The final statistics for recyclemania are in. Kent State finished ahead of The University of Akron yet again this year along with many other schools. The last day of the Recyclemania competition was Saturday, March 29, and the final statistics were tallied on Friday, April 11.

Outreach recycling coordinator Leah Graham, said Kent did well this year, not only against Akron, but in the state.

“In the state, Kent was second in most pounds of material recycled,” Graham said. “So we came in second out of every school in Ohio that participated in Recyclemania.”

Graham said Kent recycled a total amount of 263,354 pounds of recyclable material during Recyclemania with an average of 33,000 pounds a week. Graham also said that overall, 460 schools participated in Recyclemania and were able to gather 89.1 million pounds of recyclable materials.

Manager of sustainability Melanie Knowles, said the university kept its streak against Akron alive in Recyclemania and retained the “Braggin’ Wheel” for the third consecutive year.

“We call it the Braggin’ Wheel. It’s like a little wagon wheel with recycled materials on it,” Knowles said. “Kent has actually won it every year since we created it.”

On campus, Engleman Hall won the hall versus hall competition for the fourth year in a row, Graham said. Graham also said Centennial Court A and B were the most improved, and from week one to seven increased their recycling by 2.66 pounds per person.

Residence Services will be giving a plaque to Engleman Hall to commemorate winning the on-campus competition for the fourth year in a row.

Knowles said there is normally a tree planted outside the winning residence hall, but because Engleman Hall has won so many times, there isn’t any more room. The tree planting will be moved to Centennial Court A and B to commemorate being most improved, Knowles said.

“There’s only so much room for trees at a certain location,” she said. “It’s unfortunate, but there’s just no more room.”

The tree planting ceremony will be held in the courtyard of Centennial Court A and B on Thursday, April 24, at 3 p.m.

Knowles said she was happy with the student participation in Recyclemania, and it gets better each year.

“Every year we get more and more student participation,” Knowles said. “We just had a lot more student outreach, and we did more to try and get them involved.”

Contact Martin Harp at [email protected].