Colleges Invited to Compete for Top Recycling Title in 2011

(Boston, Massachusetts - Dec. 13, 2010) - A nationwide, friendly competition set to begin in February pits colleges and universities in a contest to see who can reduce, reuse, and recycle the most campus waste. It offers bragging rights and special awards made out of recycled materials to the winning schools.

Last year, 607 participating campuses collectively recycled or composted over 84.5 million pounds during the ten week RecycleMania competition, including 76 New England schools who recovered 9.27 million pounds of recyclables and organics.

Registration for the 2011 Tournament is now open. Registration is fast and easy and can be completed online.

The 2011 Tournament will officially extend for 8 weeks between February six and April 2, 2011. Leading up to official start, colleges will participate in 2 weeks of non-binding pre-season "Trials" that begin January 23rd. Throughout the combined 10 weeks, colleges will report their recycling and trash weights and be ranked on Recyclemania's Results page.

RecycleMania taps into the high-energy, competitive spirit and campus rivalries of schools to motivate students to step up campus recycling efforts. Though many schools have had recycling and waste prevention programs for years, studies have found that large volumes of recyclables still end up in the trash. RecycleMania raises awareness and can also increase recycling levels.

With each week's reports and rankings, participating schools can watch how their plan stacks up against their competitors. They can watch as the results fluctuate, and determine how to rally their campus communities to reduce and recycle even more.

RecycleMania is a plan of the College and University Recycling Council (CURC) and is supported Keep America Beautiful and by U.S. EPA's WasteWise Program.

EPA's WasteWise plan is a free partnership helping U.S. organizations eliminate or reduce costly waste, which benefits both the financial bottom line as well as the environment. New England encourages all New England colleges to continue their waste reduction efforts year round and join EPA's WasteWise program. Partners get free access to Re-TRAC, a web-based data management and reporting system.

More Information:

How Schools can register for Recyclemania (including complete rules and other information (www.recyclemaniacs.org) or contact the RecycleMania helpline at (843) 278-7686

E.P.A. WasteWise plan, the Re-TRAC tool, and how to join as a WasteWise Partner (www.epa.gov/wastewise)

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