RESTON, Va. —  16 colleges and universities have been recognized as winners for this year’s Campus Race to Zero Waste Competition, a program of the National Wildlife Federation and RecycleMania Inc., and sponsored by Rubicon. Three winners are selected in each major category, representing small, medium and large campus sizes, with individual winners announced for special categories. 

More than 3.4 million college students and staff across 200 campuses competed to reduce their waste footprint through minimization efforts by donating, composting and recycling more than 29.4 million pounds of waste. As a result, they kept more than 205 million single-use plastic containers out of landfills and prevented the release of 29,108 metric tons equivalent of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, equal to avoiding the annual emissions from 6,128 cars.

“The impact these colleges and universities have on reducing their waste footprint is tremendous and almost hard to comprehend. To prevent the release of more than 29,000 metric tons equivalent of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and more than 200 million single-use plastics out of landfills is staggering and truly something to be proud of,” said Kristy Jones, director of higher education programs at National Wildlife Federation. “The collective efforts to minimize waste and reduce stress on natural resources is inspiring and creating a better world for wildlife and the environment.”

“Congratulations to all participating campuses,” says Stacy Wheeler, president and co-founder of the competition. “Annually the Campus Race to Zero Waste competition provides key tools and opportunities that inspire, empower and mobilize colleges and universities to improve their efforts to benchmark and promote their zero waste practices.”

“In keeping with our mission to end waste, Rubicon places great importance on empowering communities around the country with the knowledge they need to address waste challenges and develop successful, sustainable solutions,” said David Rachelson, Chief Sustainability Officer at Rubicon. “Each year we are inspired by the efforts of those campus communities participating in this competition and are thrilled to contribute our industry expertise to this important initiative. The work of these students inspires all generations to waste less, forging a more circular economy for our future.”

Winners from each category include: 

Zero Waste Category

• Small campus: Macalester College, Minnesota
• Medium: No campuses named in this category for the 2023 competition
• Large campus: California State University, Dominguez Hills, California

Food Organics Category

• Small campus: Macalester College, Minnesota
• Medium campus: Loyola Marymount University, California
• Large campus: Stanford University, California

Diversion Category

• Small campus: Macalester College, Minnesota
• Medium campus: Loyola Marymount University, California
• Large campus: University of Ottawa, Canada

Per Capita Category

• Small campus: Neumann University, Pennsylvania
• Medium campus: Loyola Marymount University, California
• Large campus: Boston College, Massachusetts

GameDay Basketball

• Diversion category: The Ohio State University, Ohio
• Per Capita Recycling category: University of Southern California, California

Race to Zero Waste – One Building challenge

• Pennsylvania State University, Pennsylvania

Electronics challenge

• Per Capita Recycling category: Black Hills State University, South Dakota
• Total Pounds Recycled category: Rutgers University, New Jersey

For more details about our categories and winners, please visit the 2023 Scoreboard.

About Campus Race to Zero Waste
Campus Race to Zero Waste – formerly known as RecycleMania – is the nation’s premier waste reduction and recycling competition among colleges and universities, managed by National Wildlife Federation, and governed by RecycleMania, Inc. Campus Race to Zero Waste has been helping campuses minimize waste and improve their recycling efforts, since its launch in 2001.