Corey Hawkey, who has been sustainability coordinator since February 2010, is leaving for Arizona State University. Credit: Courtesy of Lindsay Komlanc

Corey Hawkey, who has been sustainability coordinator since February 2010, is leaving for Arizona State University.
Credit: Courtesy of Lindsay Komlanc

Ohio State’s sustainability coordinator is leaving the state for higher pay and a warmer climate.

Corey Hawkey, who has been at OSU since February 2010, is set to start as the manager of the Zero Waste at Arizona State University initiative Jan. 13. He will earn $55,000 as his starting salary, and his position is a new one at the university, Arizona State spokeswoman Iti Agnihotri said in an email.

Hawkey made $47,844 as his base salary in 2013 at OSU, up 3.1 percent from about $46,404 the year before, according to the Columbus Business First Columbus DataCenter.

As OSU’s sustainability coordinator of the Energy Services and Sustainability office, Hawkey led the Zero Waste initiative at Ohio Stadium. The recycling program, which began in fall 2011, diverted 90.5 percent of the stadium’s waste from landfills during the 2013 football season, its first official “zero waste” season, according to the OSU Buckeye Footprint website.

Zero waste means at least 90 percent of waste is diverted from landfills by being recycled or composted.

The program’s highest individual game diversion rate to date was reached during the OSU football game against Wisconsin Sept. 28, when the initiative diverted 98.5 percent of stadium waste from landfills, according to the website.

OSU spokeswoman for Administration and Planning Lindsay Komlanc said Hawkey’s last day at OSU is Tuesday and his time at the university has been valued.

“It takes many people working together from all areas of the university to make programs such as zero waste or our other sustainability initiatives a success, but Corey has been particularly dedicated in his efforts and we appreciate the commitment he has shown to our sustainability goals and initiatives,” Komlanc said in an email Tuesday.

Hawkey is slated to serve several roles at Arizona State — he will develop university-wide sustainability programs, help “serve as a liaison” with community and business partners and Arizona State students, faculty and staff in implementing those programs and will manage various budgets, among other responsibilities, according to an Arizona State press release.

Prior to his position at OSU, Hawkey was sustainability coordinator for the Ohio Board of Regents.

Hawkey said he’s moving on from OSU with a sense of accomplishment.

“It’s been an honor and a great pleasure being a part of the team at Ohio State,” Hawkey said in an email. “I am very proud of what the university has accomplished in sustainability and know greater things are still to come.”