A Closer Look

Waste Minimization

As part of its efforts to reduce Penn's carbon footprint and promote sustainability across departments, Business Services has supported the following efforts and initiatives: 

• Since 2008, Business Services has operated PennMOVES which collects items that Penn students can’t take with them when they leave campus in May. To divert them from landfill, these items are collected and donated to Goodwill. On average, over 52,000 pounds of items are collected each year.
• To save both money and paper, ink and toner - sign up for Penn's Managed Print Initiative.
• Though Penn Dining's Green to Go initiative which replaces disposable to-go containers with reusable ones Penn reduced its use of containers by 45,717 in the first four months.
• Residential Services distributed reusable water bottles with a sustainability message to all campus residents.
• Dining maintained a Food Recovery Program that donates uneaten prepared food from our residential programs to the Salvation Army Pioneers to reduce food waste and address food insecurity in our community. In addition, food waste and kitchen scraps are composted, At Lauder College House and Hill, dining uses a biobin to repurpose food waste into organic material that can be used in landscape projects on campus.
• The Computer Connection operates ink and toner and battery recycling programs.
• The Hilton’s Travel with Purpose program is committed to reducing its food, water and consumer waste by 50% (from its 2008 baseline).