SLAC Recycling Program
Paper, Beverage Bottles and Cans, and Corrugated Cardboard
Introduction
Thank you for your participation in the SLAC Recycling Program for paper, bottles and cans, corrugated cardboard and other recyclable materials. The program is designed to reduce waste disposal costs, and increase recycling and associated revenues, which are used to support the program.
The Facilities (FAC) Department is managing the program. The program is handled through your Building Manager and the FAC Department.
If you have any questions about obtaining additional "green" recycle collection carts, about the replacement of carts, or about the frequency of collection services, first check with your Building Manager to determine that recycling and safety concerns are properly addressed. If you need recycling carts for cleaning an office or for a special event (e.g., workshop, luncheon, or special cleanup activity) contact the FAC Department (ext. 8901).
If you have Corrugated Cardboard to recycle, coordinate with your Building Manager to determine how it is handled in your building or work area. Your Building Manager can help coordinate needs with the FAC Department.
If you have Scrap Metals to recycle (metals, foils, wires, and other) that come from work areas (not food or beverage cans), please coordinate with Property Control/Salvage Warehouse (ext. 2329) to arrange for collection containers, proper separation methods, and pickup arrangements for these or other salvageable items. More information about the materials Property Control collects is available on their website.
If you have other Non-hazardous Materials that you wish to recycle, first check this website. For example, instructions on recycling of overhead transparencies and floppy disks and have been added - see General Guidance.
If you have Hazardous Materials, check with the Chemical Management System Program (ext 3861) or Waste Management (ext. 2399) to determine if they are potentially reusable or need to be disposed of as hazardous waste. Send empty chemical containers to Waste Management.
If you have other questions on recycling, waste reduction, or preventing pollution, call Waste Management (ext. 2399)or the Waste Minimization/Pollution Prevention Coordinator (ext.3401).
Program Features
A major feature of the program is the "green" recycling carts you see around your building for collecting recyclable paper and bottles and cans. The carts are typically green, 32 or 64 gallons in size, plastic, and equipped with wheels and lids. The carts are labeled to help explain which materials can be deposited for recycling. A 32-gallon cart holds a volume of about 4 file boxes of paper. A 64-gallon cart holds about 8 file boxes of paper.
Please notify your Building Manager on selection of permanent locations for recycling carts. If using a cart in a temporary location, please return it to its original location so it will be properly managed by the janitors and recycling subcontractors. Keep the lids closed for outdoor recycling carts.
The success of the program involves employees depositing the recyclable materials into the appropriate recycling carts. Employees are encouraged to use cardboard desktop boxes to collect paper in their work area. Requests for desktop boxes can be directed to Waste Management (ext. 2399).
If you reside on a second floor, use desktop boxes in your office to collect materials. Periodically, bring these materials down to recycling carts at a first-floor location.
The program involves a combination of janitorial and recycling subcontractor services. In buildings that have recycling carts located indoors, janitors move carts from indoor to outdoor locations on an as-needed basis (when the cart is nearly full). The janitors bring back an extra empty cart from the assigned outdoor location.
Note: The janitors only move carts on level ground or mildly sloped ground, not up or down stairways or other sharp changes in surface.
The recycling subcontractor will only empty recycling carts from assigned outdoor locations. The subcontractor will collect from these locations once per week, usually Tuesdays. The carts are mechanically emptied into a compartmentalized truck that keeps recyclable materials segregated by two types - mixed paper and beverage bottles and cans.
Please do not leave materials outside or in front of the collection carts.
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Separation of Materials for Recycling
The recycling program has changed in regard to the separating of materials, in particular for the different types of papers. In the past, the program required users to separate paper into three categories: white paper, mixed paper, and newspaper. The new program eliminates the need to separate paper into these categories. Instead, now white paper, mixed paper and newspaper can be deposited into any of the three types of paper recycling carts (labeled White Paper, Mixed Paper, and Newspaper). For continued guidance, use the Mixed Paper guidance below for information on what kinds of papers can and cannot be recycled. Now you can include white paper and newspaper into the mix.
Regarding the collection of beverage bottles and cans, additional recyclable plastics are accepted in the recycling carts labeled "Bottles and Cans".
Unacceptable items (if not accepted in any cart) should go in the trash. Also, please note that the materials you recycle at home may not be the same or follow the same separation techniques as SLAC. This is due in part to differences in recycle vendors and the variations in the way local recycling programs are managed.
General Guidance
- Where do we find general guidance on recycling?
- How do we separate materials?
- Can we recycle the following papers: hardback books, shredded white paper, carbon-less carbon paper, and blueprints?
- Where can we obtain collection carts for white, mixed, newspaper or beverage bottles and cans?
- Where can one obtain a desktop collection box?
- What do I do if I have a lot of recyclable paper and beverage bottles or cans?
- What do we do if we have a major office cleanout project that has recyclable materials?
- Does SLAC obtain a rebate for recycled materials?
- What do we do with cardboard?
- What do we do with transparencies?
- What do we do with computer floppy disks?
- What do we do with compact disks (CDs)?
