Recycling and Composting at Penn State
Recycling
At Penn State, our commitment to sustainability goes beyond just recycling and composting – it starts with a conscious effort to reduce our environmental footprint. We encourage you to join this endeavor, by first focusing on reducing your consumption and by reusing items whenever possible.
While recycling and composting are important steps in managing waste, they should be considered last resorts in our efforts to minimize environmental impacts to our planet. To help you make informed choices, we’ve provided a comprehensive poster below that outlines everything we can recycle here at Penn State.
Our commitment to sustainability doesn’t end there, we established a Waste Stream Task Force in 2018, a dedicated group who worked tirelessly to enhance our waste management practices. You can see the recommendations, progress, access reports, and learn more about their initiatives by clicking here. In 2022, the Office of Physical Plant hired a Waste Reduction & Recycling Manager to continue implementing those recommendations!
Join us in making a positive impact on the environment and contributing to a greener future. Explore the page below to find out how to reduce, reuse, and recycle together at Penn State!
Need a copy of our signs for your unit or building? Download will be available shortly. Contact recycling@psu.edu if you need assistance.
How to Recycle
How to Responsibly Dispose of Batteries at Penn State
Alkaline batteries can be thrown in the regular trash, whereas Nickel Cadmium, Nickel Metal Hydride, Lead Acid, Lithium-ion, and Lithium all contain components that are hazardous to people and/or the environment and should be managed correctly and collected for recycling. The University is legally obligated to collect and properly manage rechargeable and other hazardous batteries that are used in University-related business. A full description of various battery types can be found below.
How to Dispose of Rechargeable Batteries:
Each building has a Battery Collection Leader(s) in charge of collecting batteries, properly packaging and sending them to the University’s Environmental Health and Safety Department for processing (find your building’s Battery Collection Leader here). Batteries that are not acceptable to be sent through the Battery Mailer Program include any broken, leaking or reacting battery, and large lead acid batteries. Please submit a disposal request for these items via EHS LionSafe.
If you don’t find your building’s contact person, please contact the Environmental, Health and Safety department directly to arrange for collection.
All batteries collected for recycling are required to have terminal protection. This means that any exposed terminal (metal conductive port) must be isolated from potentially contacting another battery’s terminals in transport. Please either individually tape each battery with clear packaging tape (do not use scotch tape, painters tape, masking tape, or duct tape) or individually bag each battery in a clear plastic bag. Example photos are below.
It is emphasized that this program is only for batteries used in University-related business. Non-Penn State related batteries may be recycled at Home Depot, Lowes, Staples and the Centre County Solid Waste Authority. A full description of various battery types can be found below.
Questions can be sent to EHS via phone (814-865-6391) or email (psuehs@psu.edu).
Battery Types
Rechargable Batteries:
Image by Unlisted, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0
Nickel Cadmium (NiCad) Batteries:
Typically used in cordless tools, two-way radios, laptop computers, cell phones and other equipment. These batteries contain cadmium, a heavy metal that is hazardous to people and the environment.
Image by Ashley Pomeroy licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
Nickle Metal Hydride (NiMH) Batteries:
Typically used in cordless tools, laptop computers, cell phones and other equipment. The components of these batteries are hazardous to the environment.
Lead Acid Batteries:
Typically used as a backup power supply for computers (UPS), emergency lighting, security and fire alarms and to power vehicles. These batteries contain lead and sulfuric acid, both of which are hazardous to people and the environment.
Lead acid batteries shall not be processed through the Battery Mailer Program. This type of battery should be requested for pickup by EHS. Battery pickup requests may be submitted through LionSafe. If you are going to generate a large quantity of lead acid batteries for disposal, please contact EHS with advanced notice to coordinate the pickup. Questions can be sent to EHS.
Car batteries from Penn State fleet and department cars are recycled through OPP’s garage. Take your battery to the garage or email recycling@psu.edu for pick up.
Image by Kristoferb, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0
Lithium-Ion (Li-Ion) Batteries:
Typically used in photographic equipment, cell phones, cordless tools and laptop computers, and are becoming more common. These batteries are hazardous to the environment and pose a significant fire risk if not handled properly.
Alkaline Batteries:
Typically used to power radios, flashlights, and other equipment. These batteries contain a small amount of potassium hydroxide, which does not pose a significant hazard to people or the environment. These batteries are not required to be collected and can be disposed in the regular trash.
Lithium:
Lithium batteries can store more energy than most single use batteries, therefore offering a longer shelf life. Lithium batteries cannot be recharged, but Lithium-Ion batteries can. Lithium batteries are most commonly used in high drain devices, like digital cameras. These batteries can be disposed of through Environmental Health and Safety.
Dry-Cell Batteries:
Typically include alkaline, carbon zinc (9-volt, D, C, AA, AAA), mercuric-oxide (button, some cylindrical and rectangular), silver-oxide and zinc-air (button) batteries. Most small, round “button-cell” type batteries are found in items such as watches and hearing aids and contain mercury, silver, cadmium, lithium or other heavy metals that are hazardous to people and the environment. These batteries should be disposed of through Environmental Health and Safety.
Large Batteries >3 lbs:
Contact EHS directly for the recycling of large batteries.
Batteries are not to be brought from home!
Recycled batteries should be from University business only. For disposing batteries used at home, please contact CCRRA or visit their Recycling FAQs page.
- Desktop computers, laptops, and various personal electronics can be recycled
- Penn State computers are recycled through Lion Surplus
- Each spring, Lion Surplus hosts an electronics recycling day where Penn State faculty, staff, and students can drop off computers and other electronic equipment for recycling, free of charge
- Centre Country Refuse and Recycling Authority accepts the following electronics for recycling:
- computer monitors
- televisions
- keyboards, desktop printers and scanners
- CD, DVD, and VCR players/recorders
- computers/laptops/tablets/notebooks
- computer peripherals and external devices
- video game consoles and controllers
- battery back-up systems
- cellphones
- calculators
- cords and cables (including chargers)
- CDs, DVDs, and VHS tapes can be either reused or recycled through Lion Surplus as long as they don’t contain sensitive information.
- If they do contain sensitive or confidential data, they can be shredded and recycled through the blue/white shredding program.
- Go to the General Stores website and click on “General Return”; complete the on-line “Return Form” and click submit.
- Once you submit your Return Form a pick-up will be scheduled, free of charge.
- What happens to Recycled Content:
- At Penn State, General Stores is the main processing center for used toner cartridges
- They will accept cartridges for recycling whether they were purchased through General Stores or from another source
- In 2016, 10 tons of used toner cartridges were recycled at the University Park campus
- Due to the material and energy savings in the recycling process, cost savings are passed along to the consumer
Please recycle:
- High Pressure Sodium (HPS)
- Metal Halide
- Mercury Vapor
- Self-Ballasted Mercury Lamps
- Low-pressure Sodium Lamps
- Fluorescent tubes and compact fluorescent bulbs
- Considered hazardous waste due to trace amounts of mercury, recycle separate from rest of the bulbs
Do not recycle:
- Standard incandescent light bulbs do not contain hazardous materials; therefore, we do not collect these types of bulbs for disposal. Incandescent bulbs should be collected into a suitable container such as a cardboard box and disposed of in the regular trash.
How to Recycle / Request Lamp Boxes:
- To dispose of fluorescent tubes and compact bulbs, complete our special request form.
This service provides units with large, secure bins for ease of disposing of paper that needs shredding. OPP employees will drop off and pick up the bins and ensure the papers held within are properly shredded.
Requests are processed on Fridays for the following week.
For new or additional bin requests:
- Contact Karen Pipta (kmp33@psu.edu) or Brian Kawa (bxk128@psu.edu).
- A work request should not be submitted for bin requests.
For bin pick-ups, replacements, and removals:
- A work request must be submitted using EZ Request, typically by the building’s Facility Coordinator.
- The work request must include the bin’s specific location (building and room), quantity of bins to pick-up/replace, bin sizes (indicated by S or L on bin ID located on the top of each bin) and contact information for the individual with the most access to the bins (name and phone).
If you have questions about either of these services, please contact Ryan Henschel at rdh29@psu.edu.
If you have recycling questions unrelated to these services or need guidance on waste reduction/diversion process in your respective buildings, email recycling@psu.edu.
Not sure about what goes where? Email us at recycling@psu.edu
Composting
In 2023, we transitioned to collecting food waste only due to high rates of contamination and limitations within our on campus composting facility. At University Park, compost bins now only collect food waste campus wide. More information about this transition can be found here. Thanks for being a responsible steward of your waste.
Why focus on food waste?
Food waste is a significant issue globally, with far-reaching environmental and social implications. By streamlining our composting efforts to accept only food waste, we can address several key benefits:
- Reducing Methane Emissions: Food waste in landfills produces methane, a potent greenhouse gas. Composting food waste instead helps to mitigate these emissions contributing to a reduction on our institutional footprint.
- Nutrient-Rich Compost: Food waste contains valuable nutrients that when composted are transformed into nutrient rich soil. From food scraps to landscaping debris, our on campus composting facility, OMPEC, processes approximately 1,500 tons of organic matter and returns most of that compost, along with wood chips and mulch, back into the campus landscaping. Finished compost is also sold to the public through Lion Surplus.
- Cleaner Waste Streams: While it may seem counter intuitive to reduce the potentially compostable items accepted into our composting facility, even some items that are marketed as compostable can be difficult to break down without specific conditions and/or special equipment. Collecting fewer products that we can ensure will be successfully processed, rather than collecting a largely contaminated waste stream, helps us to ensure the success of our campus composting efforts.
Reduce
Reducing what and how much we consume is the most difficult part of waste management. But it’s the most important. Penn State takes pride in the programs and efforts taking place to reduce waste at the University, but we know we’ve only just begun.
Water Bottle Refilling Stations
Annually, Penn Staters recycle more than 200 tons of plastic bottles (approximately 7.6 million water bottles). In the United States, only about 24 percent of disposable plastic bottles are recycled. At that rate, approximately 600 tons of bottles are sent to the landfill – sitting there for hundreds of years. Learn more about water bottle refilling stations and where the nearest one is to you on campus.
Reusable Dining Containers
The PSreUse reusable containers operate much like disposable carryout containers. In the all-you-care-to-eat dining locations on campus, students and staff pick up a container at the cashier. After use, containers should be rinsed out and deposited in the return locations and they will be washed similarly to the other dishware used on campuses. Students and staff using the containers are charged a fee only if they fail to return their container(s).
Reduces the size of the plates used in the dining halls
- Supports local vendor purchasing
- Donates leftover food to Meals on Wheels
- Trains students and staff on sustainable practices
Carbon Negative: Reducing Dining’s Carbon Foodprint at Penn State
This research report was a project created as part of the 2020 Drawdown Scholars Program by Divya Jain, a Penn State student under the mentorship of Rachel Brennan during Summer 2020.
The Office of Central Procurement handles the purchasing of everything from furniture to lab equipment on PSU campuses. Procurement continually seeks opportunities to maximize purchasing value by making wise choices that benefit both the University and the environment. Read more about “green” purchasing at Penn State.
In 2010, Penn State Office of Physical Plant, Procurement Services, and the Smeal College of Business launched an ambitious collaborative effort: to develop a new standard for carpet purchasing, installation and removal that would reduce the first cost by 2-5% and the total cost of ownership by an estimated 20% and ensure 100% of Penn State carpet never sees a landfill.
The request for carpet proposals was revised in 2019, giving specific attention to supply chains, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), environmental product declarations, health product declarations and a process for tracking the useful life of carpet. Contracts were awarded in December of 2019.
The original case study for the Smarter Carpet Initiative provides more information.
Duplex Printing
To reduce the amount of paper you use:
- Choose double-sided printing for multiple pages.
- Change your default margin settings from 1.25″ to .75″ to save 5% more paper (according to the Mueller study and the Penn State Green Destiny Council).
- If you are flooded by catalogs, stop the overflow by contacting www.catalogchoice.org.
Reuse
After reduction, reuse is the second most important element of waste management. It is critical at the personal and institutional level.
Unwanted items are collected from residential students in late April to early May through collaboration with Goodwill. Collection locations are in every residence hall where students are encouraged to drop off their gently used clothing and small household items. Unexpired food items can also be dropped off to be donated to local food pantries.
This is an adjustment to the historical Trash to Treasure Sale. In 2018, the 17th Trash to Treasure Sale collected 35 tons of waste and generated about $51,000 for the local United Way agencies.
A student works at a desk procured by the Furniture Re-use Program.
Lion Surplus, located on Services Road on the University Park campus, is a store that handles the removal of University-owned equipment in environmentally responsible ways, such as sales, bids, and auctions. The store is open to students, faculty, staff, and the public. Hours: Monday through Thursday 8:00am to 2:30pm and Friday 7:30am to 12:30pm
Any University department may send University-owned equipment, supplies, and/or materials that are obsolete, surplus, or scrap to Lion Surplus for sale or disposal. To send your department’s surplus materials, you must login SIMBA and create an Asset Transfer and Retirement Form (DOCX) request. Lion Surplus accepts anything that Penn State owns. If the items are still in working condition, they are sold in our showroom, in auctions, or on eBay and GovDeals. Items that are not functional are recycled.
Check out their stock before purchasing something new!
Compost
Penn State’s Organic Materials Processing Center (OMPEC) is a self-sustaining operation processing food waste, leaves, scrap wood, pallets, logs and plant debris. The facility provides the opportunity to divert organics from landfills and a sound means to manage leaf and yard debris, which can then all be manufactured into mulch and compost. Annually approximately 4,000 tons of organics are processed and made into mulch and compost used on campus. Compost is available for sale. The compost may be paid for at LionSurplus (Services Road) and picked up at OMPEC (279 Farm Services Road).
