So , once you've finished that lunchtime meal at the Commons , what do you do with that stuff that's left. The box, the cup, the utensils and wrappers? The Commons has recently installed new containers that have color coded tops with corresponding labels on header boards. It may seem confusing at first . However it can be simple. Green is for compostables, Blue is for glass/plastic and cans. Navy blue is for clean paper (no food stuff). Black is for landfill, you know, the stuff you call trash. Trash or things that can not be recycled end up in the landfill. If you know anything about landfills they are being filled up really fast and nobody wants to live next to a landfill. UMBC is committed to recycling as much as possible to help alleviate the landfill crisis.
Here are your for choices:
Compostables (Green label) = food scraps, white and green Pepsi cups, clear Greenware cups, soiled paper such as napkins, greasy pizza boxes, paper plates . These food venues offer compostable wares - Fresh Fusions, and Wild Greens, = take out containers, utensils, soup cups, and salad containers.
Glass Plastic and Cans (blue labels)= glass bottles and jars , aluminum cans , steel cans
Paper (sky blue with navy blue letters labels ) clean paper only , paper board(gray cardboard) newspapers and paper bags.
Landfill (Black Label) = Trash = Styrofoam , plastic utensils, straws and lids, candy and protein bar wrappers , potato chip bags and the like. Trash anything not recyclable.
What happens to the Compostables? Food scraps, soiled paper and compostable cups are stored in a dumpster at The Commons and True Grits where it is serviced frequently . Waste Neutral, a contractor hauls compostable materials to a commercial composting facility . In return, the University receives finished compost . Compost from this process has been used on campus at the dining hall herb garden and the historical sign planting on Giffen Hill . UMBC Composted over 168000 lbs. of material in 2012.
This type of recycling is called Dual stream or target recycling . This method of separating recycling commodities supports the University climate change commitment by funding recycling education and events.
