Johns Hopkins Publishes Climate Action & Sustainability Plan
The newly minted Climate Action and Sustainability Plan, developed over the past two years with input from thousands of students, faculty, staff, alumni and Baltimore residents, commits to achieving net-zero emissions by 2040; purchasing all electricity from renewable sources by 2030; deploying a fully electric vehicle fleet by 2026; ensuring that all light-duty and passenger vehicles purchased by the university are all-electric by 2030; increasing the diversion of all waste to 50 percent; and expanding the impact of research and teaching to develop global solutions and train future leaders.
Two HEIs Receive Plastics Reduction Bronze Certification
The National Wildlife Federation, in partnership with the Campus Race to Zero Waste Program, has awarded Bard College and California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt a Plastics Reduction Partner Bronze level certification. This program recognizes higher education institutions (HEIs) for taking action to reduce the purchase and use of single-use plastics on campus.
SUNY Adopts Policy to Phase Out Single Use Plastics
The recently adopted policy details a staged elimination of single-use plastics across all SUNY campuses. Items covered in the policy include bags, beverage bottles, food service products, utensils, plastic wrap and packaging films. Additionally, the university system is partnering with a public service platform to create a plastics-free solutions hub.
U College Cork to Go Plastic Free
In 2023, the university will eliminate all single-use plastic in its operation throughout campus dining, shops and vending machines.
PLAN Releases Top 10 2022 Zero Waste Institutions
The Post-Landfill Action Network (PLAN) recently released its list of Top 10 Zero Waste Campuses in the U.S., as assessed by PLAN’s Atlas Zero Waste Certification Program. Atlas is a holistic assessment framework for measuring waste reduction on college and university campuses.
Concordia U invests $2M in Local Circular Economy Fund
The university's foundation recently announced a $2 million contribution to a Québec-based, circular economy initiative, launched in March 2021 by Fondaction, in partnership with the City of Montreal and Recyc-Québec. The fund aims to accelerate ecological transition through the circular economy, notably by reducing the production of residual materials and supporting their recovery, in addition to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
