Ithaca College will compete with more than 500 institutions across the country — not on the court or in the classrooms, but in dumpsters.

Recyclemania, a 10-week-long competition across the U.S. sponsored by the National Recycling Coalition, will officially begin Sunday. Since Saturday, the college has collected preliminary data for use during the rest of the competition.

This year, the college will participate in the competition’s waste minimization category by trying to improve its recycling rate and reduce the overall amount of waste produced. Last year, the college’s average recycling rate was 31.5 percent of its total waste during a 10-week period, according to the Recyclemania Web site.

This is the college’s sixth year competing in Recyclemania — a year campus community members hope will be better than in the past.

Mark Darling, supervisor of the college’s recycling and resource management program, said the college has steadily placed in the top 25 percent of the competition during the past five years and has done well in the state, but as more colleges and universities join, the college has slipped.

Marian Brown, special assistant to the provost, said the college has been successful in New York. She said Recyclemania not only provides a competition but a chance to learn more about the college’s sustainable initiatives compared to other campuses.

“Generally we’ve stacked up pretty well, at least in New York state campuses,” she said. “As more and more campuses join, it starts to show some of the gaps where some of the other schools have more effective strategies and more community support.”

Darling said the competition, however, has been a venue to gain recognition.

 “It’s to get our name out there nationally, and I’m hoping it’s a way to get more excited about recycling on campus,” he said. “This is a pretty big national competition.”

Senior Colin Howard, a member of the college’s Resource and Environmental Management Program, said one of the most difficult tasks in trying to get the whole campus behind recycling is advertising. He said every year, REMP, which organizes the event at the college, tries to reach out to more of the campus.

“It’s a difficult task,” he said. “Some people just don’t care, and some people are just really into it. The important audience is the people who just don’t know about it.”

Brown also said motivating students behind recycling was a big reason why the college hasn’t done as well in the past.

“It’s one thing to have a recycling bin in your room, but it’s another thing to walk it down the stairs and take it to the dumpster,” she said.

Brown said the college has had a lot of response to composting, or separating organic material from trash.

This year REMP is promoting more awareness about the competition through its publication, Installment, and at its table in the Campus Center, Darling said.