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UI to receive 3,000 recycling bins as part of Alcoa Foundation grant program

The University of Iowa will receive 3,000 desk-side recycling bins through a grant from the Alcoa Foundation Collegiate Recycling Bin Grant program.

The Alcoa Foundation, in partnership Keep America Beautiful (KAB) and the College and University Recycling Coalition (CURC), is providing the bins as part of its national bin grant program to 32 colleges and universities throughout the country.

The 6-gallon Busch Systems containers, stamped with “I Recycle” and the recycling symbol, are retail valued at more than $21,000. The blue bins can be placed in office and work areas, filled with recycling materials and then dumped into a larger bin in a common area or hallway.

The UI will use the bins to increase participation in its sort-free recycling program started in September 2011. Six-gallon bins are already in place UI residence halls, which have had a big impact on recycling rates.

The Alcoa Foundation conducts its bin grant during the 2012 RecycleMania collegiate recycling competition. RecycleMania is a friendly competition and benchmarking tool for college and university recycling programs to promote waste reduction activities to their campus communities. During the competition, which runs Feb. 5 through March 31, colleges and universities vie for top awards in nine categories to see which schools recycle the most on a per capita basis, produce the least amount of waste, and recycle the largest percentage of their overall waste. The UI is participating in the non-competitive benchmark division this year.

 “RecycleMania provides colleges and universities with an easy way to boost recycling on campus and to instill students with a greater sense of obligation to recycle throughout their lives,” said Matthew M. McKenna, president and CEO of Keep America Beautiful. “We’re thankful for the support of Alcoa Foundation, and for the company’s continued leadership in advancing recycling nationwide.”

Since 2008, Alcoa has distributed more than 100,000 recycling bins, launched the “Make an Impact” program to help families live more sustainably, developed the free Aluminate recycling app, and, in the last five years, invested nearly $3.5 million in community-based recycling programs.

For more information about recycling at the UI, email recycle@uiowa.edu or visit the UI Office of Sustainability’s recycling page.