Recycle
Recycling refers to reprocessing a material into a new, usable form. This process usually saves resources in comparison to using virgin materials. This can be accomplished in many ways, including:
This is often the waste reduction principle that people are most familiar with. Accurate use of recycling programs is a very important part of this method. Purchasing materials with recycled content (or "closing the loop") is an equally vital and often overlooked half of this principle.
The Rice Recycling Program handles the standard recycling services for campus (paper, glass, aluminum, and scrap metal). More information can be found at the official Rice Recycling Program website.
The Environmental Club and several independent students are working to provide plastics recycling (for #1 and #2 plastics) at the RMC and a few colleges.
The Composting Pilot Project is currently testing the use of composting to recycle organic wastes on campus (food waste, dirty paper, and yard waste). This project, at Jones College, did extensive feasibility testing during the Spring 1999 semester, finding favorable economic and operational results. The results of this testing can be viewed in the 1998-99 Rice University Environmental Progress Report.
The 1998-99 Rice University Environmental Progress Report also contains important information about solid waste composition and previous recycling efforts.