Office of Energy & Sustainability

What happens to the waste?

Contaminated Recycling

Inside a contaminated recycling bag.


Housekeeping collects the waste every evening (twice per day in 24/7 areas). For practicality, housekeepers use the same wheeled receptacle to collect both trash and recycling. The bags are then visually sorted into trash or recycling streams based on the content. If a bag of recycling is clean, it will be sent for recycling. If it has contamination of materials that shouldn't be there, it will be treated as trash.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Waste Streams Life Cycle

Trash

Recycling

Cardboard

Confidential Documents & Shredded Paper

Bulk Waste

Regulated Medical Waste

Hazardous Waste (chemicals, chemotherapeutics, regulated substances, expired medications)

Universal Waste (batteries, mercury, lamps, waste oil)

Electronics


 

You can help us reduce waste and improve diversion rates before you recycle.

  • Preventing waste from entering our campus (do you really need that extra shopping bag? Can you bring your own?)
  • Reducing the amount of waste you generate (choose a product with less packaging)
  • Reusing (bring your own reusable water bottle and cup)

Diversion Rate

 

Did you know

Diesel trucks carry Manhattan's garbage 7.8 million miles every year. That's the equivalent of driving more than 312 times around the Earth!

Office of Energy & Sustainability 1300 York Avenue, LC006, Box 14, New York, NY 10065