Recycling facts and tips

The Highlander Cup Sustainability Competition begins Feb. 5, and the Radford University Sustainability Office is providing recycling facts and tips to prepare students for the residence hall completion.

The Highlander Cup Sustainability Competition begins Feb. 5, and the Radford University Sustainability Office is providing recycling facts and tips to prepare students for the residence hall completion.

What is Recycling? 
Recycling is the process of converting waste materials into reusable objects.

Why do we do recycle?  

Recycling prevents waste of potentially useful materials, reduces the consumption of fresh raw materials and energy usage, decreases air pollution (from incineration) and water pollution (from landfilling) by decreasing the need for conventional waste disposal. It also decreases greenhouse gas emissions compared to plastic production and landfilling.

Where does non-recycled trash go when it leaves the residence hall? 
Trash is taken by truck to the landfill. A landfill is a hole in the ground filled with garbage. The garbage is eventually covered with soil, and trash in a landfill stays there for many generations to come.

What recyclable items do we throw away most?
Plastic: Every year we use approximately 1.6 billion barrels of oil just for producing plastic water bottles. Plastic can take from 10 to 1,000 years to decompose. Metal: Every minute, every day, more than 120,000 aluminum cans are recycled in America, but in every three months, enough aluminum cans are thrown away that can rebuild the entire American commercial air fleet. It takes metal 80 – 200 years to decompose in a landfill. Metals come from rock and are mined from underground and surface mines. 

Paper: Based on volume, paper is the largest product in American landfills. Normally, it only takes two – six weeks in landfills to completely decompose. Paper is made from trees. Recycling paper saves landfill space, and more importantly, saves trees and energy.

So, recycle your metal, glass, plastic, and paper together in normal recycling bins where you see this sign.
Cardboard boxes are recycled separately. Also, Radford University recycles batteries, electronics, printer cartridges, cooking oil and many other materials. Contact Radford University Recycling to request a pickup of these materials or a recycling bin at x7207 or lthomposon@radford.edu

Jan 24, 2018
Chad Osborne
540-831-7761
caosborne@radford.edu