Recycling

Corrugated Cardboard Recycling

Corrugated cardboard (OCC) recycling is available from select buildings (listed below). Each building in the program has a designated collection point, typically on the building dock. This program is a cooperative effort with Ames Area Redemption Center (AARC) who will be providing 5-day-a-week campus collection of OCC from campus. This is a free collection service with no cost to the university. Not only will the program save the university refuse service costs, each ton recycled also represents a diverted savings of $60, the current university disposal fee at the Ames Resource Recovery Plant. (NOTE: We have acquired approval from EH&S for this recycling program.)

For this recycling program to succeed, it is essential that we have the cooperation of all building occupants in the removal of contaminates from the cardboard and delivery of boxes to the designated collection point. Please review the OCC Recycling Guidelines  and list of contaminants to assist you in your OCC recycling.

Special OCC Recycling Requests: Buildings that are not on the regular OCC recycling route may request one-time special collection of OCC by contacting the Recycling Coordinator. In most cases, the OCC will be picked up the next working day.

To have your building added to the regular OCC recycling route, contact the Recycling Coordinator. We will assist in acquiring the following:

• Approval/support from your building supervisor
• Support from your custodial team or staff handling refuse
• Identify an adequate space to serve as the storage and collection point
• Assure volumes exist to justify collection at your building
• Assist you in determining the number of collections per week for your building

If you have any questions about cardboard recycling, contact the Recycling Coordinator (294-0692 or recycling@iastate.edu).

Currently we are recycling an estimated 17.5 tons of cardboard per month. Each ton recycled represents a diverted savings of $60, the current university disposal fee at the Ames Resource Recovery Plant.

OCC BUILDING LIST (as of October 2007)
Collection Point / Collection Frequency

Building	Cardboard Collection Point	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	On-call
Agronomy	room inside dock (south door)		Tue			Fri
Alumni Hall	SW side of building near dumpster and confidential bin						On-call
Armory							On-call
Atanasoff	dock						On-call
Bessey	dock	Mon		Wed		Fri
Black Engineering	by dumpster			Wed
Blackwell Publishing/ISU Press	dock				Thu
Carver Co-Lab	pickup per Tom Warren		Tue			Fri
Coover				Wed
Durham	inside building (by dumpster)		Tue			Fri
EH&S							on-call
Engineering Extension	will set outside						on-call
Fire Service	will set outside						on-call
Friley Hall	Food Service dock	Mon		Wed		Fri
General Services	dock	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri
Gerdin Business Bldg	dock			Wed
Gilman Hall & Addition	dock						on-call
Heady	Summer - Tue & Thu only	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri
Hilton Coliseum	enclosure at bottom of east end ramp	Mon		Wed		Fri
Hixson-Lied	loading dock						on-call
Hoover				Wed
Howe	dock			Wed
Industrial Ed II							on-call
Jacobson / Stadium	west side of Jacobson and E & W concourse						on-call
Knapp-Storms	dock			Wed
Lagomarcino	dock	Mon		Wed		Fri
LeBaron	by dumpster in front of MacKay, west end	Mon		Wed		Fri
MacKay	see LeBaron above						on-call
Memorial Union	in container on south dock	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri
Molecular Biology	dock		Tue		Thu
Parks Library	55 ft yellow container on dock		Tue			Fri
Power Plant	west side by overhead door						on-call
Printing & Publications	dock						on-call
Reiman Conservatory	by dumpster		Tue			Fri
Research Park Bldg 1	behind loading dock		Tue		Thu
Research Park Bldg 2	near double doors, back dock		Tue		Thu
Research Park Bldg 3	inside dumpster enclosure		Tue		Thu
Research Park Bldg 4	inside dumpster enclosure		Tue		Thu
Scheman Continuing Ed Bldg	enclosure on north side bldg	Mon		Wed		Fri
Science II	bright green container on loading dock behind dumpster	Mon		Wed		Fri
Soil Tilth	dock			Wed
South 5th St Warehouse	SE corner of bldg/outside dock						on-call
Stephens Auditorium	pick up when out -- enclosure on back dock						on-call
Sweeney Hall	dock behind compressed air racks						on-call
Town Engineering	dock behind dumpster	Mon
Vet Med	inside building - across from room 1385C	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri
VMRI Bldg #1	outside front door bldg 1						on-call

Buildings designated as on-call will need to contact the Recycling Coordinator to request an OCC pick up. In most cases, the OCC will be picked up the next working day.

To change your building collection frequency, contact the Recycling Coordinator.

Corrugated Cardboard (OCC) Recycling Guidelines

• Voluntary participation by all building occupants is encouraged.
• Corrugated cardboard has the “waffle” between the two outer layers of paper.
• Remove contaminants from the boxes (see acceptable/not acceptable list below).
  NOTE: We recommend disposing of highly contaminated OCC in the regular trash rather than taking the time to remove the contaminants (any OCC placed in the dumpsters needs to be flattened). Our goal is to recycle as much OCC as possible/feasible with the hopes of saving refuse expenses and improving the environment. We are not trying to recycle all OCC. Each department or unit participating in the program needs to determine the amount of time they are willing to devote towards sorting the OCC, etc.
• Packing peanuts and other such contaminants should be bagged before putting them in the regular trash receptacle.
• Boxes to be recycled do not have to be flattened unless space limitations or volumes are an issue for your building.
• Boxes should be taken to the designated collection point (see building list).
• Collection frequency varies per building according to anticipated volumes (see building list).
  NOTE: To request a special OCC recycling collection or to permanently adjust a buildings collection frequency, contact the Recycling Coordinator.
• If needing help handling large volumes of boxes for recycling, call the Facilities Service Desk (294-5100) for special assistance.
  
  

OCC Contaminates - UNACCEPTABLE (sort out and put in trash)

• Waxed boxes (such as meat boxes)
• Boxes with food residue, oil, or similar contaminants (such as pizza boxes)
• Chipboard/wetboard (such as cereal boxes, pop can boxes, poster board, tablet backs, or other non-corrugated materials)
• Styrofoam, packing peanuts, wood supports*, or other packing material
• Metal or plastic bands/strapping
• Plastic wrap, shrink wrap, etc.

* Wood placed beside the Dumpster will be picked up for reuse.

 

Visit our Request Form to have your cardboard picked up.