The Post-Landfill Action Network (PLAN) cultivates, educates, and inspires the student-led zero waste movement, informing students about the waste crisis and equipping them with the necessary skills and resources to implement solutions to waste in their campus communities.

PLAN was founded in 2013 by a group of college students. These students witnessed a systemic waste problem on their campus and developed the first student-led, financially self-sustaining, zero waste move-out program of its kind. Other campuses wanted to replicate the program and from there, PLAN was born.

The goal of this project is to make plastic bag and film recycling more accessible to the campus community. 6 collections bins have been set up at 4 different buildings. After evaluation of the current setup, more drop-off locations may be added or changed. 

By completing this project, Plastic Bag Recycling will offer multiple benefits such as:

The Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment (iSEE) is responsible for leading campus sustainability efforts. To set an example for students, faculty, and staff, iSEE is proposing a markable — and visible — program that will reduce waste and beautify campus.  
 

The 2015 iCAP chapter 8, objective 2 is, "By the end of FY17, develop an administrative mechanism to enable campus units to voluntarily purchase carbon offsets."  During FY17 and 18, iSEE investigated options to build a virtual storeroom for carbon offsets. The idea was to pre-purchase verified carbon credits at a bulk rate for campus, keep them in the virtual storeroom at iSEE, and resell them to campus departments upon request.  Issues identified with this plan primarily revolved around the validity of carbon offsets available for purchase.

The 2015 iCAP chapter 6, objective 3 is "Utilize landfills with methane capture."

Dart Container at 1505 E. Main St., Urbana, accepts expanded polystyrene (EPS), more commonly known by its brand name Styrofoam, for recycling. Departments are encouraged to take EPS there to recycle this bulky material. By doing so, we can reduce the volume of waste sent from campus to landfills and avoid the harmful environmental impacts of that practice. There is no charge to drop off EPS at Dart for recycling.

There is currently no central funding source to pay for transportion of EPS to Dart, so departments need to arrange transport independently.

Facilities & Services Waste Management handles trash and recycling pick-up for the majority of campus facilities.  The exterior garbage and recycling dumpsters are emptied on a regular schedule, by campus drivers working for the Waste Transfer Station. 

F&S is implementing a six month pilot program to install monitoring sensors on the lift arms of one waste hauling truck.

A Pilot Program to Enhance Opportunities for LAS James Scholars to participate in Honors and have a Positive Impact on our Community.

Only Community Partners Involved in this Info Night are approved for this pilot program (while there are many wonderful opportunities, this is a pilot so we are deliberately starting small).

No other Partners will be approved for this semester.

This evening, you will learn of some of the needs of our Community Partners.

In June 2014, the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) established their "Public Sector Combined Heat and Power (CHP) Pilot Program"

Today students use this array for research, labs, and data collection: