Since 2007, Stanford has competed in the Campus Race to Zero Waste, a nationwide competition for colleges and universities to reduce waste, and has regularly ranked second or first. Over an eight-month period, waste and recycling data is compared amongst over 150 colleges and universities. In 2024, Stanford placed second in both the Per Capita Recycling and the Food Organics categories for large universities, demonstrating its commitment to waste reduction and diversion. This year the competition collectively prevented the release of 23,174 metric tons of carbon dioxide, which is equivalent to the annual emissions from over 5.500 cars.
From sustainable beats and food recovery leaps, the year 2025 set a new standard for Stanford traditions and operations.
We’re building our zero waste playbook—starting with the stats. By hand-sorting our trash, we’re uncovering strategic cuts to the landfill.
The university earns STARS Platinum in version 3.0, the highest score under the sustainability rating system.
