University of Michigan

The fall 2007 semester marks the eighteenth anniversary of the U of M Recycling Program! Recycling at the University has greatly improved over this span of time. The steadily increasing proportion of goods recycled indicates that the program has been successful in encouraging faculty, staff and students to increase recycling.

Of the recycling programs that have been developed during the past 18 years, the paper recycling has been the most successful. Total amount of paper recycled has greatly increased since the beginning of the program and represents the largest proportion of the total recycling on campus. The mixed containers program has also been increasingly successful.

The University of Michigan established a recycling collection program in 1989 for the collection of white office paper, newspaper and corrugated cardboard. Today the program has expanded to include collection of mixed paper, which includes newspapers, magazine, catalogs, office paper, envelopes, blueprints, manila folders, phone books and soft cover books. Container collection includes glass, aluminum and steel cans, #1 PET or #2 HDPE plastic bottles, milk and juice cartons, drink boxes and ceramics.

Recycling and waste collection service on campus is provided internally by U of M Plant Building and Grounds Services. In fiscal year 2007 over 2,100 tons of paper and 153 tons on containers were collected for recycling. Recycled materials made up 27 percent of all the material collected by U of M Waste Management Services in fiscal year 2007. The department also coordinates all waste reduction and recycling education and promotion efforts on campus. In addition to paper and containers, several other materials are collected such as scrap metal, wood, polystyrene, and electronic media (CD’s, tapes, etc.)