The United States generates more waste per capita than any other country in the world. When you throw something away, it does not just disappear for good. When we recycle and compost materials, they are given the chance to be used again and create new life. They divert materials from landfills, which take up space and can have toxic effects on the communities (both human and ecosystems) that surround them.

Waste management is a complex issue with local and global implications. With your help in sorting waste properly, your waste can end up in compost that supports the growth of food and plants or recycled to give a second life to plastic materials.

Continue reading to learn about where your waste goes and to discover waste diversion resources to help you decrease your waste stream.

UD’s landfill waste gets taken to the Montgomery County Solid Waste District which provides services to Montgomery County businesses, municipalities, and residents. After this, UD’s waste gets taken to the Rumpke Sanitary Landfill (known as “Mount Rumpke”) near Cincinnati, OH. Mount Rumpke is the 6th largest landfill in the United States.

When certain materials decompose in landfills, they produce methane gas, a potent greenhouse gas. Rumpke has a gas reclamation facility to harness the methane produced and put it back into pipelines.

UD pays for landfill pickup services whereas recycling pickup services are at a reduced cost.

UD’s recycling waste gets taken by Rumpke to its recycling facility in Cincinnati, OH. Rumpke has single stream recycling, which means they sort UD’s recyclables once they get to the facility. Just make sure your recyclables are rinsed out, clean, and meet Rumpke’s accepted items list.

At the facility, Rumpke uses an extensive amount of sorting techniques and machines to sort recyclables, pack them, and ship them to material buyers.

Compost from UD dining halls goes to a the campus in-vessel composter. When mixed with landscaping waste, the resulting nutrient-rich soil amendment feeds the expanding campus garden.

Hanley Sustainability Institute student leaders also run a Neighborhood Composting Program where they pickup 5 gallon buckets from students' porches and bring them to Old River Park. At Old River, compost is added to the new in-vessel composter. Finished compost gets used in the Old River Park Garden as well as by Facilities Management for landscaping around campus.

UD Recycling collects and recycles ALL types of batteries. Certain types of batteries are considered universal waste and need to be handled separately. See below for specifics about each type of battery.

Battery collection tubes are conveniently located across campus. These tubes are serviced monthly. If a collection bin in your area needs serviced more frequently, please fill out a service request form.

If you produce a large quantity of smaller batteries (AA, AAA, C, D, 9 Volt), request a battery container. Battery containers are serviced on an as-needed basis.

• Alkaline Batteries (9 volt or smaller): If you have any of these batteries, place them in a small bag and bring them to a convenient collection tube. If you have a large number, please complete a service request form to notify UD Recycling for pick up. No special handling needed. If your department produces a large amount of alkaline batteries, we can provide a container for collection.
• Lead Acid Batteries: This includes batteries such as car batteries and gel batteries. Complete a service request form to notify UD Recycling for pick up.
• UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply System): These units provide un-interrupted battery backup power and can be recycled. If you have this style of battery, please fill out a service request form.
• For the following, Please bring them to a convenient collection tube. If you have a large number, please complete a service request form to notify UD Recycling for pick up.
  • “Coin” or “Button” batteries: Most of these batteries contain lithium, and need to be individually wrapped in tape or in a separate bag.
  • Rechargeable Batteries (AA, AAA, C, D, 9 volt): Some of these rechargeable batteries contain lithium (Li-on), Ni-Cd or NiMH. These batteries should be individually wrapped in tape.
  • Other Rechargeable Batteries (over 9 volt): Most are used in 2-way radios, cell phones and power tools.
  • Laptop Batteries: Many of these rechargeable batteries contain lithium.

Battery Collection Locations

Battery tube: consists of a plexiglass tube for collecting all types of batteries.

Blue bin: multi-functional unit that contains collection bins for ink and toner units, electronics and batteries.

UD Recycling wants all of your cardboard boxes. If you have a small amount of cardboard, please break down the boxes and place in your recycling container or a recycling dumpster behind your building on campus. Please label it “Recycle” if leaving it next to a hallway recycling container.

For large amounts of recycling, please fill out a request form and UD Recycling staff will come collect it from your office, free of charge!

Electronic waste can be any discarded electronic product or device that is at its end of life, usefulness or is not needed anymore.

Most common are:

• Laptops, computers, towers
• Keyboards, mouse, monitor
• Printers, scanners, faxes
• TVs, gaming systems
• VCR and DVD players; hard drives and memory sticks
• Copiers
• Microwave, toaster ovens, kitchen appliances
• Coffee makers and radios
• Tablets and phones
• Extensions cords and power strips
• Circuit boards
• Cords, chargers, and other wires
• Smoke detectors

Anything that has an electrical cord or powered with batteries could be considered electronic waste.

All these items need to be disposed of properly, even if they don’t work anymore. For items with UDit tags, complete a tagged UDit Equipment Retrieval form. All UDit tagged items are disposed of following Department of Defense and US EPA guidelines.

For all other electronics, make sure to fill out the UD recycling service request form for pickup.  UD Recycling works with UDit and Surplus to recycle electronic waste, if the item can be re-used or sold.

Please don’t throw away, even if it is broken.

Any furniture or unwanted / unused items need to be surplused, even if the item is broken or does not work anymore. Complete a service request.

UD Surplus will determine if it can be reused, sold, used for parts or recycled.

For more information about Property Disposition and Asset Management, please visit Property Management.

Please don’t throw away, surplus!

All types of light bulbs can be recycled on campus.

• Fluorescent Tubes
• Incandescent
• Halogen
• Compact Florescent
• LED Tubes
• LED light bulbs
• High Intensity Discharge

For just a couple of light bulbs, contact UD Recycling to schedule a pick up.

For larger collections, request a collection container. No need to sort, all varieties can go in one container. When the project is complete or when the container is full, complete a service request form and UD Recycling staff will collect the container.

Paint, chemicals, oils and fuels require special handling. These items should be sent to UD Environmental Health and Safety. Never place paints, chemicals, oils or fuels in a dumpster or compactor.

• Paint
• Chemicals
• Antifreeze
• Oils
• Propane gas tanks

Contact UD Recycling to schedule a pick up.

Did you know UD Recycling collects over 500 pallets a month from campus? UD Recycling works with a local contractor to refurbish and resell good pallets and mulches pallets that cannot be reused.

If you have pallets that need to be picked up, please complete a service request and UD Recycling staff will collect unwanted pallets.

If you produce a large quantity and would like to be added to a monthly schedule, please contact UD Recycling.

All types of printer cartridges and toners, including tubes, can be recycled. UD Recycling partners with Mailing Services and Environmental Health and Safety to capture cartridges and toners from copiers and printers on campus.

Mailing Services collects, packages, and donates used toner and cartridges to Charitable Recycling for recycling and reuse that raises money for Dayton Children's Hospital. Mailing Services also collects consumable items from campus copier machines, such as toner cartridges, imaging units, waste toner bottles, developer drums, etc., and recycles them with Konica Minolta through their Clean Planet Program.

To recycle your cartridges:

• Repackage the cartridge in a box. Use the box from the new replacement cartridge or a similar sized box.
• Clearly mark the outside of the box "Recycle."
• Leave the box with your outgoing mail for Mailing Services to collect.
• Small cartridges for desktop printers can be packaged in a campus mail envelope, clearly marked "Recycle."

If your department or building generates a large amount of toner and cartridges, request a container for collection.

Toner cartridges can also be returned to blue collection bins located at central collection points. If a collection bin in your area is full, please complete a service request for service. Drop-off locations include:

• RecPlex lobby
• Anderson Center outside IT Service Center
• Marianist Hall lobby

UD Recycling is happy to work with you to collect the follow types of metal and steel items:

• Iron
• Cast Iron
• Tin
• Aluminum
• Stainless steel
• Copper and insulated copper
• Brass
• Radiators
• Lead*
• Tungsten
• Other metals
• Capacitors and transformers

If you collect various pieces of scrap metal, UD Recycling can provide a collection container. Containers are serviced upon request.

Working on a large project or a construction job? Complete a work order for a large open top container to capture large quantity and large pieces of metal.

For one-time or smaller quantities of scrap metal, contact UD Recycling to schedule a pick up.

All old or broken metal furniture or appliances (including all freon containing appliances) need to be sent to UD Recycling.

*Lead needs to be processed separately. Please note in the service request form that lead is included in your request.