Recycling

Single Stream

Commercial single stream recycling eliminates on-site sorting of recyclables by allowing placement of cardboard, paper, plastic, aluminum, steel and glass within one container for collection by our single stream vendor, IESI. At their partner facilities here in the St. Louis area, IESI facilitates the sorting, packing, and shipping of these materials to regional manufacturers who reuse recycled product.

What can you recycle in "Single Stream?"

For more information, please visit the single stream recycling page.

Single stream procedures for campus laboratories

For information about single stream procedures for campus laboratories, please refer to Recycling of Empty Containers and Other Materials in Laboratories (PDF).

Furniture & Office Supplies

The university's used furniture and office supplies are collected and redistributed in a variety of ways:

S.O.S. - Share Our Stuff

At the conclusion of the spring semester, Washington University will implement the Share Our Stuff (S.O.S.) campus move-out program. Organized by the Office of Sustainability and various other university departments and student groups, S.O.S. provides a means to easily recycle and recirculate salvageable items that may otherwise be thrown out during this very busy time of the year. Proceeds from the event go to support local non-profit groups including Operation Food Search, MERS Goodwill, and the Ronald McDonald House.

In addition to furniture and other office supplies, the list of items collected during move out continues to grow and currently includes:

• appliances & electronics
• books
• clean clothing & linens
• non-perishable food
• hygiene products
• furnishings

Furniture Redistribution Service

Washington University offers its own furniture redistribution service through its purchasing website. At this site, faculty, staff and students can post university-owned office items for sale or donation to other interested employees on all campuses.

Local Non-profits

In addition to cooperating with the university for the Share Our Stuff program, local non-profits MERS Goodwill and Operation Food Search (OFS) accept much of WUSTL's excess furniture and metal goods to be resold throughout the year. Proceeds from their efforts support those in need within the City of St. Louis.

Electronic Equipment, Appliances, Batteries, & Light Bulbs

Goods not recycled in our single stream are collected by the Environmental Health and Safety for appropriate processing with our selected vendors:

Universal Wastes: e.g., light bulbs, batteries, mercury containing devices.

Electronics: e.g., computers, fax machines, printers, copiers, and anything with circuits

"White Goods":e.g., refrigerators, appliances, compressors

Confidential Papers

For the purposes of recycling confidential documents, our local vendor, Shred-it, provides a locked security container that can be used for this discarded, sensitive information.

A bonded customer security representative transfers the contents directly to a truck parked on-site where the destruction takes place. No documents leave the premises until they are destroyed and 100 percent of the shredded paper is delivered to regional paper mills for recycling.

There is no need to remove staples or paper clips from the following items before being placed in Shred-It containers:.

• white paper
• colored paper
• file folders
• transparencies
• window envelopes
• plastic cards
• staples
• paper clips

This departmental service can be scheduled as both a regular pickup and as special projects/bulk purge, depending on location. For more information on getting set up with one or more secure consoles please contact our University Account Manager at (314) 787-2865.

Construction & Demolition Waste

Washington University is committed to greener building practices in both new construction and renovation.

As set forth in the Strategic Plan for Sustainable Operations, the university will achieve standards equivalent to or exceeding LEED Silver for all new construction and major renovations of existing buildings, and will pursue LEED Gold or Platinum, when appropriate.

A major component of greener building practices is the diversion and tracking of the waste generated through the construction and demolition process. IESI, our single stream vendor, is helpful in diverting our construction waste from the landfill and providing all documentation necessary to track our efforts by volume.

For such recent LEED projects as the BJC Institute of Health and the Stephen F. and Camilla T. Brauer Hall (both LEED Gold), WUSTL diverted more than 90 percent of construction and demolition waste from the landfill.

Food Donations

Although our campuses have made substantial progress in limiting overproduction in our dining facilities through strict purchasing and portion controls, uneaten food is still found at the end of the day. University Dining Services puts this resource to good use, donating to such local charities as Campus Kitchen and Operation Food Search.

Compost

Ground Waste

Our lawn care service vendor, Top Care, collaborates with local affiliates to ensure that 100 percent of Washington University's green waste is composted into organic mulch.

Food Waste (Danforth Campus only)

Through our dining services partner, Bon Appétit, St. Louis Composting Inc provides four 64-gallon containers located in our South 40, Village House and Danforth University Center dining facilities. This organic waste is collected weekly from our "pulper room" to be recycled.

Additional composting opportunities are currently being explored.

Used Cooking Oil

One hundred percent of the university's used food service cooking oil is recycled through Kelley Green Biofuel. Founded by Kristopher Kelley, a 2008 WUSTL alumnus in Arts & Sciences, Kelley Green collects many gallons of used cooking oil each week to convert into biodiesel fuel. In addition to other applications being explored, the university uses the converted bio fuel to power dining services trucks.