Recent changes in the global recycling industry have presented us with an opportunity to restructure our campus recycling collection program with an emphasis on improving our sorting strategies and reducing contamination. A Facilities working group was recently formed to develop these strategies. We ask that you be patient as we work to design a recycling system that will work for, and be consistent across, our entire campus. 

We know recycling is confusing and we know many of you have good ideas. We ask you to hold off on initiating any new local efforts as we work toward campus-wide solutions. Here are some initiatives the Facilities working group is in the process of implementing this spring and in the future:

• Waste Audit – this April a consultant was hired to sort through campus trash to measure the current waste management program performance and evaluate opportunities to improve materials separation and collection strategies to achieve the future waste diversion goals of the University
• Container Design – there will be standardized colors, signage and graphics for containers
• Recycling Messaging – there will be more consistency in messaging across campus
• Recycling Coaching and Awareness – there will be training and support to learn how to recycle right on campus, including a new app customized for our campus community.

Nobody wants to recycle wrong. Our goal is to create a campus recycling system that enables all of us to recycle right. We look forward to sharing more about this initiative soon. While we work on recycling strategies, if you have thoughts about recycling on campus we’d like to hear from you. Please complete our brief Campus Recycling Challenges? survey to help us better understand the current campus recycling environment and specifically the challenges you face.

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