Sustainability and Resiliency

Recycling

Single stream recycling means one container for all recyclables.

Breadcrumb

Recycling

Single stream recycling means one container for all recyclables.

Brown employs single-stream recycling, which means there is no need to sort recyclable materials such as cardboard and plastic containers into different bins. Everything can be recycled together in the Bigbelly recycling units stationed around campus. These solar-powered waste and recycling stations communicate real-time data to collection crews for maximized efficiency, 

On this page, you’ll find a simple list of rules and recyclable items at Brown. More detailed information can be found by using the Rhode Island Resource Recovery’s searchable A-Z Recycling Guide.

Acceptable Items

  • Clean, flat paper or cardboard, including:
    • Pizza boxes with no food and minimal grease
    • Tissue paper
  • Non-fridge or freezer empty cartons and containers

Note: The only fridge/freezer cartons that are acceptable are milk and juice cartons. Reattach plastic caps.

Tips

  • Waxy or chemically-lined paper products are not recyclable. Items used to hold liquids or items that are stored in fridges or freezers often contain wax or chemical linings.
    • Parchment paper is not recyclable.
    • Paper cups (including coffee cups) are not recyclable.
  • Disposable paper products such as napkins, toilet paper, and tissues are not recyclable. These paper products have often already gone through the recycling system so the paper fibers are too short to reuse.
  • To be recyclable, paper must be bigger than a 3x5’’ index card. Shredded paper therefore is not acceptable.

Acceptable Items

  • Empty, hard plastic containers bigger than 1.5 ounces and less than 5 gallons in size
    • Food containers should be scraped
    • Lids and caps can only be recycled if they are attached to the container

Tips

  • Unless attached to a container, all flat and/or soft plastic goes in the trash. This includes plastic utensils, plastic plates, and straws.
  • If you would like to recycle soft plastic such as plastic bags and saran wrap, you can bring these items to big box stores such as grocery chains.

Acceptable Items

Metal cans, foil trays and pie tins, mostly clean and dry crumpled aluminum foil

Tips

  • Keep the metal lid on cans partially attached and fold it into the can.
  • Metal bottle caps can be placed inside a metal bottle or can and then pinch the can shut.
  • Household items, such as keys, door handles, and toasters can also be recycled at special scrap metal yards.
    • Scrap metal includes aluminum, tin, cast iron, steel, stainless steel, copper, zinc, brass and bronze

More Information About Scrap Metal Recycling

Acceptable Items

Glass containers for food and beverages are 100% recyclable. All glass bottles and jars are accepted 

Tips

  • Caps should be removed and either placed in the trash or placed inside a pinched-shut metal can.
  • Glass can be recycled endlessly without loss in quality, so be sure to recycle glass whenever possible. 
  • If you have broken glass, place it in a cardboard box or other hard container, seal with tape, label it as "glass," and place it in your trash bag.