Sustainability
Recycling Heading link
Most offices provide a recycling container/basket and a “sidecar” container for non-recyclable material in each employee’s workspace. Bins also have been placed in all buildings so that paper, plastic, metal and glass can be collected and recycled.
We are asking for your help in encouraging students, faculty and staff to take an active role in UIC’s recycling efforts by doing the following:
- Employees should take the contents of their desk set and any other disposable materials to their office’s centrally located collection area.
- Recyclable materials and trash should be separated and placed in the correct collection bin.
- Recyclable items must be empty, clean and dry before placing them in a bin. One dirty item can contaminate an entire truckload of recyclables, so this step is crucial to the success of UIC’s recycling program. If in doubt about whether an item can be recycled, it’s better to place it in the landfill bin than risk contamination.
- Do not bag recyclables before placing them in a bin. Items must be loose to ensure proper sorting.
- Cardboard boxes should be flattened and placed behind the hallway bins. Flattening cardboard should be done by anyone that receives deliveries, including in labs and clinics.
Building service workers will then move the sorted waste and recyclables from the hallways to central collection areas in your building.
Outdoors, BigBelly trash and recycling containers can be used to support UIC’s zero waste goals. These bins use solar power to compact the waste and recyclables, creating more container space and fewer pickups.
Finally, the following items cannot be recycled and should always be placed in a landfill bin:
- Paper cups.
- Face masks.
- Hot coffee/beverage cups.
- Plastic utensils.
- Paper towels.
- Tissues.
- Napkins.
At this time, plastic bags should not be placed in recycling bins. However, there are specially marked bins where they can be recycled in Student Center East, Student Center West, the Student Services Building and College of Medicine West. Any plastic film — not just the bags from the grocery store — also can be recycled at grocery stores and big box retailers.
If you have large quantities of paper to recycle, you can request delivery of a temporary paper recycling tote by submitting a non-billable work order in FMWeb.
Office supplies made of plastic and metal should never be placed in office recycling bins. Consider donating these items to UIC’s Great Stuff Exchange, which offers such items for reuse. Also, furniture cannot be recycled.
If you have questions or need more information about what you can do to help, please email recycling@uic.edu.