Recycling on Campus
Aluminum and Plastic
The Campus Environmental Center (CEC) at UT handles recycling of aluminum cans and #1 and #2 plastics. There are 24 large, blue barrels located throughout campus for outdoor recycling. They can only accept plastic bottles without lids. Please do not put full bottles or anything that has been used for food or hygiene purposes in these barrels.
Indoor recycling is a voluntary program which you can sign up for. Volunteers “adopt” barrels indoors and are responsible for carrying bags of recycling to a pre-designated pick-up location. Student drivers collect bags usually once a week. The CEC cease operations during the winter and spring breaks, so do arrange for a pickup prior to these holidays. Please visit their Web site if you have any additional questions or concerns or would like to adopt-a-barrel.
Cardboard and Paper
UT Austin recycles all paper and cardboard (not just white paper) except that which has been contaminated by food. In 2007, 2.9 million pounds of paper was recycled. You can reduce this amount by simply using less paper! UT uses 100 tons of paper each month, 75 percent of which is virgin paper (meaning it came directly from a “virgin” forest rather than having recycled content). This is the equivalent of 2,400 40-foot high trees being cut down every month!
For office recycling, you can request a blue recycling bin by filling out the form found on the facilities Web site. Outdoor recycling can be dropped off at any UT orange box located on campus. This includes “anything that tears” so long as it has not been contaminated by food. See Facilities Services for a comprehensive list of what you can recycle. To request a bin for Pickle Research Center, please contact John Pinson at 512-571-3609.
Old UT letterhead can be disposed of by contacting University Printing Services. They will reuse this by making notepads which you can get from their office.
Junk Mail can also be recycled through regular paper recycling services, just make sure your name and address are crossed out to avoid any identity theft. A better solution is to remove your name from mailing lists altogether. You can remove your name from pre-screened credit offers, remove from all other mailing lists, and from catalog mailing lists. Another way is to contact the company directly and ask them to remove you from their mailing lists. All of these will reduce the amount of paper wasted. More than 100 million trees are wasted per year in the U.S. on junk mailing.
Ink and Toner Cartridges
The Campus Environmental Center (CEC) recycles ink and toner cartridges from UT and from your home. Sign up online and create a collection point in your office or department. When it has 5-20 cartridges, you can call a student volunteer to do a pickup. Once again, these pickups are handled throughout the school year and are not operational during winter break or spring break. Make sure you get a pick up before these breaks. You can also drop off your cartridges at the CEC office in SER 207.
University Printing Services also recycle ink cartridges only from UT. Through them, you can drop off a box of cartridges at any Campus Mail pick-up location, at the Mail Services Building, or call 512-471-6523 to arrange a large pickup. Another option is to drop them off at any office product store (e.g. Office Depot, Office Max).
Batteries
Rechargeable batteries can be recycled through the Environmental Health & Safety department here at UT. They can only take rechargeable batteries, so try and purchase these in the future so that they can be reused and then recycled. You can set up a box in your building and label it “rechargeable battery recycling” and just before it is full, contact EHS to sign up for this program.
Electronics and Media
If you have larger items (computers, monitors, printers, etc.) Facilities Services can take care of those through UT surplus. Contact them and they will be happy to come and pick up your items (broken is ok). You can also “purchase” used items from surplus.
Regulated Waste
The following items are hazardous waste and must be disposed of properly: Mercury waste (thermometers, old thermostats, some lab equipment), solvents and cleaners, paint, oils, waste oil, and chemicals. These can be taken care of by contacting EHS hazardous waste disposal. You should wear gloves when handling these items. Call EHS and they will give you further directions until they can come out to pick it up.
Furniture
Every year, the Campus Environmental Center holds a Trash to Treasure sale where they collect old furniture and household goods and sell them back to students at low prices. This is a great and easy way to recycle your old furniture. The collection takes place in May and the sale is held in September after school starts. All the money raised from the sale goes to the CEC to support and run our campus environmental programs.
You can also recycle office furniture or equipment through Facilities Services. Contact them and they will come and pick up your things and return them to UT surplus. UT surplus is an on site recycling service and allows staff and faculty to donate and receive items.
