Waste Reduction 
Members of the U-M community can help reduce waste by hosting a zero waste event, where 90 percent of waste is diverted from the landfill via waste prevention, recycling and composting. The Office of Campus Sustainability provides guidance and free materials to students, faculty and staff to make their campus events zero waste. OCS supported more than 530 zero waste events in fiscal year 2019.
Waste bin standardization
In 2020, U-M finished standardizing waste bins across campus with clear signage identifying where to throw items to make it easier to reduce, recycle and compost.
Composting expansion
Compost service continues to expand across U-M and a growing number of events are zero waste. In 2020, U-M expanded composting to 50 new buildings, bringing the total to 150—including all residence halls and all 22 on-campus cafes. In addition, over 600 staff kitchens are composting.
Composting and recycling on the medical campus
University of Michigan Health System collects pre-consumer compost at the patient food kitchen of C.S. Mott Children’s & Voigtlander Women’s Hospital and vendor-operated cafeterias. UMHS also collects post-consumer compost (leftover food from patient trays) in University Hospital and Children’s and Women’s Hospital. In 2020, UMHS expanded its single-stream and construction and demolition recycling upon partnering with a new recycling vendor for the main medical campus. UMHS also recycles blue wrap (a polypropylene-based sterilization wrap used in operating rooms) in C.S. Mott Children's and Von Voiglander Women's Hospital and the Cardiovascular Center Hospital.
Diversion rate improves
Since 2006, when the goals were established, U-M building square footage has increased by more than 9 million square feet, offsetting overall waste reduction. Yet the university has increased its diversion rate (the percent of waste diverted from the landfill by recycling or composting) from 29% in fiscal year 2016 to 45% in fiscal year 2020.
Reducing waste at Children’s and Women’s Hospital
Blue wrap recycling is a multi-year sustainability initiative that came to fruition in December 2019. Blue wrap is a #5 polypropylene plastic used to maintain the sterility of surgical instruments. U-M Health System partnered with a vendor to reprocess the blue wrap to create medical-grade plastic products.
Goal data reflects temporary pandemic-related impacts and may not accurately convey the overall trajectory of progress.
For more information about U-M’s sustainability goals, visit the Office of Campus Sustainability.
