• Why Recycle
• Program Overview & History

• Recycling saves energy and preserves natural resources
• Recycling reduces excess waste
• Recycling is much less expensive to collect and manage than garbage
• Each ton of wastepaper recycled saves about three cubic yards of landfill space
• Production of recycled paper uses 80% less water, reduces water pollution, uses 65% less energy, and produces 95% less air pollution than virgin paper production
• In 1992, almost 5.5 million tons of solid waste was disposed of in Washington landfills. In 2001, it had grown to nearly 7.5 million tons, which is enough to fill Safeco Field 20 times
• If every American recycled their newspaper just one day a week, we would save about 36 million trees a year. You can save a tree for roughly every four-foot stack of paper you recycle
• Recycling helps preserve the environment for future generations

The primary responsibility of the Department of Facility and Project Management (FPM) is to manage and protect University resources. This department works hard to provide cost-effective and timely services that promote care and preservation of campus facilities and a safe environment for the campus community. FPM’s mandate is to create and maintain a welcoming environment that reflects excellence and supports the University’s core values and mission. FPM is therefore committed to planning, to cost/benefit evaluations, to accountability and to being informed in matters pertinent to the scope of its responsibilities. Programs and functions initiated and performed by this department have to be of high quality, must be tied to support of the University’s core missions and must be done in the most economical manner possible. When these three qualities come together, this department is practicing good stewardship of the University’s resources. This ultimately helps hold tuition and room/board costs down. Protecting the environment, and being good stewards of it, is a huge part of what this department is all about.

The University has had a formal recycling program since 1991. Recycling receptacle containers have been provided and variations of part time student labor and multiple recycling contractors have been utilized to collect and pick up recyclables. In the first two years of the program, a 15% waste reduction was achieved. In 1996, the University began partnering with Weyerhaeuser and the program was streamlined. Centralized recycling dumpsters were installed and serviced by Weyerhaeuser, replacing the multiple small bins serviced by a variety of small, independent contractors. Between 1998 and 2005, the University added more recycling facilities and services while still operating the program at a minimal cost. Since the early years of the program through current day, the University has recycled the following: aluminum and metals, fluorescent light bulbs, appliances and used Freon from refrigerators through Maintenance Stores; motor oil, oil filters, anti-freeze, batteries and metals through the Motorpool Mechanic; surplus furnishings (either sold or donated, if at all possible) through Facility Procurement; grass clippings, flowerbed material, leaves and tree branches through Landscaping; printer cartridges through Corporate Express or the Recycle Program; computers and monitors through CIS; corrugated cardboard, glass, newspaper, white and colored paper, computer paper, books and magazines, bagged packing peanuts, plastics and aluminum cans through the Recycle Program.

Currently, the University’s Recycle Program provides a recycling bin for every office space and residence hall room on campus. Further, centralized collection bins are stationed in each office building and on each residence hall floor. These centralized bins are for use by building occupants and are emptied by members of the Recycle Program on a regular basis. The Recycle Program takes responsibility for transferring recycling from each facility to a vendor-serviced recycle dumpster. Students living in campus apartments and theme houses are responsible for depositing their recycling in the bins provided and serviced by the City of Seattle. Additional services for campus residents are provided at the beginning and close of each academic year to assist in the recycling needs associated with student move-in/move-out.

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