculty Eco-Reps will inform their offices through emails, posters and events. Some will rally office clean ups during spring break.

Members of the campus community can pick up information about recycling at Penn as well as Green Campus Partnership giveaways at tabling events, set for 11:30 a.m.--2:30 p.m. each day during the kickoff week of Feb. 6-10. On Monday, sustainability reps will be at the Bookstore; on Tuesday at Houston Market; Wednesday, Joe’s Café; Thursday, Silfen Study Center; and Friday, Levine Hall.  In addition, on Feb. 16, the Perelman School of Medicine will host a sustainability fair in BRB lobby as well.  Other “pop-ups” will occur throughout the competition with times and locations sent through Facebook and Twitter. 

Commitments and weekly standings will appear on the Green Campus Partnership Website.