This document identifies Ivy Tech Community College Richmond policies and procedures related to recycling and other initiatives that support the College’s commitment to sustainability to help conserve the environment.
Overview
Ivy Tech Community College Richmond is committed to the concept of waste minimization and the conservation of materials and supplies in accordance with all national, state and local laws and ordinances and beyond. The College supports the active involvement of all campus constituencies in order to satisfy the environmental goals of waste minimization, material conservation and recycling. The College understands its responsibility as a corporate citizen of the State of Indiana to protect and preserve the environment. In concert with this responsibility, the College intends that students, faculty, staff and visitors shall respect and uphold the College policies on recycling.
The College will promote recycling through campus-wide use of recycling containers, recycling dumpsters, office and desk-side recycling containers, and special recycling promotions.
The College strongly supports climate neutrality and conserving and protecting the environment. To further this initiative, purchasing practices, construction or renovation projects will be evaluated and will address to the fullest extent possible sustainable recycling practices.
The College participates in single-stream recycling which is defined as collecting paper, plastic, and metal in the same recycling container, dumpster, or other storage device. Segregation of specific types of recyclables is not required for this type of recycling.
The collection dumpsters on campus are for College-generated trash or recyclables only. Trash and recyclables generated offsite/at home should not be disposed of in College collection dumpsters.
The College’s Facilities department seeks to provide assistance for the implementation of sustainable actions, policies and dialogue to further Ivy Tech Richmond’s sustainable initiatives.
Initiatives outside the scope of the collection of waste include:
- Restroom faucets adapted to low-flow with auto turn-off
- Auto hand-towel dispenser
- Secured toilet paper roll dispensers
- Green products – liquid hand soap, cleaning chemicals
- Computers auto shut down
- Surplus property
- Electronics
- Ballasts and light bulbs
Recyclable Waste
The following items are to be placed in recycling collection containers:
- All office paper, post-it-notes, brown paper bags.
- Newspapers and the materials bundled with newspapers.
- Phone books.
- Catalogs, magazines and junk mail.
- All metal food and beverage containers, metal lids and closure caps.
- Glass - Clear, green and brown containers.
- Plastic - Milk, water, juice, soft drink and detergent containers.
Paper must be free from food or grease. All containers must be free from liquid and food.
Paper that contains confidential information should be placed in secured containers identified for shredding.
Cardboard is to be folded flat and placed beside a recycling container. Cardboard recycling is administered by the Facilities Department.
Toner cartridges that are empty are recycled and should be returned to the Information Technology department.
Non-Recyclable Waste
The following items are to be placed in rubbish collection containers:
- Napkins, tissues, paper towels, wrapping paper, wax paper and any food-soiled paper.
- Pizza boxes and wax coated cartons such as those used to package beverages, frozen and dairy containers.
- Foam plates & cups, plastic cup lids, snack bags and fast food containers.
- Broken glass, light bulbs, mirrors, Pyrex and Tupperware.
Non-recyclable waste intermingled with recyclable waste will not be separated. Intermingled waste will be treated as all non-recyclable.
Event Recycling Programs
Recycling events hosted by the College or student group or organization should coordinate activities through the Facilities Department.
Communications
Information on the College’s recycling program is coordinated between the Facilities and External Relations office.
Responsibility
The Facilities Department serves as the primary point of coordination for the recycling program. A member of the Facilities department serves on the College’s statewide Green Team to ensure statewide initiatives are implemented at the regional level.
A regional Green Team is comprised of the statewide Green Team Facilities department staff who will act as the regional chairperson, faculty, staff, External Relations, Facility staff and SGA representative. The regional team reviews statewide initiatives in addition to expanded initiatives and recommends to the Executive Director of Facilities for regional implementation.
