2012 Recyclemania Results




	Home Thiel Headline News Experts and Speakers Graphics Standards Public Relations Office T-Notes Today at Thiel		THIEL COLLEGE PLACES 52ND IN ANNUAL RECYCLEMANIA COMPETITION April 18, 2012 GREENVILLE, PA – This semester, for the fourth year, Thiel College participated in RecycleMania, an international competition among college campuses that challenges students to reduce, reuse and recycle the most on-campus waste. For an eight-week period, which began in early February, Thiel and more than 600 schools representing all 50 states, the District of Columbia and five Canadian provinces competed in the nine categories of RecycleMania to see who, on a per capita basis, produces the least amount of waste and who recycles the largest percentage of overall waste. Colleges and universities submitted weight data for paper, cardboard, cans, bottles, food waste and general trash each week. Thiel competed in the “Targeted Materials: Bottles and Cans” division and placed 52 out of 168 colleges and universities, which equals an average of 2.27 pounds of recyclables per person on campus during the eight weeks of competition. Last year, Thiel placed 72nd out of about 150 schools in the same division. Thanks to Thiel’s participation in RecycleMania, the campus received one of 33 grants from the Alcoa Foundation, the College & University Recycling Coalition and the Keep America Beautiful organization. The 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. Thiel received 75 additional blue recycling bins to help expand recycling efforts to lower campus. In an attempt to increase awareness of the need to recycle, junior Josh Emanuelson, student-greening manager—with the assistance of Thiel’s Environmental Club members—performed an audit of recyclables found in the campus’ trash bins during RecycleMania. They retrieved 20 pounds of recyclables in just five bags of trash. About Thiel College Thiel College is a liberal arts, sciences and professional studies institution located in Greenville, Pa., that provides a great balance of academic challenge, personal and social involvement, and exceptional value to its 1,100 students. For more information about Thiel College, visit www.thiel.edu or call 800-24-THIEL. About Alcoa Foundation Alcoa Foundation is one of the largest corporate foundations in the U.S., with assets of approximately US$446 million. Founded more than 50 years ago, Alcoa Foundation has invested more than US$550 million since 1952. In 2011, Alcoa Foundation contributed more than US$20 million to nonprofit organizations throughout the world, building innovative partnerships, engaging its people to improve the environment and educating tomorrow’s leaders. The work of Alcoa Foundation is further enhanced by Alcoa’s thousands of employee volunteers who share their energy, passion and purpose to make a difference in the communities where Alcoa operates. Through the company’s signature Month of Service program, in 2011, a record 56 percent of Alcoa employees took part in more than 1,200 events across 24 countries, reaching 81,000 children, serving 9,000 meals, planting 34,000 trees and supporting 1,800 nonprofit organizations. More information can be found at www.alcoafoundation.com. About Alcoa Recycling Alcoa and the aluminum industry have a goal to increase can recycling rates in America to 75% by 2015. To hit this goal, Alcoa and the Alcoa Foundation have distributed nearly 150,000 recycling bins, launched a Make an Impact calculator to help families live more sustainably, created the Aluminate™ recycling app and, in the last five years, invested nearly $4.5 million in community recycling programs across the country. More information can be found at www.alcoarecycling.com. About Keep America Beautiful, Inc. Keep America Beautiful, Inc., established in 1953, is the nation's largest volunteer-based community action and education organization. This national nonprofit forms public/private partnerships and programs that engage individuals to take greater responsibility for improving their community environments. For additional information, visit www.kab.org. About the College & University Recycling Council The College & University Recycling Council (CURC) is a membership-based nonprofit organization made up of collegiate recycling and sustainability professionals seeking to exchange technical knowledge and best practices on recycling and waste reduction programs between institutions of higher learning. Originally formed in 1992 as a technical council of the National Recycling Coalition, CURC incorporated as an independent organization in 2009. Today, CURC counts nearly 1,300 members and is led by a steering committee made up of recycling and sustainability program managers from universities across the United States. Among other initiatives, CURC supports collegiate recycling programs through a free webinar series, annual workshops, a quarterly e-newsletter, the development of best-practices manuals and toolkits. For more information, go to www.curc3r.org. –30– .