The University of Kentucky in 2022, recycled a total of 1,088.61 tons of materials through the mixed recycling stream alone. This year, UK Recycling aims to collect more recyclables than ever, in pursuit of the university’s goal of becoming a zero-waste university.
As part of this expanded push, UK Recycling is participating in a national recycling competition for colleges and universities called Campus Race to Zero Waste (formerly RecycleMania) from Jan. 29 until March 25. Participation in this competition will promote reducing UK’s environmental footprint and serve as a benchmark to compare our campus recycling efforts with other colleges around the country. UK has participated in this program since 2016.
Throughout February and March, UK Recycling will be expanding outreach to faculty, students and staff to encourage campus community members to reduce their waste.
“Consider your day-to-day life and one small change you can make,” said Ryan Lark, UK’s Recycling/Waste Reduction specialist senior. “Think about a habit you may have or something you already do every day that you can change. Maybe it’s avoiding Styrofoam or bringing a reusable mug/cup or looking up whether an item you usually throw away is actually recyclable at UK. Those changes add up and can have a huge impact on campus.”
