20 Years of Recycling!

This year marks the 20th Anniversary of the Recycling Program on campus!

The fall 2009 semester marks the 20th anniversary of the U of M Recycling Program! Recycling at the University has greatly improved over this span of time. The steadily increasing proportion of goods recycled indicates that the program has been successful in encouraging faculty, staff and students to increase recycling.

The University of Michigan established a recycling collection program in 1989 for the collection of white office paper, newspaper and corrugated cardboard. The program has since expanded to include collection of mixed paper, which includes newspapers, magazine, catalogs, office paper, envelopes, blueprints, manila folders, phone books and soft cover books. Container collection includes glass, aluminum and steel cans, #1 PET or #2 HDPE plastic bottles, milk and juice cartons, drink boxes and ceramics. To learn more about the past 20 years of recycling at UM, visit our History page.

Recycling and waste collection service on campus is provided internally by U of M Plant Building and Grounds Services. In fiscal year 2009, over 2,309 tons of paper and 198 tons on containers were collected for recycling. Recycled materials made up 27.9 percent of all the material collected by U of M Waste Management Services. Since the program started in 1989, 41,380 tons of mixed paper and 2,619 tons of mixed containers have been recycled! The department also coordinates all waste reduction and recycling education and promotion efforts on campus. See our Materials Recycled on Campus page for a full list of items you can recycle!

We will be celebrating our 20th Anniversary all fall semester, so watch for announcements and events on campus!

On September 22nd, the UM Recycling Program held our 20th Anniversary Recycling Gala! The celebration started out with a tour of the Ann Arbor Materials Recovery Facility followed by festivities at the UM Recycling Office. Students learned more about recycling at the U and in the City of Ann Arbor and enjoyed giveaways and food! Check out the pictures of the 20th Anniversary Gala!