MARYVILLE, Mo. – Northwest Missouri State University recycled 109,225 pounds of materials during an eight-week tournament decided by the pounds of material that competing colleges and universities recycled and composted.

With more than 390 colleges and universities competing this year, the RecycleMania Tournament annually harnesses the competitive energy of institutions to engage students in increasing recycling and waste reduction on campuses nationwide.

Northwest’s recycling total prevented the release of 149 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent into the atmosphere, which is the equivalent of the annual emissions of 29 cars or the energy consumption of 13 households.

Northwest ranked 51 out of 233 participating schools in the grand champion category. While Antioch University Seattle was the top-ranked institution, the University of Missouri-Kansas City, at No. 2, was the only Missouri institution to finish ahead of Northwest. The University of Missouri-Columbia, Missouri State University, and Missouri University of Science and Technology all ranked lower.

“Since 2012, recycling at Northwest has evolved from an added environmental benefit of our alternative fuels program to a stand-alone effort that, along with composting food service organics, has helped the University divert 282 tons of waste from the landfill this school year alone,” said John Viau, sustainability coordinator for Northwest. “It is important for our students to share in this success, because as future leaders they need to understand the positive impact of environmental stewardship.”

Schools are ranked according to how much recycling, trash and food waste they collect. Between the Feb. 1 kickoff and the final recycling weigh-in on March 28, competing schools recycled or composted 80.1 million pounds of recyclables and organic materials, preventing the release of 129,411 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent into the atmosphere, which is equivalent to preventing annual emissions from 25,375 cars.