2017 Winter Semester Wrap Up: 1178 Tons Recycled!

From national recycling competitions, to Rufus’ Instagram debut, Waste Reduction and Recycling has had a busy Winter 2017 semester.

Waste profile

In total, U-M recycled 2,356,170 pounds throughout the winter semester. That’s equivalent to 1178 tons of paper, cardboard, plastic, and metal! We also composted 551,420 pounds (276 tons) of food waste and compostable material from the dining halls and select cafes on campus. 2,356,170 pounds (1857 tons) of waste were sent to landfills.

Bin Standardization

The Waste Reduction and Recycling division of the Office of Campus Sustainability is dedicated to lowering the amount of refuse sent to landfills. To improve campus recycling, Waste Reduction and Recycling is in the process of installing new recycling and landfill signs and bins in U-M buildings. The new signs use graphics to easily answer the question, “Can I recycle this?”

The following U-M buildings received new recycling and landfill labels, signs, bins or a combination of these since the start of the 2017 Winter semester:

• 

  Duderstadt Center
• Michigan League
• Michigan Union
• Hutchins Hall
• Haven Hall
• Mason Hall
• Shapiro Library
• Hatcher Library
• Fleming Administration Building
• Golf Course Club House
• Angell Hall
• Tisch Hall
• Bentley Historical Library

Recyclemania

If you follow Planet Blue, the home of all things sustainability at U-M, on Facebook and Twitter, you’ve probably heard about the 10 week national recycling competition, Recyclemania. This year, U-M recycled 1,363,940 pounds, ranking us 3rd in the nation for total recycling among universities. Our competition recycling rate was 45.46%, placing us in the top third of universities.

Rufus in the spotlight

This April, the UMich Instagram story featured everyone’s favorite recycling mascot to promote waste reduction and recycling efforts on campus. Don’t worry if you missed the Insta’ action! Lucky for you we have the adorable and informative footage of Rufus the Recycler saved on YouTube.

Spring move-out

As a finale to another great semester of waste reduction and recycling efforts, U-M provided spring move-out Donation Stations to the Residence Halls. This program asked students moving out of the Residence Halls to donate their excess clothing, bedding, nonperishable foods and toiletries, and household items to charity. There were 10.48 tons of total donations collected this year!

What’s next?

The fifth annual Office Supply Reuse Day takes place this June. FREE office supplies collected from U-M departments will be made available for other U-M departments and local nonprofit organizations to take. Find out more information at recycle.umich.edu.

Eco-Friendly Moving Guide

August approaches with the reminder that student move in is on its way! U-M residence halls and off campus neighborhoods will be welcoming back thousands of students along with their overstuffed boxes and suitcases.

Packing and moving in and out can produce a lot of waste from the things left behind to the packing materials used to protect breakables. So whether you are moving into the dorms or between leases, this moving guide will help you reduce waste and divert waste from landfills!

Planning Ahead

Instead of waiting to pack the night before, sort through your belongings a few weeks in advance to figure out exactly what you’ll be bringing with you. Organize the items that didn’t make the cut so that they can be donated, recycled or properly disposed. Find out where you can dispose medications, harsh cleaning products, and unwanted electronics in your town. These items can release harmful chemicals into the environment if they are flushed down the drain or placed in landfills.

Try not to go grocery shopping the week before you move. Instead, use up anything fresh in your refrigerator and eat up all of your frozen veggies. This will help you reduce the amount of food waste you’ll throw out come moving day. If you can’t eat everything up, bring it with you or put it in the compost bin!

Packing

Image by Ashley Poskin
via apartmenttherapy.com

Coordinate with friends, family, or local businesses to find out if they have spare cardboard boxes for you to reuse and pack your belongings in.

Before you begin stuffing boxes with newspaper, consider using linens, towels, rags, or even socks to protect breakables during the move. When you run out of reusable packing materials, take advantage of newspapers and old school work that can be recycled at your new place. It’s best to avoid materials like packing peanuts made from styrofoam because they are often not recyclable. Go to www.recycleannarbor.org if you’re moving to a place off campus to find out what materials can be recycled.

Reduce the number of cardboard boxes and save space by packing clothing in laundry baskets and suitcases. To make moving clothes into your new closet even easier, just twist a rubber band around the hooks of your hangers and move the clothes in a cluster- no packing materials necessary and you won't have to spend time rehanging every shirt!

Move In

Congratulations! You’ve successfully moved all of your stuff into your new place. Before you settle back into college life though, make sure to collapse and recycle cardboard boxes and plastics. You may also want to keep the cardboard boxes around for your next move or use them as a collection bin for future recyclables.

If you’ve just moved into a residence hall, follow your hall’s directions for how to take care of cardboard, bubble wrap, styrofoam, and packing peanuts. You can find more information about where/how to dispose of packing materials in the residence halls here.

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!