Yes, as of December 2012 pizza boxes are recyclable with UNCG’s commingled recycling program due to the City of Greensboro expanding its curbside recycling program. Please be sure pizza box is empty and flatten box. Due to their larger size it is best if empty pizza boxes are taken directly to your building’s green commingled recycling dumpster.

No, grocery store and shopping bags made of plastic are not recyclable with UNCG’s recycling program. Plastic bags are actually a huge problem for recycling processors because they damage sorting mechanisms. However your local grocery store has recycling containers especially for this material.

Yes, however hard cover books need to be collected separately from other recyclables. Give the OWRR a call to schedule a pickup of hard cover books. The OWRR can also work with you on any special cleanouts of your office space on campus.

Yes, when items are thrown into campus trash containers they are destined for landfill disposal. NC has several landfill bans for several common items, plastic beverage containers and aluminum cans are included in these bans. Visit the following website for additional information.

UNCG generates many tons of waste every month, the bulk of this waste is destined for landfill disposal (although much of it could have been recycled but was incorrectly put in the trash containers around campus). The City of Greensboro has a landfill close to town but in 2007 it stopped taking MSW (municipal solid waste). MSW from UNCG and the surrounding area of Greensboro is now taken to a transfer station on Burnt Poplar Road. The transfer station packs the waste into large semi-truck trailers where it is driven 79 miles south to the Uwharrie Regional Landfill in Mt. Gilead, NC.

The slick paper should be put in commingled recycling bin, magazines are the most common source for this type of paper.

The OWRR does not manage the disposal of universal waste on campus, CFL’s are considered a Universal Waste and must be handled through UNCG Environmental Health and Safety (EH&S). Give EH&S a call to find out the closest CFL drop off point on campus is to you.

All paint needs to be disposed of through UNCG Environmental Health and Safety (EH&S).

No, recycling programs vary drastically from place to place. Recycling is a business and if not enough money can be generated by collecting a certain item then the MRF (Material Recovery Facility) will not accept it in their program. It is the user’s responsibility to find out what their recycling program accepts, UNCG’s commingled recycling program uses the same MRF as the City of Greensboro so our commingled recycling guidelines mirror that of the City of Greensboro. Visit the following website for additional information.

Every June the OWRR sponsors an annual Shred-A-Thon program where a contracted mobile shredding truck will be stationed on campus (near EUC Walker Ave. Bus Stop area) to securely shred any paper documents you have from your office or household for free. The OWRR does not offer secure shredding during other times of year; however departments can contract with local document security companies independently. Some examples of local shredding services are Cintas Document Management, Shred-It, Iron Mountain and a Shred Ahead.

With the expansion of UNCG’s commingled recycling program including bottle caps the need for separate bottle cap recycling program has ended. Please include bottle caps with your empty bottles when recycling them in one of the commingled recycling bins or dumpsters.