Behind the blue bins: UK’s new recycling video reveals the journey of your waste
The University of Kentucky is turning one person’s waste into another’s pizza box, soda can, Adirondak chair or a plethora of other items that can be found around campus.
“Recycling is one of the easiest ways everyone on campus can make an impact,” said Ryan Lark, zero-waste specialist in Facilities Management.
In 2024, the university collected 1,138 tons of recycling from the blue bins around campus to send to their recycling partner. This was only 40% of the 2,869 total tons recycled last year. The rest came from operations efforts including collecting scrap metal, batteries and other materials. These efforts reflect the university’s effort to become a zero-waste campus through reducing, reusing, composting and recycling at least 90% of the academic campus’ waste.
Nov. 15 is America Recycles Day, a day celebrating the impact and importance of recycling. UK Recycling will be participating in this national celebration with the release of a recycling video highlighting the complete process of recycled materials collected on campus, showing students how their daily behaviors can help better the environment and support a robust, local industry.
