Spring 2026 Smeal Undergraduate Sustainability Case Competition

The Spring 2025 Competition challenges students to come up with new ways to face sustainability related problems. This page outlines the case, timeline, and prizes.

The Center for the Business of Sustainability is organizing the Undergraduate Sustainability Case Competition. The competition allows students to work on a cross-disciplinary team to use business and markets to solve real-world social justice and environmental conservation challenges. Student teams who make it to the finals will have the opportunity to present in front of some of today’s leading sustainability and social impact executives. The competition is organized by the Smeal Center for the Business of Sustainability, Smeal Diversity Enhancement Programs, and Morgan State University.

Purpose

Each spring, college towns across the country see the same problem - students move out, leaving behind stacks of old beds, including lots of sturdy mattresses in good shape. According to a national survey from Mattress Recycling Council, between 15 and 20 million such items vanish into trash heaps annually, that is roughly 50,000 daily. Oddly enough, close to three out of four mattress units hold potential for reuse or controlled disassembly. Yet only about four percent or one in five actually reaches a recycling center. Local shelters together with nonprofit organizations choose to reject beds because of sanitation concerns and infestation issues which result in continuous mattress dumping. You have the ability to transform this discarded material into something useful. Students who are like you have the ability to create environmentally friendly solutions which will benefit both nature and the local population.

This Year’s Challenge

Student teams will focus on creating sustainable and economically viable solutions to the mattress waste problem on their college campus. Each year during student move-out, large numbers of mattresses are discarded, overwhelming local waste systems and sending largely recyclable materials to landfills.

Teams will be tasked with:

  • Proposing a solution that diverts mattresses from landfills through reuse, recycling, or material repurposing
  • Addressing health, safety, and regulatory concerns such as sanitation, pests, storage, transportation, and liability
  • Developing a financially sustainable business, nonprofit, or partnership-based model
  • Identifying key partners, including campus units, municipalities, nonprofits, or private organizations
  • Presenting a clear, data-informed proposal supported by visuals or process models

We believe students bring fresh perspectives and innovative thinking to sustainability challenges, and this competition provides a platform to turn those ideas into actionable, campus-ready solutions.

Prizes

  • 1st place: $3,000 
  • 2nd place: $2,000 
  • 3rd place: $1,000  

Timeline

  1. Team Registration Opens: January 23
  2. Registration Closes: February 13
  3. Case Released: February 13
  4. Live Session on Case Topic: February 18
  5. Case Submissions Due: March 6
  6. Finalists Announced: March 20
  7. Power Hour: April 1
  8. Final Case Submission: April 3
  9. Open Ceremony: Evening of April 8
  10. In-Person Competition: April 9

Deliverables

Round 1 Deliverables

  1. YouTube Video presentations are no more than 15 minutes long. Everyone must be a part of the presentation. Late submissions will not be reviewed. 
  2. PowerPoint for a 15-Minute Presentation. Your team also must submit a PPT and a PDF version of the PowerPoint used in your presentation.
    1. The review process is anonymous; DO NOT include team member names or photos in the video or in the PowerPoint 
    2. Intro Slide: Make Up a Team Name and Put It on Your Title Slide (not team member names, just the overall team name) 
    3. There is no required minimum or maximum number of slides; it is up to your team to determine the appropriate number of slides for a 15-minute presentation 
    4. You may include an appendix for additional data, graphs, analysis, sources, etc.
    5. Team Name Only: Do not include individual names or photos
    6. Teams must not disclose any identifying information about their school. Team members may introduce themselves by name only.
    7. Teams must consist of a minimum of four (4) members and a maximum of five (5) members.

Finals Deliverables (if your team is chosen as a finalist)

  1. 15 Minute Live Presentation (Expectation is Every Group Member Must Present)
  2. 10 Minutes of Q&A with Judges

If you have questions, please email us at smealsustainability@psu.edu

Registration Now Open