3:13 p.m., March 19, 2009----The University of Delaware is participating in the RecycleMania 2009 event, a friendly competition among colleges and universities across the United States to collect and recycle the most recyclable materials. As of the second week in March, UD had recycled more than 104,000 pounds.

Each year since the inception of the competition in 2001, the number of entries has grown substantially. This year, there are 510 participating institutions.

RecycleMania will run through Saturday, March 28, and the entire campus community is encouraged to continue to participate by recycling paper, bottles, cans and corrugated cardboard.

Although UD is over 104,000 pounds, the first two weeks of RecycleMania in January were considered trial weeks and did not count toward the competition. The University's competition total, therefore, is 90,089 pounds.

In the most recent rankings, UD was 100th out of the 510 participating colleges and universities in the Gorilla Prize category, for larger schools that recycle the highest gross tonnage of combined paper, cardboard, bottles and cans, and 231st in the Per Capita Classic, for the largest combined amount of tonnage per capita.

In the Targeted Materials category, UD was 155th in Bottles and Cans, 172nd in Cardboard and 182nd in Paper.

RecycleMania at the University of Delaware is being sponsored by Dining Services, Residence Life, Facilities/Grounds and Custodial Services with the support of the Office of Communications and Marketing, the Office of the Executive Vice President and the Graphics Communications Center.

Throughout the competition, the University is reporting all of its recycling weights for paper, bottles, cans and corrugated cardboard. UD also is submitting its single stream recycling weights.

Dining Services is tracking the University's progress in the competition on its Web site.

Also, information on recycling totals can be found at the RecycleMania Web site.

For more on the University of Delaware's sustainability efforts, see the Web site.

This is the third year UD has participated in the event, which began in 2001 as a competition between Ohio University and Miami University of Ohio.

RecycleMania is supported by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's WasteWise program and the National Recycling Coalition, and is coordinated as a project of the National Recycling Coalition's College and University Recycling Council.

The Coca-Cola Company is a major sponsor of RecycleMania.