Policies and Procedures
Office Recycling:
Employees are encouraged to use designated RED or BLUE recycling bins located in their office area for Paper Recycling only. Please refer to the updated list on this page regarding what types of Paper can and cannot be recycled. The cleaning staff empties these office bins every Thursday evening and stores the paper in a designated location where YSU Recycling staff picks up the following morning. In the event your bin has not been emptied, please call the Janitorial Office at ext. 3237 or email Janitorial@ysu.edu.
If your office does not have one of those recycling bins, you can request one from the Recycling Office. Please note that if you are cleaning out your office, please do not fill your office bins or the recycling bins in the hallway. This prevents others from using the bins, and it is easier for the YSU Recycling Program to provide a separate service for special recycling projects in each office.
SPECIAL OFFICE PICKUPS (CONTACT IN ADVANCE - DO NOT USE HALLWAY RECYCLING BINS):
- Boxes of non-confidential office paper
- Flattened cardboard only - No Trash including styrofoam, wood, or film plastic.
- Computers & electronics cleared by ITS.
Please plan in advance and contact the Recycling Program for special collections of large quantities (i.e. cleaning out boxes of files or many computer boxes). Same day collection is not guaranteed, but your request will be serviced in a timely manner depending on how much notice our staff is given. Please refrain from leaving items in the hall or filling up office or hallway recycling bins. Your office is still responsible for those items left out in the hallway, which may be subject to fire code violations.
Have items in your office that you don’t see listed here? Not sure if something should be thrown away, recycled, or reused? Simply email recycling@ysu.edu for assistance! Don’t just throw something away or do something without calling us first!
Confidential Document Shredding:
Before you clean out and start purging documents, follow the instructions outlined for Records Management before calling the Recycling Program to schedule a collection.
Confidential document shredding is provided by a contracted, fully-bonded and insured document destruction company. A Certificate of Destruction is on file at the Recycling Office after each monthly shredding. The cost for the shredding is incurred by Janitorial Services, and is at no cost to each Department. Confidential document collection bins are provided by the company upon request and will be delivered during the company's scheduled collection days on campus. Confidential document collection is provided by our contracted company at a 4-week frequency (with exceptions due to Holidays). Please contact the Recycling Program for an updated schedule.
Special Confidential Document Shredding Collection
All requests for special collections or to empty full confidential document containers, before or after the monthly collection day, must be made through the YSU Recycling Program (recycling@ysu.edu). Due to the company's schedule, there are no guaranteed pick-up dates for extra collection outside of the monthly pick-up day at the end of each month. Therefore, it is advised to call in advance to schedule clean-outs or to please try to keep documents for the designated monthly pickup day. Extra bags can be provided by the Recycling Program, but the Recycling Program cannot haul or store your confidential documents. If your Department is planning a very large clean-out, the company can provide extra containers to help make the process more efficient for your Department, so please contact the Recycling Program to initiate the process.
Recycling In Each Building:
Located in the hallways throughout campus are recycling bin-sets for the following materials:
| DO RECYCLE | DON't recycle |
|---|---|
| White & Colored Paper (copy paper) | Paper towels |
| Mill Wrapper (wrapper from new paper) | Paper plates & cups |
| Window Envelopes |
Soild paper bags |
| Cardboard *flatten: place behind recycling bin | Hard cover books only |
| Newspaper | Carbon prints |
| Magazines | Construction paper |
| Junk mail-glossy paper | Wrapping & tissue paper |
| Golden rod envelopes | Sanitary or food paper |
| Soft cover books only | |
| Clean paper bags | |
| Paper board (ex cereal and food boxes) |
|
| DO recycle | Don't recycle |
|---|---|
| EMPTY Beverage Bottles Only | Cups |
| EMPTY Food Jars Only (ex. mixed nuts jar w/o lid) | Plastic bottles that contained motor oil or pesticides |
| Food containers/clamshells | |
| Lids/Caps from bottles & jars | |
| Plastic bags, wrap & other film plastic | |
| Styrofoam | |
| CDs and tapes | |
| Eating utensils, straws & serviceware | |
| All other plastics |
| DO recycle | don't recycle |
|---|---|
| EMPTY Aluminum Beverage Cans | All other metal items |
| EMPTY Steel or Bi-Metal Food Containers |
| DO recycle | don't recycle |
|---|---|
| EMPTY Beverage Bottles Only | Drinking glasses |
| EMPTY Food Jars only | Ceramics; mugs and plates |
| Pyrex | |
| Window glass | |
| Crystal | |
| Lightbulbs | |
| Eyeglasses | |
| Mirrors | |
| Broken glass of any kind |
| do recycle | don't recycle |
|---|---|
| EMPTY Beverage & Broth Cartons | Plastic caps from cartons |
| EMPTY & RINSED Soup Cartons | Full or partially used cartons |
Unfortunately, not every waste generated can be recycled, and YSU has had to amend our acceptable recyclables based on what our vendors are currently recycling. Please make sure to refer to this guide every few months as it may be updated based on changes in the current local & global recycling markets.
BATTERY RECYCLING:
The YSU EHS Department is in charge of recycling all used batteries generated on campus. For more information, please go here: YSU Chemical Management Center
Surplus Electronics, Equipment & Furniture Disposal:
For more information on how to properly dispose of campus surplus equipment and furniture, go here: YSU SURPLUS