Pitt Highlighted in 2021 Sustainable Campus Index 

Pitt gained national recognition for our recycling program for textiles ready for recycling!

The University of Pittsburgh is highlighted in the 2021 Sustainable Campus Index!. A publication of the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE), the annual Sustainable Campus Index highlights innovative and high-impact initiatives from colleges and universities that submitted a Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System (STARS) report in the most recent calendar year.

Pitt is highlighted for our innovative textile recycling program, launched in January 2020 to help keep textiles (which are ~6.3% of the U.S. waste stream)  in the circular economy.  Despite limited access due to COVID-19-related campus access, Pitt diverted 7,866 pounds of textiles from the landfill via our textile recycling program, which now has 28 collection locations across the Pittsburgh campus.

“Congratulations to the University of Pittsburgh for their incredible work in creating a more sustainable world,” said AASHE’s Executive Director Meghan Fay Zahniser. “Upon reading the innovative and high-impact sustainability initiatives within this report, I’m encouraged that the future we all need will soon be realized.”