Recycling 101
Not sure what to recycle? Our recycling guide has all the details!
DOWNLOAD NOW More Colgate recycling facts
- Madison County recycles all plastics (numbers 1-7). including plastic retail bags (fill one bag with other clean bags, tie off when full, and drop in the recycling)!
- New York State's bottle deposit program means you can return many bottles and cans for cash!
- Pizza boxes are recyclable -- of course, eat all of the pizza first! Grease stains are OK.
- Colgate's leaf litter is transported to local farms for cow bedding.
- Colgate's disposable utensils are made of cornstarch and are biodegradable.
- All printing shop inks are based on food dyes, and are biodegradable.
- Our spent printer cartridges are recycled.
- We recycle its electronic waste including computers, monitors, televisions, printers through Regional Computer Recycling and Recovery (RCR&R), out of Rochester, NY.
- Campus paper towels and toilet tissue are 100% recycled material.
- Print-release stations in computer labs around campus drastically reduce the amount of unclaimed printed paper.
We encourage you to take the lead in your residence, office, or workspace and ensure that it is easy for you and others to recycle. To get started, you need a minimum of three recycle bins:
- Plastic/glass/metal cans: This is for all plastics #1-7, all glass bottles and metal cans, plastic milk and water jugs, yogurt containers, laundry soap and detergent bottles, plastic cups, and plastic grocery bags.
- Paper products: This is for print and copier paper, newspaper, notebook paper, envelopes, magazines, and catalogs. (Note that paper does need to be separated from plastic/glass/cans.)
- Cardboard: This is for pizza boxes, cereal boxes, corrugated cardboard, paper bags, and dry food boxes.
If needed, you should also have separate containers for batteries and inkjet cartridges. Once you have containers in place, you can download, print (11 x17), and laminate (for longevity) the necessary signage below: