1. Single stream recycling

On campus, blue recycling bins are placed next to grey waste bins in most buildings. Off campus, place all recyclables in the same bin for pick-up. All recyclables can go in one bin for collection. Not sure what Rumpke accepts for recycling? Check the list on the Sustainability at Miami website. Download and print a flyer for your office (link at right). Test your knowledge with our interactive recycling quiz below (this quiz is specific to items recyclable by Rumpke. Click on the item and drag it to your selected box, then press “submit”).

2. Recycle Batteries

Place your residential-type batteries in a collection bin in your building or a building near you. The battery recycling service is supported by Miami’s Physical Facilities Department (PFD). Student interns for the office of sustainability in PFD collect and sort the batteries, which are then picked up about twice a year for recycling by Cleanlites Recycling facility in Cincinnati. Nearly 4,000 pounds of residential-type batteries were collected for recycling from offices on Miami’s Oxford campus in the 2023-2024 academic year.  

3. Plastic bags — not in the bin

Plastic bags are not recyclable by Rumpke. Do not place plastic bags in the recycling bin. This is one of the most common mistakes in curbside recycling, Rumpke reports, when recyclable items are placed inside a plastic bag and that bag is then put in the recycling bin. Keep the items loose, not bagged. Plastic bags can damage the sorting equipment and interrupt the recycling process at the recycling facility. 

Instead: 1. Take your bags back — many Kroger and Walmart locations in the area have bins near their entrances for plastic bag collection and recycling. 2. Collect them in your Hefty ReNew bag.  

4. Hefty ReNew bag (for plastic bags and more)

Rumpke customers can collect hard-to-recycle items — like foam take-out containers, plastic utensils, and yes, plastic grocery bags — in orange Hefty ReNew bags. The Hefty ReNew bags are picked up by Rumpke with the regular recycling collection. Start a ReNew bag in your office and place it near your recycling bin. ReNew bags are available from multiple retailers including Kroger, Walmart, and Ace Hardware. This service, a collaboration between Rumpke and Hefty, was implemented in 2023 in the tri-state area. Greater Cincinnati recycled 15 tons of these previously unacceptable items in the first year of the program.

5. Food Scrap Composting

On the Oxford campus, Armstrong Student Center hosts five waste sorting stations with Compost - Recycling- Waste collection, assisted by an OSCAR Smart Waste system. In the 2023-2024 academic year, the first year this service was offered, about 10,000 pounds of back-of-the-house food waste from dining services was diverted from the landfill. Miami contracts with GoZERO services, a nonprofit food scraps courier service, for collection and transportation. Food scraps are transported to Class II permitted facilities in Ohio.