By UW Recycling | Apr 4, 2017

Is your office getting ready for spring cleaning? There are plenty of ways to ensure that your annual cleanup is both efficient and sustainable! With Earth Day coming up, use the following tips from UW Recycling to properly dispose of your used office supplies.

Paper

Ready to get rid of the post it notes covering your monitor? Are there research journals from the 80s collecting dust in the corner? Begin by reserving UW Recycling’s free temporary paper toters. Your week-long reservation will include two 96-gallon bins, each of which holds approximately 10 banker boxes worth of material.  Make sure that you only discard acceptable paper recycling in the toters.

Assorted Recyclables

Maybe it’s time to finally tackle your secret drawer full of batteries and floppy disks. Fill out a boxed recyclables pickup request and we will take it off your hands! When packing up your items, consolidate different types of materials into separate boxes and label each box with the contents, such as "hardbound books for recycling."

  • non-confidential eMedia (CDs, tapes, discs)
  • small electronics
  • hardbound books
  • printer/copier cartridges and components
  • small scrap metal

Packing Materials

Remember that time you bought one pen and it came in a fridge-sized box with a mountain of packing peanuts? We will collect those along with Styrofoam blocks from your building’s loading dock. Check out the details here.

Office Supplies & Furniture

Already switched to paperless but for some reason have 20 staplers in your cabinet? At UW, all unwanted university property needs to be sent to UW Surplus – even if it’s broken! Your unwanted items will either be resold or sustainably recycled. Request a UW Surplus pickup or dropoff for:

  • electronics
  • office supplies
  • office or lab furniture
  • lab equipment & components
  • sanitized reusable lab glass

Mystery Materials

Not entirely sure what to do? Review our online disposal guide if you’re uncertain about particular materials. Or you can always email us at recycle@uw.edu. We love questions!