How Boston University manages the disposal chaos of move-out season

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Dive Brief:

• Boston University recently reported diverting an estimated 113 tons of material from disposal during its May move-out event. This included programs focused on recycling textiles, mattress toppers and other materials, as well as donating certain textiles and edible food.
• Partners involved in the Goodwill, Not Landfill program included Morgan Memorial Goodwill Industries, Casella Waste Systems, Helpsy and Olympia Moving & Storage.
• BU said this year’s event had the largest diversion volumes to date and also decreased disposal volumes by 20 tons versus the 2023 event. For the entire fiscal year, which ended in June, BU diverted 52% of the 6,000 tons of waste it managed.

Dive Insight:

BU, one of the largest higher education institutions in Massachusetts, has a goal to achieve 75% diversion by 2026 and zero waste by 2030. The complicated May move-out period presents a prime opportunity to try and make a dent in its disposal volumes.

The process involved more than 10,000 students moving out from dormitories spread across multiple campuses. In many cases they’re leaving a lot of items behind.

“With move-out there’s a high volume of material really quickly,” said Sarah Healey, BU’s zero waste manager, who has previously described this May period as a “disposal nightmare.”

BU took a new step this year of hiring 15 students to keep donation areas organized, package up certain textiles and help move materials. Olympia, which had been involved in the past, also took on a larger role this year. Staff from the company helped fill up some trailers and moving them to a separate staging area. Healey estimated that some of these changes cost an additional $5,000 over the prior year, but described it as a “pretty low premium” for the amount of additional diversion it yielded.

The outcome included multiple trailers full of Goodwill donations, which may then be recirculated for future students via a nearby Goodwill store. Following Massachusetts’ disposal ban on textiles, BU also started working with Helpsy to recycle bedding and other materials that Goodwill doesn’t want. Healey said the rise of fast fashion has also presented a challenge for textile management.

The move-out program also generated a large volume of mattress toppers, which went to a Casella facility in Connecticut for further processing.

“We had a logistics problem with our move out, rather than a collections problem. We have lots of people who want to participate, but we were having trouble getting things moved fast enough,” said Healey. “Really taking a step back and looking at those pieces and identifying places of intervention made such a big difference for us.”

This year’s program is part of an ongoing effort at BU to rethink waste systems as its physical footprint continues to grow. BU touts an estimated 45% reduction in total volumes managed since 2006, along with increased diversion rates, but still has more work to do. An estimated 2,900 tons of the 6,000 tons it managed during the last fiscal year went to disposal.

One key step was a new 2021 contract with Casella that Healey described as an effort to align the hauler’s incentives with the school’s goals. BU went through a detailed contracting process, starting with a request for qualifications to see what was possible, and landed on an agreement that involves a full-time position from Casella that is dedicated to working with Healey and BU’s facilities staff.

Healey’s presentation on this contract at MassRecycle 2023 was well-received by local professionals at the event, given the large role that colleges and universities play in the waste ecosystem for many Massachusetts municipalities. A state goal to reduce overall disposal volumes 30% by 2030 is also a driving force. MassRecycle hosts ongoing meetings to discuss strategies through its campus collaborative group.

Casella has previously mentioned higher ed clients as a potential growth area during investor presentations and said it’s “thrilled” to work with BU on initiatives such as the move-out event.

“Programs like this showcase the strength of collaborative partnerships when it comes to sustainable material management practices, especially with customers that have multiple waste streams and challenging logistics. BU has been a willing partner at every step, and by leveraging our collective expertise we have been able to achieve strong outcomes in a relatively short time frame,” said Jeff Weld, vice president of communications, via email.

Healey came to BU in 2022 with firsthand experience in this area after working for Casella as a strategic account manager servicing colleges and universities.

Some of their recent focus areas include standardizing access to waste, recycling and organics receptacles. The school works with local company CERO on organics, as well as Casella for organics compactor service. It has also been working to improve data reporting systems, among other efforts, all of which Healey said is “laying the foundation for us to be able to get to those zero waste goals.”

Education is another ongoing effort, including discussions among city officials and higher ed counterparts about streamlining messaging to off-campus students. For all students, Healey said the goal is to focus upstream and advise them to avoid buying too many items before they move in because that could help reduce the amount of waste that needs to be addressed during move-out.

BU’s next batch of students will put that ethos to the test this week as they begin moving in for the fall semester. Healey said waste volumes are more manageable during this period, aside from the moving boxes and related packaging. The school plans to set up 20-plus “cardboard corrals” throughout campus and work with Casella on more frequent pickups to manage the influx.