This fall Iowa State is starting an initiative to promote recycling on campus, with the goal by 2025 of reducing to zero the amount of Iowa State's waste going to the landfill.
In June 2018, the university hired its first full-time recycling coordinator, Ayodeji Oluwalana, who will be working for facilities planning and management (FPM).
A zero-waste campus wouldn't mean Iowa State creates no trash. "The university would be zero-waste if it established all possible means to keep refuse out of the garbage stream. While it's not realistic to divert everything, 90 percent is possible, Oluwalana said.
Recycling has been much easier since 2015, as the university's recycling contract with Waste Management now allows for a wider variety of recyclables, including mixed paper, food and beverage containers, to be placed in the blue bins around campus. Remember that food containers should be rinsed out first and corrugated cardboard boxes should be flattened and placed in the recycling cages located behind buildings.