Mizzou's sustainability efforts were hit all-time highs this year.
COLUMBIA, Mo. - The Mizzou Department of Athletics saw an all-time high in its sustainability and recycling efforts during the 2014 football season as Mizzou recycled 45.2 tons of waste with a 32.2-perent diversion rate, both of which are all-time highs at Mizzou. After placing an increased awareness on improving sustainability efforts this season, the facility operations and event management team at Mizzou more than quadrupled the amount that it recycled from last season (11.9 in 2013, 45.2 in 2014) while the 32.2-percent diversion rate is up from 10.2-percent in 2013.
"We made it a point of emphasis to improve our sustainability efforts at football this season and if you look at the data that we got in return, it shows that we really did a nice job," assistant director of event management Tony Wirkus said. "So much credit needs to go to our fans as they really did a great job assisting in the recycling efforts. We obviously couldn't have had that type of turn-around without a lot of people buying into what we were trying to do. The bottom line is we want to keep our campus beautiful while disposing of waste the proper way and we took a huge step forward in doing that this season."
Mizzou Athletics took hold of recycling efforts in the football gameday parking lots this season to assist in streamlining the process, which in the past was headed by individual groups. Parking attendants took a more active approach in distributing recycling bags in the gameday parking lots and additional recycling cans with a two-bag system (blue recycle bags, black trash bags) were strategically placed by Mizzou Athletics to promote responsible waste management. Athletics also partnered with groups on campus to examine behavior and waste streams to see where improvement could be made in Mizzou's recycling efforts.
After setting all-time highs in recycling and diversion rate, Mizzou ranked very high on the national scene as well. In all, Mizzou was 26th nationally in diversion rate and was 15th nationally in total pounds recycled. Among schools in the SEC, Mizzou was third in total recycling, fourth in waste minimization, second in green-house gas reduction and fourth in diversion rate.
Mizzou Football Recycling Over the Last 10 Years (tons)
2005: 12.1
2006: 19.1
2007: 27.0
2008: 19.2
2009: 15.1
2010: 18.6
2011: 14.8
2012: 21.1
2013: 11.9
2014: 45.2
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