POTSDAM -- The Alcoa Foundation has teamed up with “Keep America Beautiful” and the College & University Recycling Coalition to provide 40 recycling bins to Clarkson University.

The recycling bin grant is part of the Alcoa Foundation’s “Recycling Bin Grant Program.”

The program is designed to help schools boost their recycling results during an eight-week “RecycleMania Tournament” and expand recycling efforts throughout the year. Clarkson is one of 35 colleges to receive a total of 11,500 recycling bins.

RecycleMania is a competition that aims to change recycling behavior and raise awareness about waste reduction programs on college campuses.

The competition, which concludes March 31, gives awards to school that recycle the most, produce the least waste and recycle the largest percentage of overall waste.

Clarkson University’s bins will be used in the Cheel Campus Center.

The program will enable Clarkson to get additional recycling infrastructure in place to divert recyclables from the waste stream.

“Reducing the mass of solid waste we send to a landfill by 30 percent is among the critical goals for Clarkson’s sustainability initiatives," said Susan E. Powers, associate director for sustainability at Clarkson.

"Providing adequate recycling bins and awareness programs is essential for meeting this goal,” Powers said. “Alcoa and Clarkson have a long history of working together on programs that improve the environment and we’re happy to have the foundation’s support for this important initiative.”

Clarkson also participated in the benchmark division of RecycleMania, tracking food waste and the recycle rates of cans, bottles and paper in the Cheel Campus Center. The pilot study shared information about what recyclables are mistakenly thrown away.