Facilities Services

The purpose of the Recycling program is to collect, sort, and sell recyclable materials from the academic, residential and service areas of campus. Materials which are not recycled are taken to the Thurston County Transfer Station for disposal. With the recent closure of the landfill our refuse is now exported to a large regional landfill located in Klickitat County located in southeast Washington. What does this mean to our community? It means the current cost of waste disposal has increased dramatically making recycling much more important!

Facilities Services has centrally located recycling stations in all academic, housing and service areas. Using the recycling stations and knowing where they are located is key to preserving the environment and cutting our waste disposal costs.

Mixed Waste Paper

This includes newspaper, magazines, brown paper, bright or fluorescent colored paper, unbleached and dark colored file folders, goldenrod, brown and dark envelopes, blueprints, photo paper, phone books, catalogues, paper tubes, tablet backs, ream wrappers, poster board, computer paper, light pastel colored paper, fax paper, envelopes (windows are OK), manila file folders, index cards and laser copy paper.

Cardboard must have more than one layer. If there is only one layer it is chipboard and is considered mixed waste paper (ex: cereal boxes). Please flatten boxes to conserve container space.

Commingled Containers includes tin and aluminum cans, glass bottles and jars without lids, plastic bottles (labeled 1-7 on bottom), milk and juice cartons. Rinse to remove food residue.Printer Laser Cartridges can be placed next to the S. M. A. R. T. station for recycling.

About S. M. A. R. T.

S. M. A. R. T. stands for Self Managed Activities for Recyclables & Trash. The program was implemented by Facilities Services and is designed to make recycling easy and accessible. These stations make the act of disposal an opportunity to recycle.

S. M. A. R. T. stations are centrally located on each floor of all academic buildings. Mixed paper, co-mingled materials and cardboard are taken to the S. M. A. R. T. stations by building occupants and placed in the appropriate container. Building Services staff take the containers to the building loading docks where they are emptied into larger containers. These materials are then recycled by Recyling Services.

Each S. M. A. R. T. station is comprised of three 32-gallon containers.

blue 32-gallon containers are for mixed waste paper. Large boxes should be broken down and placed into the yellow dumpsters located at all loading docks.
red 32-gallon containers are for commingled containers. This includes aluminum and tin cans, glass and plastic bottles, and clean plastic food containers.
gray 32-gallon container are meant for all non-hazardous wastethat cannot be recycled. This waste is taken to the landfill.

Recycling in Student Housing

Centralized collection stations are located in the lower courtyard of A dorm, at the community building, between S and T dorms and in the Mod housing area. Each site is comprised of:

yellow dumpsters for cardboard.
dark blue dumpsters for mixed paper.
light blue dumpsters and 90 gallon containers for commingled materials.
green dumpsters for landfill bound materials.

We do NOT recycle:

Paper that is waxed, plastic coated or soiled with food (ex: pizza boxes).
Waxed or plastic coated paper such as paper cups.
Carbon paper.
Paper reinforced with plastic or foil.
Styrofoam blocks or packing peanuts.
Plastic bags (return to the grocer).
Batteries.
Engine oil and filters.

For information or questions call the Recycling office at (360) 867-5048.

Contact the Site Manager

Last Updated: September 23, 2008

The Evergreen State College

2700 Evergreen Parkway NW

Olympia, Washington 98505

(360) 867-6000