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Recycling

Recycling at Gettysburg College

Gettysburg College began recycling in 1998. In the subsequent years, we have continually improved our recycling efforts by adding to the list of recyclable materials, by developing innovative re-use programs, by partnering with local organizations, and by educating the campus community of faculty, staff, and students. Our recycling programming has earned statewide Waste Watchers awards for Outstanding Achievement in Reuse and for Outstanding Achievement in Special Collections.

Single Stream Recycling

In 2009, Gettysburg College began single-stream recycling. In single-stream recycling, all recyclable materials enter a facility mixed together and are sorted mechanically before being processed. This makes it easier for members of the campus community to recycle and has allowed us to recycle a wider range of materials. Single Stream recycling at Gettysburg College includes:

Aluminum and Ferrous Cans
Aluminum Foil and Pie Tins
Glass Bottles: brown, clear, and green
Plastics #1 through #7
Paper: white, colored, glossy, newsprint, letterhead
Magazines
Mail and Envelopes
Thin Cardboard (i.e. cereal boxes)
Books: Paperback, Hardback, Textbooks, Phonebooks
Corrugated Cardboard (Boxes)
Aerosol Cans
Milk and Juice Cartons
Plastic Films (i.e. grocery bags, plastic wrap)
Rigid plastics (i.e. laundry baskets, crates, lawn furniture, coolers, plastic cups)

Other Recycling

Gettysburg College also recycles the following special items, separate from single-stream collection:

Batteries: place in the collection box next to the mailroom in the CUB
Printer Cartridges: envelopes located at the mailroom in the CUB
Plastic Bags: Bins located in the CUB and residence halls
Fluorescent Light Bulbs: Tube-style and Compact Fluorescents (CFLs)
Car Batteries and Oil from Campus Vehicles: West Building
Computer Hardware: Information Technology
Toner Cartridges: Information Technology, Academic Departments
Scrap Metal: West Building Lot
Used Fryer Oil

Special Programs

A recyling student intern processes items for the Give It Up for Good Sale The Gettysburg United Give it up for Good Sale, which collects furniture, clothing, house-wares, electronics, sporting equipment, and non-perishable food from student move-out, is held each May. Supplemented by college furniture and appliances slated for replacement, the sale has raised $15,000 to $17,000 annually for the United Way of Adams County and prevents over 20 tons of material from entering the waste stream each year.

Also partnering with the United Way, Gettysburg College supports an In-kind Donation Program that places used furniture in local small businesses and the in homes of low-income families.

In partnership with Dining Services, Painted Turtle Farm, the student-run organic garden, runs a Composting Program that creates a sustainable loop by composting vegetable scraps from the Dining Center. That compost is used to enrich the garden's soil to produce herbs and vegetables that are used by the Dining Center.