RecycleMania, the premier collegiate recycling competition managed by Keep America Beautiful, is back in action as college campuses build school spirit while competing to see who will claim the championship in the fight to reduce, reuse, recycle and compost the most on campus. On Sunday, Feb. 7, the 2016 RecycleMania competition will begin and run for eight weeks alongside the collegiate basketball season. To date, over 300 schools, including college football national champion runner-up Clemson University, Stanford University, University of Kentucky, Harvard University and University of Michigan, among others, have registered to compete. Registration for new and returning colleges and universities is open through Feb. 5.
Colleges and universities compete in several categories based on the weight of recycling, food organics and waste reduction collected. Each week, schools report their data and use updated rankings to rally students and staff with educational activities, displays and other outreach efforts. New to this year鈥檚 competition is the 鈥淓lectronics Recycling鈥� category and the 鈥淢ost Improved鈥� category, which will measure schools鈥� 2016 performance relative to their performance in the 2015 RecycleMania competition. And the 鈥淕ame Day: Basketball鈥� category, in its third year, will continue to bring the excitement courtside, challenging schools to reduce waste and increase recycling during a selected home basketball game.鈥淲e鈥檙e excited for this sixteenth year of the RecycleMania competition,鈥� said RecycleMania, Inc. president Stacy Wheeler. 鈥淭hrough recent additions like GameDay Basketball and the Most Improved category, RecycleMania continues to be a valuable resource for colleges and universities to influence recycling and zero waste behavior with students and staff.鈥�
鈥淜eep America Beautiful is focused on making recycling easier by educating and engaging individuals about what to recycle 鈥� at home, at work, on the go and in schools from kindergarten through college across America,鈥� said Brenda Pulley, senior vice president, recycling, Keep America Beautiful. 鈥淭he RecycleMania competition motivates students on college and university campuses to recycle which in turn is one action that will help foster the next generation of community stewards.鈥�
RecycleMania is made possible with the generous sponsorship support of Alcoa Foundation, The Coca-Cola Company, CyclePoint庐 from SourceAmerica庐 and Rubbermaid Commercial Products庐, with comprehensive program management by Keep America Beautiful. 鈥淧artnering with RecyleMania aligns with Alcoa Foundation鈥檚 goal to increase environmental awareness by creating a community of sustainability ambassadors,鈥� said Alice Truscott, program manager, Alcoa Foundation. 鈥淩ecycleMania helps millions of students, faculty and staff take recycling on their campuses to another level, and we are looking forward to seeing the impactful results of the competition.鈥�
鈥淐oca-Cola believes in supporting recycling initiatives that drive positive actions and change,鈥� said Bruce Karas, vice president of environment and sustainability at Coca-Cola North America. 鈥淐oca-Cola is a longtime supporter of RecycleMania because it encourages college students to recycle more through friendly and fun competition. It helps create recycling habits that continue throughout their lives and impact future generations.鈥�
鈥淩ecycleMania has done an excellent job encouraging colleges and universities to recycle,鈥� said Kristine Sickels, senior vice president of marketing, RCP. 聽鈥淩ubbermaid Commercial Products庐 is committed to innovating products that assist in the recycling process making it easier to increase diversion rates away from landfills.鈥�
Since the competition launched in 2001, millions of students from 750 colleges and universities have recycled and composted roughly 653 million pounds of material during the tournament timeframe. Together, tournament participants have prevented the release of nearly 900,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, which is comparable to removing 7 million passenger vehicles from the road for one year.
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