Facilities & Operations manages the solid waste and recycling services for UAH. The current contractor, Waste Management, Inc., completes their five-year service agreement this month. After a competitive bid process, Republic Services was awarded the bid to perform solid waste disposal for UAH. They will begin this service in late March. We are confident that the service and consistency will improve with this new provider. Our previous service provider has been unable to perform single-stream recycling services due to global recycling commodity value and buyer issues. The new contractor, Republic Services, will also be unable to perform single-stream recycling as there are no facilities in Huntsville that currently provide this service. Fortunately, we can and will continue to recycle cardboard.
Since single-stream recycling is no longer available, Facilities and Operations will remove the recycling containers from all campus buildings starting Monday, March 20, 2023. Dumpsters with a cardboard-only slot will be placed throughout campus (see map on page 2). Cardboard can be deposited through a slot in the dumpster to prevent the deposit of trash that would result in contamination (see page 2 for details).
Although we are disappointed that we cannot offer single-stream recycling at this time, we want to emphasize that recycling is only one of the Three R’s of Sustainability (Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle). Each of us can make a positive environmental impact by following these reducing and reusing practices:
- Reduce energy use by turning off the lights before leaving a dorm, classroom, or office.
- Reuse scrap paper for other work, such as notes or reminders.
- Reduce the use of single-use plastics by instead using reusable water bottles, lunch boxes, and washable storage bags.
- Reuse paper clips, rubber bands, and other office supplies.
Each of us can also take personal recyclables to the following local businesses who have limited recycling capability:
We appreciate your cooperation as we transition to our new solid waste disposable vendor. We will continue to research future recycling options within our area as opportunities arise.
