Eastern Illinois University Sustainability - What EIU Is Doing -- Recycling

Recycling at EIU

In FY93, Eastern Illinois University began full-scale recycling efforts with modest success, diverting just over 9 percent of the 2,992,802 pounds of of waste generated on its campus. Since then, that percentage has seen tremendous growth as EIU's recycling efforts have nearly quadrupled over that 18-year period.

FY10 saw Eastern recycle just under 1.1 million pounds of waste, representing an all-time high of 34.6 percent of the campus' total waste. It marked the 12th straight year EIU has diverted over a million pounds of waste away from landfills and the sixth straight year the percentage of diverted waste has increased. Around campus, the number of receptacles for your paper, aluminum and plastic garbage has steadily increased and is certainly a part of those positive recycling trends.

Total waste created at Eastern is also on a downward trend — since setting an all-time high of just under 4.1 million pounds in FY99, the university has cut that number to below 3.2 million pounds in the latest fiscal year. In FY01, EIU generated over 393 pounds of waste per enrolled student; that average is down to 265.12 as of FY10.

In 2009, two chillers were removed from Coleman Hall, which has been part of the university's chilled water loop since 2002. This resulted in the recycling of more than 16 tons of material — this isn't reflected in previous statistics referred to on this page, but does represent the kind of opportunities for which the university is constantly looking. After all, it has always been a presidential goal to see Eastern's recycling total hit 1.6 million pounds in a year, and that goal should serve as a reminder that EIU will never stop looking for additional ways to improve its recycling efforts.