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Accepted:
#1 & #2 Plastic bottles (where the neck is thinner than the body) with the lids removed, 3 gallons or less (ie: milk jug, bottled water, juice, pop/soda, detergent)
Aluminum cans
Glass of any color
Steel cans, including empty aerosol cans

Not Accepted:
Bottle caps or lids
Cartons (milk, juice, ice tea, lemonade)
Plastic bags (clean, dry bags can be recycled at Giant Eagle)
Plastic tubs (ie: yogurt, cottage cheese)
Plastic without symbols  
Styrofoam

Accepted:
Adding machine tape
Books, soft and hardcovered
Booklets, manuals, magazines, newspapers
Brown kraft paper and envelopes
Fax/telex copy paper
Greeting cards - no glitter or photo paper
Manila folders
Paper ream wrappers
Paperboard (ie: cereal and shoe boxes, microwave lunches, frozen food boxes)
Post-It notes
Telephone directories 
White and colored paper
White and colored envelopes with windows

Corrugated cardboard boxes should be flattened and set next to paper recycling bins

Not Accepted:
Carbon Paper
Cellophane (ie: candy wrappers, snack food bags)
Coffee Cups

Not Accepted, but can be composted: 
Certified compostable paper products
Paper with food waste on it
Paper towels
Pizza boxes
Tissues 

Please remove all packing materials from cardboard boxes, flatten, and leave behind a recycling bin. 

Accepted:
Any raw or cooked food (including meat, dairy, and bones, but not shells)
Coffee grounds, coffee filters, tea bags
Paper bags, napkins, paper towels, and uncoated paper plates
Pizza boxes
Plastic-like items, such as utensils or cups, labeled as “Compostable”
Coffee cups or other items labeled as "Compostable"
Products labeled as “BPI Certified”

Have an product you aren't sure is compostable? You can check if it is BPI Certified by looking it up in the . 

Not Accepted, but commonly found in Compost bins: 
Chip bags
Blue Pepsi cups
Condiment wrappers
Non-compostable plastics

When in doubt, throw it out! 

As much as we want everything we acquire to be diverted from the landfill, aspirational recycling and composting will contaminate the bins. Too much contamination means the entire bin gets sent to the landfill. 

The following items are common contaminants found in recycling and compost bins, but should be placed in landfill bins:

Bottle caps or lids
Cartons (ie: milk, juice, ice tea, lemonade)
Carbon Paper
Cellophane (ie: candy wrappers, snack food bags)
Coffee Cups
Plastic bags (clean, dry bags can be recycled at many grocery stores)
Plastic tubs (ie: yogurt, cottage cheese)
Styrofoam

• CFA, basement near elevator
• CUC, Recycling Room, main level 
• Doherty Hall, main entrance and B level
• Facilities Management Building, drop off in EH&S or FMCS offices
• Gates Hall, 5th floor
• Margaret Morrison, 1st floor
• Mellon Institute, 3rd floor near elevators
• Newell-Simon Hall, 4th floor
• Porter Hall, A level Frew Street entrance
• Porter, 1st floor
• Tepper School, near copy center (toner only)
• Warner Hall, A level
• Wean Hall, 5th floor

Alkaline batteries (AAA, AA, C, D, 9-volt) may be placed in the kiosks located around campus. For a list of locations, see the above dropdown section "Specialty Recycling Kiosk Locations."

Rechargeable batteries (Nickel cadmium, nickel metal hydride, lithium ion, lead acid) are considered Universal Waste and collected by Environmental Health & Safety (EH&S) for safe disposal*. Vist the EHS Universal Waste web page to request a pickup. If you have any questions regarding the Battery Recycling Program, contact safety@andrew.cmu.edu.

Looking to dispose of personal batteries? There are a few options in Pittsburgh: 

• Recycle your batteries responsibly at the
• Lowes and Home Depot typically have free rechargeable batteries recycling receptacles near their customer service desks.

*Please contact EH&S immediately about any leaking and/or bulging batteries. 

Carnegie Mellon partners with the Nike Reuse-A-Shoe program. The program collects old, worn-out athletic shoes for recycling and transforms them into Nike Grind, a material used in creating athletic and playground surfaces as well as select Nike products.

The only kiosk that collects athletic shoes is located in the Recycling Center in the Cohon University Center. 

CMU works with a vendor to recycle small non-regulated media, such as floppy disks, zip disks, cassette tapes, VHS tapes, CDs, and DVDs, cell phones, MP3 players, film negatives, microfiche, and more.  

Place items in a specialty recycling collection kiosk. For a list of locations, see the above dropdown section "Specialty Recycling Kiosk Locations."

Have quantities close to or exceeding 25 lbs? Please contact Dawn Roerink (droerink@andrew.cmu.edu) for alternative collection options. 

HP ink cartridges: please retain the prepaid label that comes in the box.  When empty, put the cartridge back in the box (or many cartridges in one box), affix the label, and set in any campus UPS pick up location. 

For all other printer cartridges, place items in a specialty recycling collection kiosk. For a list of locations, see the above dropdown section "Specialty Recycling Kiosk Locations."

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection requires the proper disposal of computers and all computer peripherals. To meet these requirements, CMU's Environmental Health & Safety (EHS) department manages the CMU Electronic Waste Program.

Do not leave computers or peripherals by the specialty recycling kiosks. EHS will schedule a pickup. 

For more information and to request a pick up, visit the Electronic Waste website. 

All faculty and staff have access to list furniture and other items on . 

Scotty's Surplus is an online exchange platform for departments, staff, and faculty to reuse, repurpose, and recirculate still-good, but no longer needed, university property that may have otherwise gone to landfill.

Registered users are able to list available items, post wanted listings, and set up alerts to get an email when items are listed.

Have a large quantity of furniture you no longer need? Contact GreenPractices@andrew.cmu.edu for assistance with bulk donation opportunities. 

Rechargeable batteries (Nickel cadmium, nickel metal hydride, lithium ion, lead acid) are considered Universal Waste and collected by Environmental Health & Safety (EH&S) for safe disposal. Vist the EHS Universal Waste web page to request a pickup. If you have any questions regarding the Battery Recycling Program, contact safety@andrew.cmu.edu.

Please contact EH&S immediately about any leaking and/or bulging batteries. 

Alkaline batteries (AAA, AA, C, D, 9-volt) may be placed in the kiosks located around campus. For a list of locations, see the above dropdown section "Specialty Recycling Kiosk Locations."

Looking to dispose of personal batteries? There are a few options in Pittsburgh: 

• Recycle your batteries responsibly at the
• Lowes and Home Depot typically have free rechargeable batteries recycling receptacles near their customer service desks.

CMU has a central scrap metal collection program.

Metal items collected for scrap can include air conditioning units*, chairs, metal cabinets, metal desks, pipes, refrigerators*, and more.  Place an FMS service request (email FixIt@andrew.cmu.edu) for scrap metal to be picked up** and taken to the scrap metal collection location. 

Students: contact your housing facility coordinator to request service. 

*Please place an FMS work order to pick up and reclaim the refrigerant in air conditioning units and refrigerators prior to disposal.  

**Transportation of items from campus to the scrap metal collection location should not incur a fee. 

We currently have a diversion source for 48" by 48" sized pallets. These need to be in good condition. 

To request items collected for reuse, please submit a  State that you are "requesting a warehouse pick up of standard size (48" x 48") pallets that are in good, reusable condition". When the work order is processed, please forward it to urs-penn@andrew.cmu.edu. Pallet pickup should not incur a fee to your department. 

We can not accept oversized, broken, or damaged pallets. We also do not accept other wood waste. These items currently get removed as landfill. 

If you frequently have waste waste, please contact GreenPractices@andrew.cmu.edu as we are researching recycling opportunities and it is helpful to know how much of this waste type is generated on campus.