Get Ready Recyclers! RecycleMania 2013 Announces Registration is Open for All Colleges and Universities

STAMFORD, Conn. (Oct. 8, 2012) – Planning for the 2013 RecycleMania Tournament is now underway with the Oct. 1 opening of registration for new and returning colleges and universities. The program, which pits schools against each other in a friendly recycling competition, officially kicks off on Feb. 3, 2013, and will extend through March 30.

Using the intercollegiate competition as a framework, RecycleMania is a benchmarking and awareness-raising tool for college and university recycling programs to promote waste reduction activities to their campus communities. Over an eight-week period from winter into spring, colleges across the United States and Canada report the amount of recyclables and trash collected each week and are in turn ranked in various categories based on which schools recycle the most on a per capita basis; which schools have the best recycling rate as a percentage of total waste; and which schools generate the least amount of combined trash and recycling. The top schools are recognized at the end of the tournament with a special award and bragging rights among peer campuses.

It’s not too early for schools to start planning for the tournament. Registered colleges will gain access to valuable resources to help promote the competition – posters, E-cards, promotional activities, discounts to the RecycleMania store, and much more. In addition a limited number of mini-grants will be given to help schools promote RecycleMania on their campuses. Many collateral materials are offered on a first-come, first-serve basis, so register early. For complete tournament information or to register a college, visit the RecycleMania website at http://recyclemaniacs.org.

New to the 2013 program is a call for college students to get creative as part of RecycleMania’s first-ever poster contest. The grand-prize winner will receive $500 and have his or her design used in official 2013 promotional materials. The contest will take place during October and November to help kick off the 2013 season. Top entries will be uploaded to the RecycleMania website for public voting. So channel your creative energy to create a unique poster showing recycling in a positive manner (and reflecting a collegiate theme), and your poster could be displayed on more than 500 college and university campuses. Visit http://recyclemaniacs.org for full rules and regulations.

More than 600 colleges and universities participated in the 2012 RecycleMania Tournament, recovering 92 million pounds of recyclables and organic materials. All 50 states, the District of Columbia and Canada were represented. The colleges and universities that took home top prizes in the three primary categories in 2012 were:

• “Grand Champion” (determined by the percentage of overall waste recycled): American University- (85.16 percent) – Washington, D.C.
• “Per Capita Classic” (determined by total pounds of recyclables collected per person): Union College- (61.79 lbs.) – Schenectady, N.Y.
• “Waste Minimization” (determined by the lowest overall amount of recyclables and trash per person): Valencia College - (2.79 lbs.) – Orlando, Fla.

About RecycleMania
RecycleMania was launched in 2001 as a friendly challenge between Ohio University and Miami University to increase recycling on their campuses. Today, RecycleMania is an independent program of RecycleMania, Inc. The competition is made possible with the sponsorship support of Alcoa Foundation, American Forest & Paper Association, SCA Tissue, and The Coca-Cola Company. Program management is provided by Keep America Beautiful with additional program support from the U.S. EPA’s WasteWise program and the College and University Recycling Coalition (CURC).

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