Sustainability

When in Doubt, Throw it Out!

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Wednesday, December 4, 2019

 

In mid-November, Lehigh announced some critical changes to recycling on campus. Global shifts in recycling markets have put pressure on domestic facilities to reduce contamination in the recycling stream. Contamination means incorrectly sorted, dirty and/or partially full items.  Prior to these global changes, 10 percent contamination was allowed in our recycling stream. The accepted contamination rate is now .05 percent. This means that any bag of recycling with more than .05 percent contamination will be rejected by our hauler and thrown in the trash.  Because of this, Lehigh University is refocusing its recycling efforts on items that are guaranteed to be accepted at recycling facilities

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AS A RESULT, ONLY THE FOLLOWING ITEMS WILL BE ACCEPTED IN THE BLUE RECYCLING BINS WHEN CLEAN AND EMPTY:

  • Plastic water and soda bottles (no caps)
  • Glass containers
  • Paper
  • Metal cans

Cardboard can be placed next to the blue recycling bins.  Plastic bags should not be placed in the blue recycling bins.

When in doubt, throw it out!

 

You will be noticing several new recycling efforts designed to support our ambitious recycling goals

  • Updated recycling posters: Facilties/ABM are hanging new trash and recycling signage on all common areas and deckside bins throughout campus. These stickers explain the materials that are accepted in our single-stream recycling system and what is considered trash. If you would like to put up any additional recycling posters and trash posters, you can download them directly. In addition, the signage on the outdoor Big Belly bins have been updated.
  • 1:1 ratio of trash bins to recycling bins: Please make sure that your office space and common areas have a 1:1 ratio of trash bins to recycling bins. If you find that your space has more trash than recycling bins or vice versa, please contact facilities at inrse@lehigh.edu. By notifying Facilities, they make sure that ABM brings/removes the necessary bins from your space. If you want a mini trash bin instead that hooks onto your recycling bin, you can place a request for one here.

We would also encourage you to apply for the Sustainable Initiative Grant (SIG) to come up with a solution to these challenges.  SIG provides one-time grants of up to $2,000 for students, faculty, and staff to pilot innovative and scalable ideas to create a greener, more sustainable campus.  If you have questions, please contact sigrant@lehigh.edu.

If you have any questions about the changes to the recycling program at Lehigh, please visit https://sustainability.lehigh.edu/recycling for more information.  

Thank you for recycling and helping to reduce waste at Lehigh!