PITTSBURGH--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Alcoa Foundation and Carnegie Mellon University have joined forces with national nonprofit Keep America Beautiful (KAB) to educate the next generation of recyclers through RecycleMania, an intense university-based competition that runs until April 2, 2011.
Through a grant with Keep America Beautiful, Alcoa Foundation is equipping Carnegie Mellon’s Pittsburgh campus dormitories with 2,800 six-gallon recycling bins so students can ensure that aluminum, plastics and glass are recycled rather than entering the waste stream. It’s part of Alcoa Foundation’s national support to make recycling easy and fun:
- The 2,800 six-gallon recycling bins for Carnegie Mellon University dorms are part of a 50,000-bin distribution at 13 schools.
- Recorded webinars will reach more than 400 members of the College and University Recycling Coalition (CURC), NGOs and other community-based groups with insights into recycling different waste streams.
- Best practices for recycling will be on display and at work as colleges and universities compete to see who can reduce, reuse and recycle the most waste.
“Alcoa wants to boost U.S. recycling of aluminum cans to 75% by 2015. One way to do that is to involve the next generation of leaders by making it more convenient for colleges and universities to recycle,” said Beth Schmitt, Alcoa’s Director of Recycling. “We know RecycleMania is a great way to involve students in the benefits of recycling,” said Schmitt. “That’s why Alcoa Foundation is so excited about its partnership with Carnegie Mellon University and 12 other U.S. schools in support of RecycleMania... When we make new cans from recycled cans, we save 95 percent of the energy it takes to make cans from raw aluminum, so we don’t want any of them to go to the landfill.”
“Carnegie Mellon is committed to sustainability, and that commitment extends to our faculty, staff and students,” said Barbara Kviz, Carnegie Mellon University’s Environmental Coordinator. “What may seem like a small gesture, like recycling an aluminum can rather than throwing it in the garbage makes a difference. Participating in RecycleMania is a great way to inspire our campus community to be more environmentally aware.”
Alcoa supports and contributes to many programs at Carnegie Mellon University to encourage a shared focus on sustainability, community connections, and global competition:
- Tepper Community Service Day – Tepper MBA students perform community service in the local area
- CMU Net Impact Chapter support – focus is on sharing ideas and global best practices on sustainability, corporate social responsibility, community engagement and positive environmental impact
- Alcoa Professorship Endowment and ongoing academic interactions between CMU and the Alcoa Technical Center
- CMU Engineering Without Borders Chapter support – focus is on understanding global challenges and creating socially-conscious and environmentally sustainable technologies to improve quality of life within communities
- Green Design Project Course – aimed at understanding energy performance and optimizing consumption to reduce carbon footprint
About Alcoa Foundation
Alcoa Foundation is one of the largest corporate foundations in the U.S., with assets of approximately US $420 million. In addition to addressing local needs in communities where Alcoa operates, Alcoa Foundation is focused on promoting environmental stewardship, enabling economic and social sustainability, and preparing tomorrow’s leaders through education and learning. Alcoa Foundation was founded more than 50 years ago and has invested more than US $515 million since 1952. Alcoa employees share their energy, passion and purpose to make a difference in our communities through the Alcoa Volunteers Program, which last year recorded 650,000 hours of service to 9,000 charitable organizations. Their time was matched with US $4 million in Alcoa volunteer grants. More information can be found at www.alcoa.com/foundation.
About Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon (www.cmu.edu) is a private, internationally ranked research university with programs in areas ranging from science, technology and business, to public policy, the humanities and the fine arts. More than 11,000 students in the university’s seven schools and colleges benefit from a small student-to-faculty ratio and an education characterized by its focus on creating and implementing solutions for real problems, interdisciplinary collaboration and innovation. A global university, Carnegie Mellon’s main campus in the United States is in Pittsburgh, Pa. It has campuses in California’s Silicon Valley and Qatar, and programs in Asia, Australia, Europe and Mexico. The university is in the midst of a $1 billion fundraising campaign, titled “Inspire Innovation: The Campaign for Carnegie Mellon University,” which aims to build its endowment, support faculty, students and innovative research, and enhance the physical campus with equipment and facility improvements.
About Alcoa Recycling
Aluminum is infinitely recyclable and close to 75 percent of all the aluminum ever produced is still in use today. Alcoa operates one of the largest used beverage can (UBC) recycling facilities in the world near Knoxville, Tennessee, USA. Alcoa and the Aluminum Association have a goal of increasing the recycling rate of aluminum cans in the U.S. to 75 percent by the year 2015. More information can be found at www.alcoarecycling.com
About RecycleMania
RecycleMania was launched in 2001 as a friendly challenge between Ohio University and Miami University to increase recycling on their campuses. The contest has expanded rapidly in nine years’ time from two schools in 2001 to 607 colleges and universities in 2010 spanning 49 states, the District of Columbia, and Canada. Over a 10-week period, campuses compete to see which institution can collect the largest amount of recyclables per capita, the largest amount of total recyclables, the least amount of trash per capita, or have the highest recycling rate. For complete competition background and details, visit the RecycleMania website at www.recyclemaniacs.org.