Paper and Bottles and Cans Recycling Collection

General Stanford has a successful recycling program. In 2006, 61% of the waste was diverted from the landfill. In order to sustain and increase this level of diversion, recycling collections points need to be accessible and conveniently located in each building.

Service Recyclables are collected from inside of the building once per week. Each recycling container needs to be large enough to hold a weeks worth of material. Recyclables are collected in two streams: mixed paper (white and colored paper, magazines, junk mail, newspaper), and bottles and cans (glass, metal cans, plastic bottles #1- #7, aseptic containers mixed in the same bin). Click here for a list of recyclables accepted in Stanford Recycling Program. Mixed paper is the largest collection stream. Corrugated cardboard is placed in the green dumpsters located outside of most buildings for collection. Click here for cardboard specifications.
Labels and Access The bins and/or enclosures should have labels that describe what can be collected and what is not acceptable. Click here for a list of recyclables accepted in Stanford Recycling Program. Bins and/or enclosures should have two types of access: 1) for the individual pieces of paper or single bottle and 2) for large amounts of material at one time.
Collection Bins The plastic wheeled carts currently in use reduce worker injury. The driver rolls the full cart to a collection truck that has a special attachment that empties the cart directly into the truck. The driver has to do minimal lifting. If one is considering building an enclosure for the recycling bins, please keep in mind that recycling collectors should not have to pull or lift the containers straight up and out of the enclosure. A mixed paper bin can weigh up to 200 pounds. Finally, using containers is much less wasteful than using plastic bags to collect recyclables.

The plastic wheeled carts have 2 wheels and a lid that can flip back. At least a 35 gallon cart is recommended for mixed paper collection, especially near copy machines and other high paper use equipment.

Light gray Rubbermaid Slim Jims with colored lids (green for beverage containers and blue for paper) are also used inside buildings. These do not have enough capacity for high use areas, but are often used to collect beverage containers and newspapers in small kitchen areas. Gray carts are used in the Academic areas, green carts are used in the Student Housing areas, and blue carts are used in the Hospital.

The recycling bins have the following dimensions:

Recycling bins are provided to each building free of charge and maintained or replaced when necessary by PSSI. Specifications subject to change. For more information, please contact Julie Muir at PSSI at (650) 321-4236 or juliem@pssi.stanford.edu.