Frequently Asked Questions
What materials do you accept?
Does KU Recycling provide secure confidential document disposal?
What information is considered confidential?
Can I recycle shredded paper?
How do I request a special collection?
How do I request a permanent recycling location in my building?
Do you recycle surplus property?
Where do I recycle cell phones, batteries, and compact fluorescents?
How do I dispose of computers and electronic equipment?
Why should I recycle?
What happens to the recycling after I put it into one of the sorting bins?
Can I recycle at the KU Medical Center in Kansas City?
What should I do with hazardous waste?
Does the City of Lawrence provide curbside recycling collection?
What materials do you accept?
Click here for a complete list of materials and our sorting guidelines. For materials not listed, please contact the
Environmental Stewardship Program office at 864-4703.
Does KU Recycling provide secure confidential document disposal?
KU Recycling does not provide secure disposal for confidential documents. Material placed in recycling bins serviced by KU Recycling should only contain non-confidential and public information. We currently do not provide a paper/document shredding service. Departments have the option to either shred secure documents "in-house" or contact a paper/document shredding company to coordinate secure disposal. Please visit the
KU Purchasing Office contracts website for more information about KU's "paper/document shredding" service provider options. If you have bagged shredded paper, we ask that you do not put bags in or on top of the recycling bins. Instead, contact the KU Recycling office at 864-2855 to schedule a special collection.
What information is considered confidential?
Click here for answers to frequently asked questions about KU Information Management, or ask your dean or department head to conduct a
Security Audit for your department.
Click here for more information from the KU Privacy Office.
Can I recycle shredded paper?
Yes, we do accept bagged shredded paper. However, we ask that you do not put bags in or on top of the recycling bins. Instead, contact the
KU Recycling office at 864-2855 to schedule a special collection.
How do I request a special collection?
If you are anticipating an office move or clean out, KU Recycling can provide you with recycling totes. When they are full simply contact our
office to schedule a collection, and we will pick them up from your office when we visit your building on our normal collection route.
How do I request a permanent recycling location in my building?
If you would like to request a permanent recycling location in your building, please call KU Recycling at 864-2855.
We will visit your building, and work with you to meet your specific needs.
Do you recycle surplus property?
If you have items you would like to have removed from your office, please send a detailed list of the items for collection, including contact information, to FO Work Management through campus mail or fax, 864-4707, to coordinate pick up.
Electronic Waste will be picked up by appointment only. Please do not stack electronic waste on or around the blue recycling centers.
Click here to view our electronic waste disposal procedure. Due to the nature of our collection schedule, please allow several days notice.
Where do I recycle cell phones, batteries, and compact florescents?
The Department of Environment, Health & Safety is responsible for the collection of these materials generated by campus departments.
Click here for more information.
How do I dispose of computers and electronic equipment?
KU departments on the Lawrence campus should recycle electronic waste.
Click here for more information.
Why should I recycle?
- Recycling paper uses 60% less energy and 55% less water than manufacturing paper from virgin timber. It also reduces water pollution by 35%
and air pollution by 74%.
- When 1 ton of newsprint is recycled, 3 cubic meters of landfill space and 16 trees are saved.
- Producing a can from recycled aluminum instead of ore requires only 5% as much energy.
- Recycling one ton of steel saves 2500 lbs of iron ore, 1400 lbs of coal, and 120 lbs of limestone.
- Plastics, which are made primarily from fossil fuels, account for about 11% of municipal waste by weight, but closer to 25% by volume.
- Land filling 10,000 tons of waste creates 6 jobs. Recycling the same 10,000 tons creates 36 jobs.
What happens to the recycling after I put it into one of the sorting bins?
KU Recycling Technicians collect recycling from most campus buildings each week.
Click here for the collection
schedule. Materials are transported to a central location and sold to recycling companies. Eventually, your "trash" is sent to a mill and
turned into useful products:
- Recycled paper is used to make newsprint, paperboard, tissue, printing and writing paper, among other products.
- Recovered plastic is made into pellets used to produce fiberfill for jackets and sleeping bags, polyester fiber for clothing, containers
for non-food products, plastic lumber, toys, recycling containers, and countless other items.
- The average aluminum can contains 40% post-consumer recycled aluminum. In as little as six weeks, the aluminum from the beverage can you
recycle today could be back on the shelves as a new can.
- Recycled steel is used to make steel cans, building materials, tools, and almost everything else made of steel.
Click here to find out more about where your recyclables go after they leave KU.
Can I recycle at the KU Medical Center in Kansas City?
Yes, the KU Medical Center recycles.
Click here for more information.
What should I do with hazardous waste?
The Department of Environment, Health & Safety is responsible for the collection of hazardous waste generated by campus departments. This includes batteries, chemicals, paint, and florescent bulbs.
Click here to schedule a collection.
Click here for more information about what to do with your Household Hazardous Waste
Does the City of Lawrence provide curbside recycling?
The City of Lawrence does not currently offer curbside recycling collection. However, the following private curbside recycling companies provide the community with a valuable service:
Jeff's Curbside Recycling
(785) 841-1284
Community Living Opportunities
(785) 840-9278
Home Recycling Service
(785) 979-6633
Tree Hugger Recycling
(785) 550-6267 or visit
treehuggerrecycling.com
Sunflower Curbside Recycling
(785) 550-8610 or visit
kansasrecycles.com
Click here for more information about other recycling opportunities in the community.
