Purdue posts strong performance in 2016 RecycleMania

Following the two-month RecycleMania contest, Purdue either improved or remained the same in four of the contest categories.

RecycleMania, a contest that tracks the amount of recycling and trash collected each week and then ranks participating institutions in various categories, came to an end in mid-April. Purdue's final rankings were as follows:

* 16th out of 276 institutions and third in Indiana in the Gorilla Prize category (same ranking as last year).

* 60th out of 208 institutions in the Grand Champion category (improvement in ranking).

* 53rd out of 114 institutions in the Waste Minimization category (improvement in ranking).

* 72nd out of 269 institutions in the Per Capita Classic (improvement in ranking).

* 92nd out of 140 institutions in the Food Service Organics category.

Of the Big Ten institutions that participated in RecycleMania, Purdue outranked the others by at least 15 slots in the Per Capita Classic category. Purdue also ranked third-highest in the Grand Champion category.

"The participation of the campus community and the work of Physical Facilities staff to coordinate the effort and collect, process and weigh related materials were the leading factors in the success of this year's competition," says Michael Gulich, director of campus master planning and sustainability. "We are proud of our rankings and look forward to participating and improving again next year."

More information about RecycleMania, including complete results, can be found at www.recyclemaniacs.org.