Yes, crinkly plastic water bottles are finally recyclable. So are those #5 plastic containers that held yogurt, or another refrigerated dairy item. This expansion of recyclable items is possible due to upgraded equipment at the City of Boise’s material recovery facility that is owned and managed by Republic Services.
Since October 2024, the Office of Sustainability has been installing updated signage on recycling containers across campus to reflect these changes. So far, they have applied 450 new labels.
“In the past, information about recycling on campus has been lacking, confusing and inconsistent,” said Jennifer Ellis, environmental compliance and sustainability manager. “It is with great pride that we can now communicate sufficient, clear and consistent information for students, staff and visitors.”
Ellis emphasized that recycling is a great way to divert waste from the landfill and, in turn, reduce greenhouse gas emissions. She noted that the Ada County Landfill is filling up faster than expected and any effort to reduce the strain on that facility should be encouraged. The Office of Sustainability will conduct a waste characterization study in 2025 to set baselines and targets for future reductions.
Some guidelines to campus recycling include:
- Recyclable paper includes office/printer paper, notebook paper and newspaper.
- Cardboard boxes need to be completely emptied and flattened. No cardboard boxes that originated from the fridge or freezer, they are not just made of paper, and therefore should not be treated like regular cardboard. Pizza boxes? Yes, just no food in the box.
- Metal includes aluminum cans (i.e. soda) and metal cans (i.e. soup cans). Empty the cans and clean them out as much as possible.
- Plastic includes #1 and #2 plastics in the form of a jug, jar, or bottle (i.e. water/soda bottles for #1 and shampoo bottles for #2) and #5 plastic food tubs (i.e. containers for yogurt, butter, cottage cheese, cream cheese). Empty the containers and clean them out as best as possible. Keep the lids on. (What about those clear colored #5 plastic cups you get to hold your cold drinks from the coffee shops? Nope. They can’t go in the recycling bin. Consider bringing a reusable drink to the coffee shop.)
Other locations to recycle items on campus include battery recycling in the tech section of the Bronco Shop, glass recycling behind Selway Suites, the Clothing Closet in the Student Connections and Support Center and the Atkins Law Career Closet in the College of Business and Economics.