Look up specific items in our Where to Throw tool. If we haven’t answered your question there, email [email protected] and we’ll help you out!

For recycling and landfill bins, submit a work order via the Facilities Service Center. For compost bins, email [email protected]. For more information, check out our Waste Bins page.

Recycling and composting options vary by location. Please email [email protected] with your specific location information.

Unfortunately we are unable to provide compost or other waste hauling services to off-campus/ non-university-owned buildings, as operational funding is limited to campus-owned property. Additionally, our Waste Management Services team is working at full-capacity to support and expand on-campus compost collection. In addition to these limitations, our equipment is not aligned to service curbside carts, nor are they insured to operate in off-campus collection.

No. Unfortunately, our operational funding does not allow us to handle waste generated off campus. Additionally, our Waste Management Services team is working at full-capacity to support existing on-campus compost collection. We encourage you to reach out to your landlord, municipality and/or waste hauler to express your interest in compost service.

If you live in Ann Arbor, we recommend calling the City of Ann Arbor Solid Waste Que for Customer Service (734-994-7336) and indicating you are requesting compost service for a multi-family location. This will place the request through the official approval process. Note: if the compost cart can be placed/picked up from the curb as is done with other residential areas, and is along an existing route, the addition is more likely to be accepted.

Also, this video from Sustainable Living Experience students will show you how to get a City of Ann Arbor compost bin (if you live off-campus in Ann Arbor) and make a  DIY compost bucket for use at home.

Unfortunately, the university’s recycling facility partner, Western Washtenaw Recycling Authority, no longer accepts glass for recycling. The market for glass is very poor, with no manufacturer who wants to purchase old glass to make something new. This is why it is so important for all of us to purchase items that contain recycled content. When people buy recycled-content items, there is an incentive for companies to use recycled content in their products. As the demand for recycled content increases, recycling facilities are able to not only sell the material they collect, but can often also make enough money to reduce what customers (like U-M) have to pay for the recycling service.

If you are interested in scheduling a tour of the Western Washtenaw Recycling Authority MRF, please email [email protected] at least four weeks in advance of your requested date.

Contact U-M Property Disposition. If you have usable equipment, chemicals, or other lab materials that you no longer need, considering donating them to the Lab Reuse Program. 

U-M is no longer hosting e-waste recycling events. Until 2016, the Office of Campus Sustainability was partnering with an external tech company to host and promote the event. However, that company has since had a change in direction in how they handle recycling. Also, year-round e-waste recycling is now more available from cities and counties.

Here are some options!

• Washtenaw County residents can take advantage of countywide cleanup days.
• Washtenaw resources for electronics reuse and recycling
• Ann Arbor resources for electronic waste recycling

For tips on recycling your e-waste at other times or other places, see the EPA website.

Please note that if you’re trying to dispose of U-M electronics, they should be sent to Property Disposition. End-of-life electronics are either wiped and resold or are recycled as “universal waste” through a contract with a Michigan recycling company.

See Zero Waste Events.

Unfortunately, we are unable to support zero waste events off-campus, but if you need advice, we are happy to offer some pointers. Email [email protected].

Composting is the natural process by which organic materials (e.g. food waste, yard waste, plants, etc.) decompose into a nutrient-rich soil amendment known as compost. The difference between composting and natural decomposition is that composting is purposefully managed. A banana peel thrown on the ground will decompose, but will not create compost. However, the same peel placed with other organic material in a pile will break down into compost.

There are three common types of composting:

Aerobic composting: This is the type of composting that occurs in backyard compost piles, other outdoor composting operations and certain enclosed composting systems (often called “in-vessel composters”). Organic matter is broken down by bacteria naturally found in the soil. The term “aerobic” means that this process requires oxygen (just like aerobic exercise!). Specifically, the bacteria that decompose the material require oxygen to do their job. 

Aerobic compost piles must be occasionally turned or stirred up to ensure that the bacteria are getting the oxygen that they need to break down the organics without producing bad odors. If an aerobic composting operation isn’t managed properly, the compost pile will “go anaerobic,” begin creating methane and STINK!

Anaerobic composting: This is the type of composting that occurs in enclosed composting systems called “digesters” or “anaerobic digesters.” Organic matter is broken down by anaerobic bacteria, meaning that the bacteria work without oxygen. These systems are kept enclosed for two reasons: the presence of oxygen can be better managed indoors and one of the byproducts of this process is methane, an odorous gas. While anaerobic composting smells terrible, the methane can be used as a fuel source.

Vermicomposting: This is a type of aerobic composting that relies heavily on worms (instead of just bacteria) to break down the organic matter. One of the benefits of this system is that it can be done indoors. “Vermi” is Latin for “worm” and a vented bin with some shredded paper, food waste and worms is all that is required to begin a vermicomposting system.

No. Here’s a great video explanation of the difference between compostable and biodegradable.

Well, biodegradable is still good for the earth because these items break down in a landfill, right? That’s what the vendor told me…

Nope! Landfills are designed to prevent items from breaking down.

U-M partners with Spurt Industries, a composting facility in Wixom. U-M’s Waste Management team collects compost from loading docks and stores it in roll-off dumpsters on North Campus. Spurt Industries collects the dumpsters once they are full to minimize transportation emissions.

In a few other locations, we have additional partners. Food waste from University Hospital and Mott Women’s and Children’s Hospitals patient meals and pre-consumer waste in their vendor kitchens are collected by My Green Michigan. Compostable waste collected from the stadium on game days goes to WeCare Denali in Ann Arbor or to our own Matthaei Botanical Gardens.

When our compost arrives at each compost facility, it is mixed with yard waste and formed into long piles, known as windrows, where air can circulate and aid in the aerobic decomposition process. After the material has fully decomposed, the finished compost is tested to assess its potential as a fertilizer or soil amendment.

Composted food waste does not typically come back to campus. The majority of our compost needs are served by the compost generated from U-M yard waste at our Grounds facility.

Contamination is the primary reason all food waste is yet to be collected for composting on campus. Contamination is a HUGE concern when it comes to the composting process. While many assume that diverting waste to compost is just like recycling, it couldn’t be farther from the truth.

Here at U-M, we send our mixed recyclables to a Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) where they are sorted, baled and sold. It’s important to keep non-recyclables out because they damage the machines and can reduce the quality of a batch enough that it may have to be landfilled, but sorting does help with some contamination. 

Compostables, however, are not sorted. Since compost sites typically deal with yard waste, there hasn’t been a need to sort the incoming material. As a result, any non-compostable items mixed in remain that way through the composting process and result in compost with bits of trash in it. No one wants to buy compost with trash in it to put on their crops, garden, etc. As a result, we need to ensure that there is no contamination in the food waste we send to the compost site.

Collecting contaminant-free (“clean”) compostables is relatively simple in places like prep kitchens, dining halls and catering operations where trained staff are the ones deciding where the waste should go. In areas where the campus community is generating compostables, like coffee shops, cafes, and events, avoiding contamination becomes much more difficult.