Recycling Guide
Appalachian State University has offered recycling options since 1989 and has been committed to reducing landfill waste ever since. Campus recyclables are collected by our facilities team members and Republic Services staff and then transported to the Republic Services Material Recovery Facility in Conover, North Carolina for sorting and processing into new materials. Our responsibility at App State is to recycle as much as we can properly and to reduce the contamination of landfill items in recycling bins.
Today, App State offers multiple ways to reduce landfill waste, including our blue mixed recycling receptacles, available in common areas, walkways and office spaces. We follow the twin-the-bin rule, where all recycling bins are paired with a trash bin. Plastic film recycling is offered in Plemmons Student Union’s International Hallway and the Office of Sustainability, located in the basement of East Hall. E-waste recycling is available in the International Hallway as well as in Technology Support Services, located in Anne Belk Hall.
See the guidelines below for details regarding our mixed recycling, plastic film and e-waste recycling programs. These guidelines are specific to the App State campus procedure. The Town of Boone and Watauga County have guidelines for off-campus recycling.
Recycling Tips
- Items should be CLEAN, EMPTY and DRY
- Empty liquids out of your recycling
- Recycling should have NO FOOD RESIDUE
- Flimsy (crunchy, packaging, wrappers) plastic is only recyclable at certain locations on campus — in the International Hallway of the student union and in the Sustainability Office in the basement of East Hall
- Rigid plastics (more difficult to bend) are recyclable
- DON’T BAG RECYCLING — Plastic bags cannot be recycled because they will contaminate the bin
- FLATTEN cardboard boxes
Items
Items ACCEPTED for Mixed Recycling
- Plastic
- Bottles and Containers (#1-7)
- Cups and tubs (#1-7)
- Yogurt containers
- Paper
- White copy paper
- Colored paper
- White paper with colored ink
- Envelopes
- Legal paper
- Manila folders
- Sticky notes
- Magazines and catalogues (staples are OK)
- Note cards
- Newspaper
- Pasteboard (cereal boxes, soda/beverage containers)
- Paper bags
- Wrapping paper
- Metal
- Aluminum cans
- Foil (no food residue)
- Steel/tin cans
- Pie plates (no food residue)
- Aluminum baking pans and trays (no food residue)
- Metal lids
- Glass (all colors accepted)
- Bottles
- Jars
Corrugated cardboard should be FLATTENED and placed in the BLUE cardboard dumpsters available across the Boone campus.
Common Contaminants in Mixed Recycling (these items belong in the landfill bin)
- Plastic grocery bags
- Candy wrappers
- Plastic straws
- Plastic utensils
Plastic Film Recycling Program
Plastic grocery bags and plastic packaging — These can be recycled separately through our plastic film recycling program and can be brought to the Plemmons Student Union special recycling area in International Hallway or to the front desk in the Office of Sustainability in East Hall. Please DO NOT place these in your mixed recycling bins as they must be kept clean and dry to be recycled!
- Plastic grocery Bags
- Plastic wraps (bread bags and shrink-wrap)
- Plastic package inserts — please pop to remove air first
- Bubble wrap
Shredded Paper Recycling
Shredded paper that enters the mixed recycling stream becomes a contaminant and ends up in the landfill. Shredded office paper can be recycled the following way:
- The Landscape Services Recycling Team offers a confidential shredding service, in which a locked bin is provided to collect confidential/sensitive paper material and is swapped out as needed.
- A third-party contractor then destroys/shreds the material and markets the recyclable product, ensuring it can be reused. (Note: There is a small cost associated with this service, and the vendor charge is passed along to the department using the service.) Learn more about Confidential Shredding
Landfill Items NOT ACCEPTED for Mixed Recycling
- Food Waste (please COMPOST where available)
- Single-use disposable items
- Disposable cups
- Drink lids and straws
- Plastic forks, knives, spoons, sporks
- Condiment packets and cups
- Paper plates
- Hygiene items such as used napkins, paper towels and tissues
- Saran Wrap
- Foil snack bags
- Plastic snack packaging and resealable plastic bags
- Chips and candy wrappers
- String/twine
- Styrofoam
- Incandescent light bulbs
- Ceramics, mirrors, Pyrex glass
- Hazardous waste (paint, glues, pesticides, etc)
Special Recycling in Plemmons Student Union (International Hallway, below the stairs)
- Plastic film recycling (plastic grocery bags, plastic wraps such as bread bags, shrink wrap, plastic packaging, bubble wrap). No Food Residue! These items must be clean and dry! Can also be dropped off at the Office of Sustainability in the basement of East Hall
- Computer equipment
- CDs and DVDs
- Cell Phones and accessories
- Techno-trash (storage devices, floppy disks, hard drives, Zip disks, i-pods, empty print cartridges, cables, cords, circuit boards, video tapes, PDA's, etc.)
- Batteries
- Printer cartridges
- Compact fluorescent light bulbs (place in sealed plastic bag and drop off at the information desk)
Special Recycling in Anne Belk Hall, Technology Support Services
- Computer equipment
- CDs and DVDs
- Cell Phones and accessories
- Techno-trash (storage devices, floppy disks, hard drives, Zip disks, i-pods, empty print cartridges, cables, cords, circuit boards, video tapes, PDA's, etc.)
- Batteries
- Printer cartridges
- CFL bulbs (place in sealed plastic bag and drop off at the information desk)
App State uses Republic Services for its recycling processing. Want to test your on-campus recycling knowledge?
Take this Recycling Questionnaire.
