ResLife Recycles

Over 20,000 students, faculty, and staff step on Oklahoma State University’s campus every day and use wide array materials, from food to furniture, from paper to medical supplies. When possible, OSU works to divert materials away from the landfill through recycling, composting, and reuse. It is the responsibility of residents to keep the living space in the community clean and free from waste. Trash, food containers, and unsanitary situations can attract pests as well as create unpleasant living situations for the community. Such items should not be stored in excess within the room/unit but taken to the designated dumpster or recycle location.

Residents and their guests are required to keep trash or recyclables inside their apartments, suites, or rooms. Any trash or recyclables in the breezeway or hallway is prohibited. Trash or recyclables left in breezeways, balconies, lobbies, lounges, and outside rooms will be assessed a $25 per bag damage charge.

• What does single-stream mean?
  • All accepted materials can go in one container.
  • There is no need to separate materials like the dual-stream system, the OSU Recycles Program, which is found in academic and administrative buildings on campus.
• What does this mean for you?
  • This means you can recycle more, items like food cans and additional types of plastics that are not accepted in the OSU Recycles program.
    • Be sure to empty bottles and rinse food from containers before recycling them!
  • The large blue dumpsters outside residence halls are for all your recycled materials, unsorted and loose.
  • Do not include plastic bags, dump your recyclables directly into the dumpster.
• What materials are accepted? 
  • Any color office paper
  • Newspaper & inserts
  • Magazines & catalogs
  • Junk mail & envelopes
  • Paper bags (clean)
  • Soft cover books
  • Telephone books
  • Flattened cardboard
  • Pizza boxes (completely empty/dry)
  • Paperboard (like cereal boxes)
  • Aluminum cans (empty)
  • Tin & steel cans (rinsed)
  • Plastic bottles, jars, tubs, jugs marked #1, 2 or 5 (rinsed)
  • Plastic bottle caps & lids

  

• What items are not accepted?
  • No plastic films/wrappers
  • No loose plastic bags (okay if used to contain recyclables)
  • No glass of any kind
  • No food or wet/soiled waste
  • No paper cups/plates/towels/tissue
  • No waxed paper cartons
    • e.g: milk cartons, juice cartons
  • No juice boxes/pouches
  • No plastic/foam serving ware
  • No fast-food lids or straws
  • No plastics marked #3, 4, 6 or 7 (as of 7/01/17)
    • No unmarked plastics
  • No electronics or textiles
  • No garbage or hazardous materials
• Who takes out my recyclables?
  You are responsible for taking your recyclables outside and placing them into a blue ResLife Recycles dumpster or else into the blue barrel in the trash room if you live in The Commons.
• What about recyclables placed in lounge recycle bins or hall desk recycle bins?
  Housekeeping is responsible for removing trash from trash cans in lounges or at hall desks so they will remove recyclables from these common spaces as well. Please do not place your personal recyclables in common space bins.
• How do I recycle materials not accepted in the single-stream program?
  There are a number of different places you can take your recyclables in Stillwater. Check out this page to learn more.
• Where do the recyclables from Res Life go?
  The mix of single-stream recyclables from the dorms is transported to a private materials recovery facility (MRF) in Stillwater. Read about what happens at a MRF.
• I have a strange item, and I do not know where to recycle it. What do I do?
  We are always happy to help with any questions regarding recycling. You may snap a picture of the item and email  it to us or contact us on twitter, Facebook or Instagram at @OSUgreen.
• Where is the closest recycling dumpster?
  Blue single stream recycle dumpsters are generally located near your trash dumpster. It is your responsibility to take your recyclables to the designated locations. Please note that our recycler does not accept loose plastic bags or wraps. You are, however, allowed to use a plastic bag to hold your recyclables, just place the recyclables into the blue dumpster loose and reuse the plastic bag if you can.
  

OSU was awarded 90 recycling bins through the Coca-Cola/Keep America Beautiful Recycling Bin Grant Program in fall 2015. The bins were placed in residence hall lounges and reception areas as part of the ResLife Recycles program. Read the news story!

The new bins are for recyclables generated in communal areas and are emptied by Housekeeping. Students still need to take their own recyclables from personal bins in their own rooms down to blue recycle dumpsters outdoors (except residents of The Commons, who may use the waste room on their floor).

If you’d like to volunteer to present resource and energy conservation outreach to your fellow residents, please contact RHA with the subject header “Eco-Rep.”