Throughout every building on Michigan State’s campus, students can find labeled recycling bins for all paper, plastic, metal, and glass materials. These bins are located in each building for students' convenience and to encourage recycling whenever possible.
Recycling practices throughout campus support Michigan State University’s vision of individual responsibility for driving innovative change to reduce impact and build a campus that sustains future generations of Spartans. Students, faculty, and staff are encouraged to recycle in order to divert as much waste from landfills as possible. Recyclable materials not properly disposed of in recycling containers are sent to landfill where they contribute to pollution and, more specifically, greenhouse gas emissions.
In 2022, the diversion rate for MSU residence halls was roughly 35 percent; this indicates that about 35 percent of all recyclable materials are rerouted from the landfill to the MSU Recycling Center where they are reused. This means that less than half of recyclable materials were properly recycled. There are hopes that giving students tools to help encourage recycling will in turn result in more materials being recycled in the recycling centers that are in each residence hall on campus.
HOW TO KNOW WHAT MATERIALS CAN BE RECYCLED & WHERE TO TAKE THEM
Throughout campus, you can find many recycling centers. Each residence hall has a recycling center, typically located in the lobby. These centers have bins for plastic, paper, metal, and glass. Cardboard can (and should) also be recycled in designated large bins located outside of residence halls near the landfill bins.
These bins are conveniently located to make recycling your plastic, paper, metal, and glass materials simple. If you need more information on what you should recycle, you can review the official MSU Campus Recycling Guide to learn more about which materials can (and should) be recycled on campus.
NEW ALTERNATIVES TO TRASH CHUTES ON CAMPUS
As of 2022, there are no longer any trash chutes in residence halls on campus. These posed a significant safety risk to many campus employees and were not effective for disposable waste. As an alternative, large landfill bins have been placed outside of each residence hall for waste disposal. All trash must be disposed of in these outdoor landfill bins. Trash chutes are not returning to the residence halls, and these bins are now the permanent method of waste disposal for on campus residents.
Each hall has at least one accessible landfill bin for individuals who may need it, with side access so waste does not have to be hoisted up into the landfill bin.
