Recycling
UVA Recycling facilitates recycling and waste management at the University, helping ensure that opportunities to divert materials from landfills are maximized and that materials are properly sorted and tracked to meet UVA’s waste goals.
The UVA Recycling team hand sorts through all items at the Ivy Sort Facility to ensure materials can be properly diverted. UVA Recycling collects the following materials:
- Aluminum and other metals
- Cardboard
- Electronics (at specific locations)
- Glass, all colors
- Plastics #1-7 (except Styrofoam)
- White and mixed office paper
Every year, UVA Sustainability hosts a program during move-out at the end of the spring semester to divert as much waste as possible from the landfill. This program provides easy options for students to donate gently used or unused items to benefit local nonprofits --- and the planet!
Recycling Services
Interested in composting at your next event? Head over to our Zero Waste Events page to learn more.
The Reusable Office Supply Exchange (ROSE) collects gently or never used office supplies from departments throughout UVA and the Medical Center; items are FREE to the UVA and broader community.
The UVA ReUSE Store collects surplus office furniture, household furnishings, and other UVA property and makes these items available for sale to UVA and the community at deeply discounted prices.
A medical supplies recycling program, the MERCI program serves to divert unused medical supplies to humanitarian organizations instead of landfills.
Recycle Right!
For all questions regarding recycling, contact UVA Recycling:
- [email protected]
- 434-982-5050
- Staff and Faculty Office
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Staff and faculty have several options for recycling, including desk-side bins, centralized receptacles and pick-up by UVA Recycling staff. To request bins or schedule a pick-up of large items, contact UVA Recycling at (434) 982-5050.
Paper
All paper should be sorted into two separate bins – one with a green label for white paper and one with a black label for mixed paper. White paper is any non-glossy paper such as notebook paper and books. Mixed paper is all other paper products such as post-it notes, colored paper and magazines.
Cardboard
Flatten cardboard and store it next to a recycling bin. Only non-food contaminated cardboard can be recycled. Anything with oil or grease stains and food residue must be landfilled.
Plastics
Plastic #1-7 (except Sytrofoam) are recyclable, such as yogurt cups, water bottles and plastic bags. Rinse food contaminated plastics. All recycling at UVA is hand sorted by the recycling staff, so keep it clean when possible.
Metals & Glass
Metals and glass should be put in the appropriate recycling bin. This includes all colored glass and metals such as aluminum cans, bronze, tin, copper and steel.
E-Cycling
All e-waste such as batteries, calculators and electronic office equipment should be disposed of by contacting UVA Recycling or visit the following e-cycling bin locations: O-Hill, Runk, Brown Library, Clemons Library, Alderman Library, Fisk Library, Darden School and Law School.
See our Green Workplace for more info
- Residential
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On Grounds
Each dorm room is issued a stackable two-bin recycling unit with a blue bin and green bin. Contact UVA Recycling if your room does not have one or both of these recycling bins. The bins can be emptied at designated recycling collection areas within each residential quad. Ask a Residential Advisor about your building's specific drop-off location.
Blue Bin - Paper Products
All paper products including white paper, notebooks, flattened boxes, and mixed paper (colored paper, newspaper, magazines, post-it notes and index cards) go in the blue paper bin.
Green Bin - Plastics, Metals & GlassPlastic products #1-7 (except Styrofoam!) are recyclable on Grounds including plastic bags and plastic wrap. Rinse any food contaminated plastics. All colored glass bottles and containers, as well as metals such as aluminum cans, bronze, tin, copper and steel also go in the blue bins.
E-Cycling
All e-waste such as batteries, calculators, or electronic equipment should be disposed of by contacting UVA Recycling or visit the following e-cycling bin locations: O-Hill, Runk, Alderman Library, Brown Library, Clemons Library, Fiske Library, Darden School and Law School.
Off Grounds
Depending on whether you live in the City of Charlottesville or a surrounding county, as well as if you live in a single-family home or a multi-family building, your recycling opportunities will be different. Utilize the resources below to determine the recycling opportunities available to you.
- Health System
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For non-highly sensitive materials, Health System employees can request bins from UVA Recycling. The recycling staff will work with the Health building occupants and fire officials to determine the best locations and prevent possible fire code and egress issues. Confidential materials are collected in secure consoles (cabinets) or other containers which are locked. Plastics, metals and glass recycling bins are provided as needed. See PHI Recycling Guidelines.
Merci Program
A medical supplies recycling program, the MERCI program serves to divert unused medical supplies to humanitarian organizations instead of landfills. - Research Labs
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Worried about safely recycling lab plastics? If an item can go safely in the regular trash can, it is also safe for recycling.
No containers for acids, bases, toxins, biohazardous or radioactive materials are safe to recycle. Call UVA Environmental Health and Safety to process these containers. Some nitrile gloves can also be recycled.
Recyclable lab materials can be intermixed with standard recycling. Most hallways and research corridors have recycling containers (grey with a green lid) to collect bottles and cans. Tip boxes, triple-rinsed tissue culture media bottles, and clean plastic packaging can all go into these containers.