OUTDOOR RECYCLING AT UNC

[ Program Basics | Material Processing Facts ]

UNC’s outdoor recycling includes the blue recycling carts located behind most campus buildings, as well as the walkway-sites along the campus walkway system.  The Office of Waste Reduction & Recycling (OWRR) has been making changes to the outdoor recycling program. OWRR and Tidewater Fiber Corporation (TFC) have been working to change the way aluminum and steel cans, plastic and glass bottles, newspapers, phone books and magazines are collected on campus.  

Instead of separate containers for each material, the University is using a “dual stream” collection process.  In a “dual stream” process the same materials are collected, it’s just been made a little easier.  Instead of having to separate each material, there are two categories…Bottles & Cans, and Newspaper & Magazines.  Here’s how it works:

Place your glass bottles and jars, plastic bottles, and aluminum or steel cans in the container marked “Bottles & Cans”.  (Please empty containers and remove lids). 

Newsprint, phone books, glossy magazines and catalogs are placed in the containers labeled “Newspaper & Magazines”. 

Please remove and discard any plastic bags.  Plastic bags make the recyclables more difficult to sort.  Most grocery stores collect these for recycling. 

Material is collected on campus by TFC.  In a “dual stream” collection process, after material is collected, it is taken to a Material Recovery Facility (MRF) where it’s separated for delivery to market.  TFC is a recycling company with a MRF in Durham, NC.  A MRF uses both manual labor and machinery to separate the mixed containers and paper into various categories.  The separated material is usually baled allowing for easy transport and handling.  The baled materials are then shipped to a wide variety of markets for use as a raw material in various manufacturing operations.

 Arial view of the truck shows bottles and cans collected together for separation at Tidewater Fiber Corporation’s material recovery facility in Durham.

The new recycling program improves the collection of material.  Separation becomes easier for the customer, and it gets a little easier on the collection-side of things.  We can decrease the number of carts at outdoor recycling sites, reducing the time spent collecting material.  This will also make recycling sites more compact.  The smaller number of carts may also make the outdoor recycling sites more aesthetically pleasing.