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Photo credit Jonas Krant (UCSB Sustainability)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Recycling is a great way to reduce not only the amount of waste being sent to landfills every day, but also to reduce the need to harvest new materials from environmentally destructive processes like mining and timber collection. UC Santa Barbara\u2019s now robust recycling program actually began with AS Recycling and has since grown to include ASR, Facilities, Central Stores, Environmental Health and Safety, Housing and Residential Services and other campus departments all working alongside our campus waste hauler Marborg.<\/p>\n We are very lucky in Santa Barbara County that so many items can be recycled. Below is a brief list of recyclable materials as well as non-recyclable materials that often get put into recycling bins. Of course, being able to recycle a lot of different products doesn\u2019t help if the recyclables don\u2019t make it into the proper bin so, UCSB has developed an impressive recycling infrastructure to make sure everything gets to the right place. Visit our campus resources<\/a> page to learn more about UCSB\u2019s recycling infrastructure!<\/p>\n The following materials can be placed in blue recycling bins.<\/p>\n NOTE:\u00a0Items made up of multiple recyclable materials are not recyclable. For example, a sheet of laminated paper is made up of paper and plastic but it is not recyclable.<\/p>\n The following materials are often mistakenly categorized as recyclable. Please do not put them in the blue recycling bins.<\/p>\n The following materials can be place in e-waste recycling bins.<\/p>\n Most Americans are now familiar with recycling and how it helps reduce the amount of waste we generate, but recycling alone is not enough to eliminate the impact of larger and larger human populations that produce and discard more and more each year especially because not all types of waste can be recycled. 21% of landfill waste in the US is actually made up of food, and yard waste accounts for another 9% (source and more information<\/a>). The best way to reduce this contribution is through composting.<\/p>\n Composting is the act of turning organic waste, which includes food scraps and yard and landscaping trimmings into a soil-like product that can be used to aid plant growth and development. Certain plates, cups, utensils and other items can also be certified as compostable. There are several different methods of composting with each method being ideal for different situations and different material inputs, and there are also plenty of ways you can compost in your own home. The City of Santa Barbara and UCSB are also working to increase composting at the community and campus level, respectively.<\/p>\n For more information on composting at home or on-site, check out Department of Public Worms!<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n UCSB has a robust composting infrastructure that is improving every day. We have programs in place that process compostable waste both on and off-site, to divert as much organic waste from the landfill as possible.<\/p>\n Anyone at UCSB can use one of our compost drop-off bins for food and compostable service ware products!\u00a0 We can accept a wide variety of organic waste because we send the bulk of this waste to a commercial composting facility in Santa Maria, Engel & Gray.\u00a0 Engel & Gray\u2019s 90-day cycle (as opposed to the 45-day cycle some other facilities use) let\u2019s us use compostable plates, utensils, and other items and be assured that they will completely break down.\u00a0 It also allows us to compost a wider variety of material\u2013 meat, dairy and oils are not a problem for a large-scale facility.<\/p>\n Housing and Residential Services Dining Commons and the UCen send the majority of their food waste off-site to Engle & Gray. Both departments compost all scraps from the kitchen (peels, stems, the parts that don\u2019t make it onto your plate). The Dining Commons also compost all food waste left on your plate. The on-campus food vendors provide compostable ware such as plates, cups, and utensils, which can all go into the compost bins.\u00a0 A small amount of food waste from the Dining Commons is collected by the Department of Public Worms and composted at their on-site compost facility at UCSB.<\/p>\n Grounds to Grounds is another major on-site composting program. Facilities grounds staff collect buckets of used coffee grounds and filters from the campus cafes each day and add them straight into the campus landscaping beds where they break down quickly and add plenty of nitrogen to the soil! You may have heard that coffee grounds are too acidic to be used directly like this, but in reality almost all of the acid is washed out during the brewing process. This program composts about 20 tons of coffee grounds per year!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n AS Recycling also manages an indoor composting program. We provide yellow bins with hinged lids to departments interested in diverting food waste in their office kitchens from the landfill. Any department who requests a bin will receive an informational composting presentation and a descriptive sign to accompany their bin.\u00a0 To request a compost bin for your office, click the button below.<\/p>\n We take multiple steps to ensure our bins are sanitary.\u00a0 We include a hinged black lid on our bins to reduce the chance of odors and flies. We also line the bins with bags and empty them three to five\u00a0 times per week. Please contact us with any questions or concerns!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Electronic waste is a growing problem in an increasingly technologically focused world. Devices go obsolete quickly, and many consumers simply discard old, perfectly functioning equipment as soon as a newer model is available. Consider cell phones and other mobile devices, as they have become\u00a0especially prevalent in the US with ten times as many units sold in 2010 compared to 2000. These devices have a shorter average lifespan than any other type of electronic equipment, and of the 141 million mobile devices that were discarded in 2009 in the US alone, (nearly one discard for every two people per year), only 8% were recycled (source<\/a>). Where did the rest end up?<\/p>\n When e-waste isn\u2019t recycled properly it ends up in a landfill, often in very poor countries where it may be burned or just left in or near poverty-stricken communities. All of those wires and circuit boards are filled with heavy metals that leach into water and come in contact with local people and wildlife. These compounds can cause cancer, reproductive disorders, endocrine (hormone) disruption, and many other health problems. Many chemicals don\u2019t break down over time or with processing and instead accumulate in the food chain, which can magnify the effect. In Guyiu, China, for example, e-waste incineration has resulted in the accumulation of ash piles with 200 times as much lead as would be legal in the US, and 82% of young children have lead poisoning (source<\/a>).<\/p>\n E-waste is a growing concern as more and more devices are replaced and discarded. The UC system took a strong position against e-waste several years ago, and requires that all e-waste from a UC campus is always recycled with the strongest environmental standards and is never sent overseas. See what we\u2019re doing here<\/a>, and what you can do if you\u2019re not a UCSB student or staff member but would still like to recycle your e-waste properly here<\/a>.<\/p>\n If you are a student, staff, or faculty member at UCSB, you can dispose of batteries and CFL light bulbs at many of our electronic waste<\/a> dropoff locations. If you have a small amount of paint or other universal waste, contact us<\/a> and we will determine if it is something we can handle as a special pickup. If you have other hazardous waste, such as those from a lab or machine shop, contact your building manager or UCSB Environmental Health and Safety<\/a> for help.<\/p>\n If you are not affiliated with the UCSB campus, please check the Community Hazardous Waste Collection Center<\/a>\u00a0page. While this facility is located at UCSB, it is NOT affiliated with AS Recycling so please contact them directly with any questions. Please visit\u00a0www.lessismore.org<\/a>\u00a0for more information.<\/p>\n Hazardous waste is officially defined in multiple ways. The EPA maintains a list<\/a> of specific compounds that are considered hazardous, but has also identified four characteristics<\/a> (ignitability, corrosivity, reactivity, and toxicity) that can define waste as hazardous even if it is not specifically listed. There are also mixed wastes<\/a>, which are both hazardous and radioactive, but unless you are running a nuclear power plant you shouldn\u2019t have to worry much about this.<\/p>\n Most relevant for most people and households is what\u2019s called universal waste<\/a>. Universal waste includes items that, while still hazardous waste, are commonly used by individual consumers and do not require special training to handle. Batteries, fluorescent bulbs, paint, oil and pesticides are all considered universal waste. The regulations on these are generally reduced to improve the ability for places like hardware stores and other outlets to run collection programs and therefore reduce the chance that consumers will simply throw these wastes in the trash.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Recycling is also there for campus events and has a system in place to ensure that campus groups can host events that are green and sustainable.<\/p>\n Campus events produce a large amount of waste. Often well-intentioned event planners carefully purchase recyclable or compostable plates and other products for their event, but the park or facility where the event is held only has trash bins and everything goes to the landfill anyway. We are here to help!<\/p>\n AS Recycling can help reduce\u00a0your event\u2019s environmental impact by providing recycling, compost and trash bins to help reduce the amount of waste going to the landfill.\u00a0After an event, A.S. Recycling student staff hand-sort through the material that was generated to further ensure proper disposal of materials. For an additional fee, we are also able to provide your group or organization with an accurate measurement of how much waste was diverted from the landfill and how you can further reduce waste at future events.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n AS Recycling\u2019s Zero Waste Event Service includes:<\/p>\n Add-on services available:<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/recycling.as.ucsb.edu\/files\/2011\/07\/09122012_0014.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nRecyclable material:<\/h3>\n
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Non-recyclable material:<\/h2>\n
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Recyclable e-waste:<\/h2>\n
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Composting<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nComposting at UCSB<\/h1>\n
Big Belly Compost Bins<\/h2>\n
Composting at the Dining Commons and UCen<\/h2>\n
Grounds to Grounds<\/h2>\n
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<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nWhat can go in the bin:<\/h1>\n
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ALL food scraps, including meat, dairy, and oils<\/h4>\n<\/li>\n
Compostable products, including all coffee cups and lids, to-go containers, utensils and cups purchased from most campus eateries. Many plastic-looking compostable items are marked with a recycling symbol with the number 7, and the abbreviation PLA.<\/h4>\n<\/li>\n
Napkins, wet or soiled paper, etc.<\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
What can\u2019t go in the bin:<\/h1>\n
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Plastic bags or containers\u2013 if you bring your compostables to the bin in a bag, please take the bag back with you<\/h4>\n<\/li>\n
Milk or ice cream cartons<\/h4>\n<\/li>\n
Paperboard (i.e. cereal boxes)<\/h4>\n<\/li>\n
Receipts<\/h4>\n<\/li>\n
Metal, plastic, glass, styrofoam<\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Electronic Waste<\/h1>\n
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<\/a><\/p>\nHazardous Waste<\/h1>\n
Disposing of Hazardous Waste<\/h2>\n
EVENT SERVICES<\/h1>\n
Here’s how it was done this year as described on the Recycling website<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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