Is This Recyclable?

 Have you ever wondered why a certain product or material is recyclable in one city but not another? Oftentimes, what you can and cannot recycle depends on your location and the kind of facility processing the recyclables in that area. Recycling facilities are responsible for sorting through waste, baling the material, and selling it to vendors for reuse. Recycling facilities determine what is and isn’t recyclable based on the market for their recyclables and the availability of vendors.

The University of Michigan collaborates with the Western Washtenaw Recycling Authority to provide single stream recycling to the University community. Most of the plastic, paper, cardboard, and metal you use can easily be recycled here on campus, but there are some exceptions...

Glass

Starting January 2016, U-M suspended its glass recycling program and asked the U-M community to not place glass in the mixed recycling bins on campus. While glass is an easily recyclable material, the market for selling recycled glass has diminished in recent years. In response, the Western Washtenaw Recycling Authority suspended its glass recycling program when the only option  for glass was to send it to a landfill.

Wax Coated Cardboard

Wax coated cardboard is typically used for shipping food, because the wax coating repels water and prevents contamination and infestation. Unfortunately, there’s no way to remove the wax from the cardboard. When this material is recycled, it produces a lower quality paper that is prone to breaking. While there are some municipalities that provide outlet for recycled wax coated cardboard, it is not provided at U-M.

Tip: Unsure if a box is wax coated? Try scratching the material, and if you feel the wax, then it's coated, if not, then the material is most likely shiny paperboard, which can be recycled!

Frozen Food Containers In Direct Contact With Frozen Food

Similar to wax coated cardboard, frozen food containers are made from cardboard coated in polyethylene, or a plastic coating. While this plastic coating helps with food storage by repelling water and preventing freezer burn, it cannot be removed from the cardboard to be recycled.

Tip: Ice cream containers and frozen spinach containers should go in the landfill bin.

Biodegradable Plastic

Biodegradable plastic is perhaps the most greenwashed product on the market. Products made from biodegradable plastic cannot be recycled because of structural incompatibilities with all other types of plastic. What’s more, biodegradable plastics cannot be composted either. The term biodegradable is misleading because it implies that the plastic will break down over time, similar to compostables. However, unlike compostable materials, there is no standardized time range for biodegradables to break down in nor is there regulation of product labeling.

Tip: If you’re at a U-M hosted Zero-Waste Event, there’s no need to worry about the quality of plastic. All materials used at these events can be composted!

Knowing which items cannot be recycled on campus can help us reduce recycling contamination. Recycling contamination is the portion of non recyclable materials found in recycling. Reducing contamination helps to prevent unsafe working conditions for sorters, maintain the quality of our recyclables, and prevent damage to machinery.

The new standardized recycling labels on campus are an effort to reduce contamination rates by showing the U-M community exactly what should go into the recycling bin. So if the product you’re trying to recycle is not on the sign, place it in the landfill bin or contact recycle@umich.edu with your questions!

Find a complete list of recyclable materials and recycling outlets at recycle.umich.edu.

New Recycling, Compost, and Landfill Labels!

Hot off the press and ready for the the Fall 2016 semester, the University of Michigan welcomes the new, standardized waste bin labels!

Why are these new labels so great?

It’s a big world out there, filled with plenty of waste bins. Sometimes it becomes confusing, trying to figure out what goes in each bin. Before the University switched over to single stream recycling, there were bins of all different types: paper, newspaper, plastic, you name it!

There are even relics of these old bins still around campus.

Labels before single stream recycling.

Now, you can place any accepted recyclable into the blue recycling bins on campus, regardless of whether they say “paper only.” Those old labels make things pretty confusing!

So get ready to see more and more of the new Recycling, Compost, and Landfill labels replacing the old ones around campus. You can already find a few newly labeled bins at the Duderstadt Library on North Campus.

Easy to Use

These three new labels will let you know exactly what you should place into the bin. Each label includes images and captions of acceptable materials, so say goodbye to the guess work. If the product you wish to recycle isn’t on the sign, put it in the landfill bin! Plus, all three bins will direct you to our website, www.recycle.umich.edu where you can find loads of information about which materials are accepted as recyclables or compostables at U-M.

Reality Check

The new labels will use the term landfill, which clears up any uncertainty about where products put into that bin will end up in the future. Remember, your trash doesn’t disappear the moment it reaches the bin. The University is dedicated towards reducing the amount of waste it sends to landfills (read more about U-M’s sustainability goals here). To accomplish this waste reduction goal, the entire U-M community needs to see the distinction between sending waste to the landfill rather than recycling or composting facilities.

Minimizing Contamination

The new compost signs also include a popular saying in the waste reduction and recycling world, “when in doubt, throw it out.” While some contamination is allowed in recycling, ZERO contamination is permitted when we send our compostables to the WeCare Organics compost facility. Every single item incorporated into a compost pile must be able break down into a nutrient rich product that can then be used to fertilize gardens and improve soils. Minimizing contamination is a priority when collecting compostables, so if you’re not sure, put it in the landfill bin.

They Look Good

These snazzy new labels will certainly give the waste bins around campus a new look!

So fancy.

So new.

Let's say goodbye to to some well loved, but slightly confusing labels.

BYE!

Trash in Your Trash? Reducing Contamination Among Recyclables and Compostables

Contamination is a top concern for us at the U-M Waste Reduction and Recycling Office (WRRO) and it should be one for you too. Contamination occurs when trash and other things that don’t belong are collected with recyclables and compostables. Plastic bags, glass containers, and light bulbs are just a few of the items considered recycling contaminates at U-M. Anything that’s not food waste, like a coffee cup or plastic fork, is considered a contaminate among compostables.

However, if you attend a Zero Waste Event, the cups, plates, napkins, and cutlery you throw away will all be compostable due to their special design.

Recycling Contamination

U-M sends mixed recyclables to a Materials Recovery Facility. There, the recyclables are sorted, baled, and sold.

Keeping recycling contamination rates low is required in order to:

• Prevent unsafe working conditions for sorters
• Maintain the quality and financial value of our recyclables
• Prevent damage to machinery

U-M is allowed a 9% contamination rate in our recyclables. The contamination rate is not set at  0% because the recyclables will be thoroughly sorted.

What is U-M doing to reduce contamination among recyclables?

The WRRO maintains recycle.umich.edu, a website that provides all the information you need to figure out what you can and can’t recycle at U-M. The WRRO also publishes this blog in addition to posting on social media to spread the word about best recycling practices. Rufus the Recycler is also a diligent figure on campus during fall and winter semesters, educating students about recycling at U-M.

New recycling bin signs are also in development to be standardized across the University. The new signs will make it easier for you to know exactly what you should put in the recycling bin or the trash bin.

Compostables Contamination

U-M sends compostable food waste to WeCare Organics, the private operator of the City of Ann Arbor’s compost center. There, food waste eventually decomposes, becomes compost, and is sold as fertilizer or soil adamant.

Compostables are not sorted, requiring that all the material we send to WeCare Organics must decompose. This means that U-M must be more strict in its efforts to reduce contamination among compostables than it is with recyclables. After all, you wouldn’t want to find a plastic cup mixed in with the compost you purchased for your garden.

What is U-M doing to reduce food waste contamination?

While we can’t sort through food waste, we can make sure that what we originally put in the compost bin is a compostable. Pre-consumer food waste is collected by trained staff in the prep kitchens of U-M dining halls and catering locations. The East Quad dining hall also processes post-consumer food waste through a pulper, extracting water, before sending it to the Compost Center.

In addition to the standardization of recycling signs, compost signs will be updated and standardized to improve the understanding of what compostables are.

So what can YOU do to reduce contamination among recyclables and compostables?

• Be mindful of what you put into the recycling bin or compost bin.
• Remember, when in doubt, throw it out.
• Take advantage of the resources provided by the WRRO and educate yourself about what is recyclable and compostable at U-M. Visit recycle.umich.edu!