You can recycle all rigid plastics #1-#7 (all rigid plastic), as long as they don't have food or beverage residue.

Yes, but there is a caveat: take the cap off and throw both the cap and bottle into the Cans & Bottles recycling bin. The cap gets recycled as metal; the bottle gets recycled as glass.

Yes, as long as it's not completely covered with grease. Some grease is OK, but make sure there is no food residue.

Yes. Styrofoam peanuts, bubble wrap, and packing pillows (the air-filled plastic bags) can be put in a packaging collection bin. It's similar to a Take-it or Leave-it Bin—other people can reuse your old packing materials.  

Packaging bins are located at Yale Station Post Office and at the Med School TAC building.

Yes! In conjunction with Nike and the Connecticut Recyclers Coalition, Yale Recycling collects sneakers throughout the year. We send the sneaker to Nike each summer so that they can be made into athletic surfaces such as running tracks, playgrounds and even the cushion underneath wooden basketball courts. Bring your sneakers to 330 College Street, Welch Hall basement, Yale Recycling Office. Welch is a locked building so please call to let us know that you are coming: 432-6852. If you have good quality sneakers, however, we suggest that you donate them to Salvation Army or another such re-seller so that others may use them.

Important:  Do NOT store lots of batteries together in buckets, bags, or drawers.  This is a potential fire hazard.  If you are storing batteries together, make sure that you have either covered the ends of the batteries in tape or placed the batteries in separate plastic bags.

Alkaline batteries can either go in the normal trash or be collected for removal through the Office of Environmental Health & Safety.  Alkaline batteries are not considered Universal Waste.

All other batteries such as lead acid, lithium, rechargeable and button batteries are Universal Waste.  Thes batteries must have their ends taped with electrical tape or the batteries must be placed in an individual plastic bag and collected as Universal Waste.  These batteries cannot be discarded in the normal trash. You can request a pick up through Environmental Health & Safety at https://universalwaste.med.yale.edu/user. 

 See Off Campus Recycling for more information.

Yes! Please see "How to Reuse: Donate or Request Items." Contact the Reuse Coordinator at yalerecyclingexchange-owner@yahoogroups.com, or by calling the Yale Recycling Office at 203-432-6852.

No. Sorry!

It is illegal to throw a computer away.

• Students living on campus should contact Yale Recycling to have their computer picked up.

• Departments should make their request online at yale.edu/ehs/wasteuw.

• Yale-affiliates living off-campus should recycle their computers in their home community.

If you saw someone throwing a computer away at a Yale-owned dumpster, please call our office at 203-432-6852, and give us detailed information about the location of the dumpster and the nature of the dump.

Students living on campus should contact Yale Recycling to have their electronics picked up. Departments should make their request online at http://www.yale.edu/ehs/wasteuw. Electronics owned by Yale-affiliates living off-campus should recycle their electronics in their home community.

If you are in a building with 6 or fewer units, which has its trash collected by the City of New Haven, the City will also provide you with a free recycling bin and pick-up service each week. To get your bin contact the Department of Public Works at 203-946-7700. If you are in a building that has more than 6 units or for any reason has its trash collected by a private company, the landlord/management service is required by law to provide you with recycling for the legally-mandated items for residences e.g. cans & bottles, newspaper and cardboard. Ask your landlord/management service about their provision of this service. If they do not comply with the law contact the New Haven (203-946-7700) or State (860-424-3130) authorities to report the situation. They may be able to issue a citation or notice of non-compliance.

The landlord/management service is required by law to provide you with recycling for the legally-mandated items: e.g. white office paper, cans & bottles, newspaper and cardboard. Inform the landlord/management service about the problem. If they do not correct it, contact the New Haven (203-946-7700) or State (860-424-3130) authorities to report the situation. They may be able to issue a citation or notice of non-compliance.

No, sorry! The City of New Haven can provide you with a recycling bin if you live in a house or apartment which has its trash picked up by the City. Please contact the Department of Public Works at 203-946-7700.

Contact the Department of Public Works at 203-946-7700 for guidelines on removing the coolant and requesting a bulk trash pickup.

No. Sorry! Please donate these items to one of New Havens’s many needy non-profits. The closest to campus is Salvation Army, which has a drop-off loading dock and container on George Street, at the back of their Crown Street store. Many items can be donated through programs associated with Dwight Hall or in the residential colleges.

You may call the Yale Recycling Office at 203-432-6852 to obtain contact information for non-profit organizations currently accepting computer donations.

Yale cannot accept any electronics from off-campus. To have these items (which are regulated as “Universal Waste”) recycled properly please register to drop them off at the City of New Haven’s seasonal collection days.  These collections generally take place once in the fall and once in the spring. Contact the City at 203-946-6346. You could also try contacting Concepts for Adaptive Learning, or Survivin in the Hood at 203-469-2820.

Place a request by calling or emailing the Central Customer Service Center at (203) 432-6888 or centralcsc@yale.edu.

A little residue is not a problem (other than it might make your recycling smell). If there is a lot of residue, the workers at the recycling plant will take it off the conveyor belt and throw it away, rather than taking the time to wash it. If you're putting in the effort to recycle, rinse the recyclable item if it's really dirty.

Yes! Yale welcomes fliers about off-campus events on its open air “kiosks” sited around the campus. Please note that the fliers must be for events, not offers of goods and services. The fliers must be no larger than 8.5 x 11 and there may be no more than one poster per kiosk. During the summer months, fliers about non-events are welcome, e.g. sublets, goods, services, employment, etc.

STEP focuses on the residential colleges while Yale Recycling encompasses all campus buildings—office buildings, academic departments, etc.

Markets for recyclables vary from month to month and year to year. In general Yale does not profit from the sale of paper and cans and bottle but does but did save approximately $33 for each ton of material sent to recycling instead of a trash-to-energy plant. Yale generally does make money off of the sale of corrugated cardboard to Marcus Paper in West Haven. Monthly market adjustments cause variations in price. On a good month Yale may make $30/ton. Because of improved technology Grounds Maintenance has been able to add recycling to its responsibilities while reducing its staffing in sanitation. Un-needed staff were transferred to other Grounds responsibilities while maintaining pay rate and benefits.