Recycling Opportunities

Princeton University promotes reuse and recycling of unneeded materials. A summary of the most common recyclable materials is available on the Office of Sustainability website. Receptacles for mixed paper, bottles and cans, and batteries are available upon request through Building Services (609-258-8000). The following is a partial list of recycling opportunities, along with the person to contact for more information.

Item Procedure Contact
Aluminum foil* **Mixed Recycling Bins (Bottles/Cans/Paper) Jeff Stives (Facilities Building Services)
Anti-freeze Collected by Garage or EHS Michael Hutchinson (Garage) or Brittany Armstrong (EHS)

Batteries

  • Lithium
  • Alkaline
  • Magnesium
  • Mercury
  • Nickel Cadmium
  • Lead Acid
 Rechargeable batteries collected by EHS in white receptacles; lead-acid batteries placed in large blue drums to be collected by Interstate Battery.

Brittany Armstrong (EHS)
Automobile batteries Collected by Electric Shop or Garage Ken Grayson (Electric) or Michael Hutchinson (Garage)
Computers Resource Recovery Daron Groce, (Resource Recovery)
Concrete and asphalt Special recycler Jeff Stives (Facilities Building Services)
Electronic equipment Must go through Resource Recovery Daron Groce (Resource Recovery)
Food - Uneaten Donated to local soup kitchens Sue Pierson, Campus Dining
Food Wastes Used for animal feed Jeff Stives (Facilities Building Services)
Fluorescent bulbs containing mercury Labeled/Marked bulb boxes collected by Building Services Facilities Work Order (609-258-8000)
***Loading Dock Service Program

Glass, Aluminum and Plastic

  • Glass bottles and jars
  • Detergent/softener containers
  • Aluminum, steel, tin cans
  • Plastic drink bottles
  • Empty chemical containers
  • Paper juice and milk cartons
  • Juice boxes
  • Yogurt containers
 **Mixed Recycling Bins (Bottles/Cans/Paper) Jeff Stives (Facilities Building Services)
Lead shielding Through EHS - redistribute to other labs or universities Brittany Armstrong (EHS)
Mercury and mercury-containing equipment Collected with chemical waste or by appointment Brittany Armstrong (EHS)
Oil Collected with chemical waste or may be brought to Garage Brittany Armstrong (EHS) or Michael Hutchinson (Garage)

Paper*

  • Brown paper bags
  • All office paper
  • Cardboard
  • Envelopes
  • Magazines
  • Manila Folders
  • Magazines
  • Paperback books
  • Phone books
  • Post-Its
 **Mixed Recycling Bins (Bottles/Cans/Paper) Jeff Stives (Facilities Building Services)
Pallets Arrange through Building Services Facilities Work Order (609-258-8000)
***Loading Dock Service Program
Pipette tip containers Collected by Molecular Biology for Fisher Scientific Mike Fredericks (Molecular Biology)
Scrap metals Special arrangement with Building Services Facilities Work Order (609-258-8000)
***Loading Dock Service Program
Soldering scraps Collect with hazardous waste Brittany Armstrong (EHS)
Tires Collected by Garage Michael Hutchinson (Garage)
Transparencies May be sent to 3M-Gemark for recycling (does not have to be a 3M product) 3M

*Aluminum foil and pizza boxes can only be recycled if they have not been soiled. Recycling facilities will not accept food contaminated aluminum foil or pizza boxes because of the rodent problem they often create. 

**See Office of Sustainability website for more information (here)

***Loading Dock Service provided to all University loading docks