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SDGs
- Publish Date：2025-09-04
NYCU Brings “Waste Wood” Back to Life: A Campus Model for Circular Sustainability
2025 NYCU Sustainability Month officially launched on September 2 at the Chiaotung Campus.
By Chance Lai
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National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University (NYCU) is giving “waste wood” a second life. Fallen trees from typhoons, trimmed branches, and even cracked baseball bats from the university team have been collected, redesigned, and repurposed into furniture, flower stands, and artisanal pieces. Returning to campus in new forms, these materials serve as a powerful example of circular regeneration, highlighting the role of higher education in advancing the circular economy.
Broken baseball bats from the NYCU baseball team are creatively transformed into stools, hangers, and pet trays, adding warmth and character to campus life.
A Circular Economy Starting from Campus
The “Campus Tree Recycling” project is one of the highlights of 2025 NYCU Sustainability Month. In the past, branches from campus maintenance or typhoon-damaged trees were often shredded and incinerated—wasting resources and releasing stored carbon back into the atmosphere. NYCU instead chose “redesign over incineration,” giving discarded wood a second life through the creativity of faculty, students, and local communities, turning the concept of “renewing resources, extending value” into reality.
A medal and a small wooden rack made from trimmed branches—though tiny, each about 100 Carbon fixation, symbolizing a cycle that begins and ends on campus.
“Sustainability is not a slogan; it has long been written into NYCU’s DNA,” said NYCU President Chi-Hung Lin. “These pieces of wood are not merely reused—they are a tangible expression of the circular economy in action.” From the university’s early “Sustainability Day” and “Sustainability Week” to this year’s expanded “Sustainability Month,” NYCU has steadily integrated sustainability into its campus culture, making environmental action visible and a lived experience.
Broken baseball bats from the NYCU baseball team are creatively transformed into stools, hangers, and pet trays, adding warmth and character to campus life.
A Circular Economy Starting from Campus
The “Campus Tree Recycling” project is one of the highlights of 2025 NYCU Sustainability Month. In the past, branches from campus maintenance or typhoon-damaged trees were often shredded and incinerated—wasting resources and releasing stored carbon back into the atmosphere. NYCU instead chose “redesign over incineration,” giving discarded wood a second life through the creativity of faculty, students, and local communities, turning the concept of “renewing resources, extending value” into reality.
A medal and a small wooden rack made from trimmed branches—though tiny, each about 100 Carbon fixation, symbolizing a cycle that begins and ends on campus.“Sustainability is not a slogan; it has long been written into NYCU’s DNA,” said NYCU President Chi-Hung Lin. “These pieces of wood are not merely reused—they are a tangible expression of the circular economy in action.” From the university’s early “Sustainability Day” and “Sustainability Week” to this year’s expanded “Sustainability Month,” NYCU has steadily integrated sustainability into its campus culture, making environmental action visible and a lived experience.
From Campus to Community, City, and Nation
If tree recycling can succeed on campus, it can extend to communities, giving new life to branches and wood discarded from public spaces. If communities grow, the model can scale to cities, repurposing green waste from parks and urban landscapes. Ultimately, Taiwan could establish a nationwide framework for wood recycling and repurposing, creating a sustainable model that bridges policy and education.
This means NYCU’s actions are more than a campus story—they are a microcosm of Taiwan’s commitment to the circular economy and climate action.
A “Sustainability DNA” from Nature to Humanity
Through its month-long program, NYCU launched the vision of “Sustainability DNA: Innovation, Resilience, Practice.” Beyond ecological innovation, the initiative highlights human-centered resilience, featuring film screenings, art performances, public lectures, and the release of the university’s USR (University Social Responsibility) annual report. Forums, workshops, and site visits further connect local communities with global issues, aligning with the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The “Sustainability DNA Trilogy” at the 2025 NYCU Sustainability Month invites students, faculty, and local communities to integrate the circular economy and sustainable living into their daily actions.
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