What Can I Recycle?
Mixed Recycling
Our campuses collect recyclables through a mixed-recycling system.
Mixed Recycling Sign
Plastic jars, bottles, jugs and tubs, paper and cardboard, glass bottles and jars, and metal food and beverage cans are all collected in the same bin.
Still have separate cans and bottles or paper bins in your space? Let us know by emailing our Zero Waste Manager; Sarah Healey.
Quick Tips
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- Help stop contamination! Don’t put food waste, dirty containers, or trash in recycling bins.
- Don’t worry about the numbers, focus on the shape. According to RecycleSmartMA, “If it is a clean and empty plastic bottle, jar, jug or tub, it can be recycled in Massachusetts.”
- Plastic and metal caps and lids should be reattached to empty containers before you recycle them.
- Plastic bags are not recyclable! When disposing of recyclables, skip the trash bag and put them directly in the bin.
- Plastic bottles, jars, jugs, and tubs can be recycled regardless of their color, as long as that color is not black or another really dark color. Please put black plastic containers in the trash.
- Why? According to RecycleSmartMA, “recycling facilities sort plastics by bouncing a beam of light off them. Since black plastic absorbs light, it can’t be sorted and goes straight through the system and off to landfill or incineration.”
Have a question about if an item is recyclable or not? Use RecycleSmartMA’s “Recyclopedia” tool to look it up!
Keep an eye out for compostable plastics.
PLA Plastic and compostable products are not recyclable. These products — made from renewable resources such as corn, potatoes, and sugar — are designed to be processed with food waste and are labeled “compostable” or “biodegradable.”
Dining Services has replaced many of its oil-based plastic containers with compostable ones. However, PLA Plastic is NOT able to be composted in BU’s Food Waste bins. Place these items in the trash.
The following items can be recycled when collected separately:
Foam
Recyclable, dense, white polystyrene foam (styrofoam) will have a #6 ♸ on it, is easily snapped, and will not bend. One common example is lab supply shipping coolers. Non-recyclable foam includes colored foam, ALL types of packing peanuts, soft/flexible foams, or foam that “bounces back.”
Batteries
Batteries are manufactured with materials that are potentially harmful to human health and the environment. Some of these materials are non-renewable resources like heavy metals, which can be reused again and again. For these reasons, proper recycling is important. At BU, alkaline/nicad and lithium batteries must be collected separately from normal waste. Use
BU Maps to navigate to your nearest drop off location: just choose which campus you’re on and select “Sustainability” from the menu options.
If battery buckets in your area are full and a pickup is required, please call Environmental Health & Safety at 617-353-4094 (CRC and Fenway) or 617-358-7840 (BUMC).
If your department/office would like to host battery recycling collection, please contact Environmental Health & Safety.
To recycle other types of batteries, such as lead acid, or to properly dispose of other hazardous materials, please contact your Area Manager.
Electronics
When you can’t repair or refurbish your electronics, recycle them. Recycling electronics conserves natural resources, prevents hazardous waste from entering landfills, and results in lower carbon emissions during the manufacturing of new products.
Large electronics (e.g., computers, printers): On the Charles River and Fenway Campuses, contact your Area Manager to schedule a pickup. If you have more than 15 computers or large electronics to recycle, please submit an FSR to BU Trucking and Grounds to schedule a pickup. On the Medical Campus, contact BUMC IT through their recycling pick up request. If your equipment is too large to be taken by IT, you can submit a work order in CAMMS to have it picked up by BUMC Facilities.
Small electronics (e.g., headphones, light bulbs, mercury-containing devices such as thermostats and thermometers): On the Charles River and Fenway Campuses, contact your Area Manager. On the Medical Campus, contact Environmental Health & Safety. Please be careful when handling some of these items as they may contain hazardous materials.
Cell phones: On the Charles River and Fenway Campuses, deliver to the IT Help Center at 179 Amory Street, or Recycling at 120 Ashford Street, Room 218. On the Medical Campus, contact Environmental Health & Safety to get a prepaid cell phone recycling bag.
Before donating or recycling personal electronics, remove all personal data/information as needed.
Ink and Toner Cartridges
BU partners with WB Mason on an ink and toner recycling program. To request delivery of a new collection box, or request pickup of a full box, please complete this request form.
Where Can I Recycle?
Chances are, somewhere nearby. There are tons of convenient locations across campus in residential, academic, and administrative buildings. Use BU Maps to find the mixed recycling area nearest you.
Big Belly solar-powered compactors throughout campus make it easy to sort waste into trash and single-stream recycling bins. These bins take five times the capacity of traditional trash bins. Use proper recycling practices to prevent contamination of the single-stream bin.
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