Mason Bans Single-Use Plastics and Polystyrene

Kevin Brim (he/him), Mason Facilities Recycling / CURC Board Member

Amber Saxton (she/her), Mason Office of Sustainability / NWF CR2ZW Board Member

Colleen Regan (she/her), Mason Office of Sustainability

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Single-Use Plastics Bans: Process and Partnerships

Virginia's �Largest Public Research University

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1 | Single-Use Plastics Bans

• City within a city
• ~ 39,000 students
• ~ 8,500 employees 

Partner with Facilities�BEFORE a ban!

2 | Single-Use Plastics Bans

Pre-ban we worked together with many Mason stakeholders:

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• Office of Sustainability
• Business Services
• Dining and Vendors
• Housing and Residence Life
• Athletics and stadiums
• Events Services
• Deans
• Staff and Faculty champions
• Building and Retail (e.g., bookstore) Managers
• Students Organizations and Class Projects

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Facilities Recycling Team with Student Volunteer:

Student volunteer supporting Mason's plastic film recycling initiative.

Partnership Impacts:�Reducing Plastic Film

3 | Single-Use Plastics Bans

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• Film recovery 
• Facilities bails what we get!
• - 18,000 lbs per year

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• Reduce the number of bins 
• - outdoor parking lots and sidewalks

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• Remove bags from low residue recycle bins
• - eliminates 50,000 lbs per year

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Bale of LDPE Plastic Film for Recycling

Reusable Recycling Collection Bags

Partnership Impacts:�Events, Upcycling, & Data

4 | Single-Use Plastics Bans

• Zero Waste Events:
• 1st place Green Game – 10 years of participation
• Audits, Campus Clean-Ups

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• Donations and Upcycling:
• Surplus: 39.8 tons per year
• Patriot PackOut: 13,000 lbs per year
• Upcycling in the Mason Innovation Exchange space

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• Data Accuracy: 
• Centralizing waste diversion and invoice data in EnergyCAP

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More Work �to Be Done

A lot of effort and 

We must continue to improve efficiency and accelerate progress since the regional trash incinerator is at 91% capacity. ��Trash harms people and the planet, so we must continue to improve our diversion.

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AFTER a BAN�

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Facilities Recycling Team:

Plastics ban helped make the case for smart compacting bins for efficiency and diversion potential. It's bringing us closer to front-of-house composting at Mason.

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• Accelerate and expand impact
• Improve efficiency
• Focus on proven recyclables and reusables

We can:�

AFTER a BAN�

7 | Single-Use Plastics Bans

Focus on recycling with better revenue potential

• Aluminum, cardboard, paper
• Creating a revolving fund for additional zero waste improvements

Reduce contaminates and improve waste diversion numbers through sourcing (what we bring to campus):

• Better sourcing increases recycling rates for aluminum, metal, cardboard and paper

Focus on items with endless recyclability (or reusables)

• Aluminum, metal, and glass*
• Improve sorting efficiency / reorganization of the Facilities Yard

We can:�

Implementing Mason's Single-Use Plastics Ban

8 | Single-Use Plastics Bans

Single-Use Plastics Ban: Timeline

MARCH – MAY

Executive Order 77 is announced March 23rd, 2021

Begin gathering single-use plastics purchasing data and working with purchasers

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AUGUST – SEPTEMBER

Submit final plan to the DEQ, September 20th, 2021

JUNE – JULY

CEZW begins working with university stakeholders to shift foodservice purchasing

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2018 – 2021

Intensifying partnership between OoS & FM – zero waste planning; OoS & Athletics and HRL toward reusables; OoS & Dining

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After Implementation

OCTOBER – NOVEMBER

• Co-location of existing outdoor bins
• Transitioned paper towel purchasing to compostable alternatives

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FEBRUARY

• Dedicated Catering Webinar
• Fill It Forward partnership to support reuse on campus
• Beyond? – next actions, including eliminating plastics and launching pilots

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DECEMBER – JANUARY

• Additional Bigbelly compost bin for pilot site
• Auditing with compostable diversion in mind

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Campus�Strategy: �Partner to Accelerate Progress and Find Best Path Forward

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Mason's response:

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• Launched the Mason Sustainability Council's Circular Economy Zero Waste Task Force

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• Learned from plastics reduction organizations and peers

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• Worked with VASHE schools, VA Department of Environmental Quality, etc.

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• Worked with the�National Wildlife �Federation

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• Partnership for fiscal and environmental resource responsibility: Co-Chairs from the Office of Sustainability and Business Services�

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• Tasked with researching best practices, providing direction, reporting to the state, and supporting transition for vendors and purchasers

AFTER a BAN�

13 | Single-Use Plastics Bans

You can: "Buy less, Buy Better"�

• Focus on source reduction and circularity or sourcing – what do we bring to our campuses in the first place?
• Assess current purchasing
• In lifecycle, extraction and production can be much more harmful than disposal

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• Focus on best alternative – Reusables!
• Opportunity to support reuse as the best alternative to any single-use option! 

• Focus on better alternatives – third-party certified paper, glass, aluminum cans, etc.
• With caveat, need to ensure not replacing one single-use use consumption problem for another
• *Create standards for sustainable sourcing, lean on third-party certifications, and...

Mason's Standards for the Transition

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• CEZW TF created a "Reference List" for purchasers and vendors
• Used third-party certifications (BPI, CMA, etc.) to avoid PFAS, along with eco-labelling, and industrial composters
• FSC certification and/or 100% recycled material for paper bag alternatives; recycled material and standard for "reusable" bags (durable = 125 washing cycles)
• Eliminating other small volume, single-use product categories along with foodservice single-use plastics

Note: You can now earn AASHE STARS credit for plastics reduction efforts on campus through the �NWF CR2ZW program!     

15 | Single-Use Plastics Bans

+ Check out breakfreefromplastics.org

#breakfreefromplastics

and another great group, PLAN – they have a plastics pledge and guides for campuses!

Click here for more info: NWF

Next Actions

Mason's Single-Use Plastics Ban

• Implement in-house hauling pilots
• Continue working with Freestate Farms and Composting Manufacturing Alliance to field test/certify additional products
• Building capacity for sustainable purchasing
• Eliminating all single-use beverage bottles on campus
• Implementation of our reusable to-go pilot 
• Guidance for individual and event purchasers through fiscal services trainings

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Expand Purchaser�Engagement

Opportunity to Discuss:

• University waste infrastructure
• Reusables and single-use alternatives implementation 
• Social and environmental justice concerns for single-use items
• Mason's requirements for purchase and use
• Stakeholder feedback for resource development

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AFTER a BAN�

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Student-Led Pilots

• Pilot kiosk system at an established grab and go location through PGF
• Reusables pilot at a to-go dining facility

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Expanding Water Refill Stations 

• PGF form to eliminate application barrier for supplemental retrofit funding
• Exploring outdoor campus locations for bottle filler retrofit/installation

Promoting a Culture of Reuse

• Pivoting freshman move-in giveaways to reusable options that can be used on campus
• Partnership with Fill it Forward to incentivize reusable water bottles
• Supporting resource sharing capacity at Mason

Supporting Reuse on Campus:�

Front-of-House Composting Pilots

• Piloting compost collection processes at key sites
• Expanding capacity on outdoor food patios through Bigbelly Solar
• Weekly compost auditing at current dining hall locations

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Ongoing Challenges

• Implementation Timeline: composting trade-off, institutional policy and guidance necessarily following purchasing shift
• Purchasing Changes: supply chain availability, restructuring chart of accounts and state-level system changes
• Safe Return to Campus: COVID-19 added complexity to reuse on campus especially with events and outside food and beverage service
• Waste Infrastructure: investing in a more standardized and centralized waste system on campus
• Composting Safety: testing items and ensuring campus purchasing is responsive to industry best practice and avoiding PFAS

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What Worked – Key Takeaways

• Use partnership as a model
• Crowdsource solutions to tricky problems
• Lean into third-party certification and creating standards
• Be transparent & work from the lens of action based on environmental and social justice impacts of single-use items
• Leverage campus pilots to advance zero-waste systems

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George Mason University

Contact Info:

Kevin Brim, kbrim@gmu.edu

Amber Saxton, asaxton2@gmu.edu

Colleen Regan, cregan2@gmu.edu

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Learn More at SC.GMU.EDU/CEZW

@GeorgeMasonU 

GMU.EDU

Email: masonsc@gmu.edu 

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