GameDay Recycling Challenge Announces LSU National Recycling Champs

By RecycleManiaFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEContact: Stacy WheelerRecycleMania, Inc.Recyclemania@nwf.org1-202-417-7379

RESTON, Virginia (Jan. 16, 2019) Louisiana State University battled head-to-head with Clemson University for both the National title in football and the #1 spot in "Total Recycled" during the 2019 GameDay RecyclingChallenge (GDRC) — the nation’s premiere collegiate football waste reduction competition. GDRC congratulates Louisiana State University for coming out on top in both National Football Championship and the top spot for "Total Recycled" during the 2019 season.The competition in the national category for ”Top Diversion Rate” was fierce during the 2019 season, with slim margins between the top schools. GDRC congratulates Ohio University for their rise to the #1 spot in”Top Diversion Rate” during the 2019 compeition, with an incredible 93 percent diversion rate for a game with over 15,000 attendees. Additionally, several competitors have received this year’s GameDay honorable mentions including the Ohio State University for their excellence in benchmarking and data tracking and Auburn University for their back-to-back years in excellence for promoting the GameDay Challenge through social media, touting them as “Schools To Watch”.“The 2020 GameDay Recycling Challenge was special this year with top contenders LSU, Clemson and the Ohio State University playing in the 2020 College Football National Championship Playoffs and competing in one of the most impressive seasons in college recycling,” says Stacy Wheeler, RecycleMania Inc. president. “College athletics and their operational teams are uniquely positioned to engage and influence its fan base about environmental stewardship. Most GameDay Challenge schools have stadiums that have been pushing green initiatives for 10 or more years. Our GameDay winners advance the supply chain in their local and regional circular economies and now have a fan base that expects and wants green practices at every home GameDay. That’s progress.”Louisiana State University is the national champion in the Total Recycling category, with 127,940 pounds of material recycled, composted or donated. Ohio University is the national champion in the Diversion category (recycling, plus organics composting and recovery as a percent of total trash) with a 92.94 percent diversion rate. Gold, Silver, and Bronze for both categories are listed below.RANK SCHOOL POUNDS RECYCLED1 Louisiana State University 127,9402 Clemson University 78,1573 The Ohio State University 46,102“LSU continues to improve its recycling efforts each year through the use of creative and innovative methods, development of new public and private partnerships, and higher levels of participation by our students, faculty, and staff volunteers.” -Sarah Temple, Assistant Director of Campus Sustainability at Louisiana State UniversityRANK SCHOOL DIVERSION RATE1 Ohio University 92.94%2 University of Rochester 91.48%3 The University of Akron 87.79%“GameDay Challenge is an excellent opportunity to build our recycling culture by engaging with thousands of fans all at the same time. This year, [Ohio University] is particularly proud of introducing an opt-in compost program to our tailgaters as well as setting up an in the stadium sorting station.” -Andrew Ladd, Recycling and Zero Waste Manager at Ohio UniversityThe 2019 GDRC pitted 50 colleges and universities in a fun and friendly competition designed to engage college football fans to see who could recycle the most and reduce the most waste. The competition reached 6.9 million fans at 115 games, based on reported stadium attendance numbers. Participating schools recycled or composted 1.8 million pounds of game-day waste during the fall season, which broke down to recycling over 1.5 million pounds of bottles, cans, paper, cardboard and other materials. In addition, more than 430,588 pounds of organic materials were composted or recovered, including pre- and post-consumer food waste and compostable serviceware. These collective efforts prevented the emission of 1,801 MTCO2E (metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent) of greenhouse gases, equivalent to removing over 383 cars from the road for a year, or 4.5 million miles driven.The GDRC ranks participating schools based on the quantity of recyclables, food organics and other materials diverted from the landfill at college football stadiums and tailgating areas. During the competition, schools tracked weights for individual games, with the totals used to rank schools nationally and by athletic conference. Registration for the 2020 competition will kick off in early August 2020.The GameDay Recycling Challenge is organized through a partnership of the National Wildlife Federation, College and University Recycling Coalition (CURC), RecycleMania, Inc., and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s WasteWise Program. For more information visit the GameDay Recycling Challenge website.