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Recycling at UIC College of Dentistry

Posted on February 14, 2017
Recycling at UIC College of Dentistry

The UIC College of Dentistry fully supports the Chancellor’s Committee on Sustainability and Energy's recommendations to reduce UIC’s greenhouse gas emissions. You can pitch-in to help UIC accomplish its sustainability goals by following some very simple recycling practices. 

The College is off to a great start – recycling about 40% of our materials!

recycling-factoid1.jpgHere's what else we're planning to do to support UIC's sustainability efforts:

  • Reduce plastic bag volume. By volume, plastic bags (dental chair sleeves) and gowns dominate the landfill at nearly 40%. However, by weight, nitrile and latex gloves at 12% constitute the majority of items sent to landfill.
  • Recycle more paper, aluminum and plastics.  We will increase the recycling rate of cardboard, plastic, paper, and aluminum. This was shown to be 18% of the waste stream and can be easily recycled in Dentistry's current recycling program.

We will continue looking for more opportunities! We're working with the Office of Sustainability to create new streams of recycling, such as plastic bags, and gloves.

Did you know?

Capturing all recyclable materials currently ending up in the trash would amount to about 23 tons a year added to the recycling stream. If everyone pitches in, Dentistry could be an even greater model of a sustainable clinical building at UIC!

Learn More and Get Involved!

 

 

 

UIC Climate Commitments - Chancellor’s Committee on Sustainability and Energy (CCSE)The UIC Chancellor’s Committee on Sustainability and Energy has set a goal of reaching a 50% recycling rate within five years. So far, UIC has achieved a recycling rate of 43%!

Learn more

 

 

Why is Recycling So Important?

Here are some of the biggest benefits from recycling:

  • For the economy:

    • Recycling is a $200 billion industry in the U.S.

    • Recycling generates 7-10 more jobs that landfills and waste to energy plants.  

    • Recycling properly creates valuable resources for U.S. manufacturing and can become a highly valuable export to countries such as China and India. 

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  • For the environment:

    • Recycling conserves finite natural resources - this is critical as ​population continues to grow exponentially.

    • Recycling conserves fresh water up to 95% in the mining and manufacturing process for many materials.

    • Recycling prevents waste from going into oceans - it is proven, when there is a strong recycling culture, there is less litter and less waste going into ocean

    • ​​Protects forests which help to reduce CO2 emissions

    • Significantly reduces use of fossil fuel energy and reduces CO2 emissions

 

Get Involved!

You can get involved by volunteering with the UIC Office of Sustainability:

  1. Click here to sign up to be an Eco-Educator and your email will be added to the Eco-Educator email list.
  2. After you receive a request for help, reply to the email and fill out the Sign Up for Events form
  3. After you worked the event you signed up to volunteer for, submit your hours using the official form.The 3 Eco-Educators who volunteer the most hours between September 2016 – November 2016 with us will receive an Upcycled Banner Bag!

College of Dentistry Sustainability Committee
If you want to learn more about recycling and what we can do at the college, get in touch with the Sustainability Committee:

Robin Waner, RDH, MS
Director of Clinics
312-996-6411 

How Can I Contribute?

Everyone has a part to play in UIC’s successful recycling program.  You can help UIC accomplish it's sustainability goals by following some very simple recycling practices. Consider placing your trash in the appropriately labeled LANDFILL, GLASS/METAL, OR PLASTICS CONTAINERS that have been placed in common areas throughout the College.  Any item that does not fit the description of the labeled containers should be placed in the “Landfill” bin.  When putting empty cardboard boxes out for disposal, please flatten them out so that they don’t take up room in the hallways.  This allows Housekeeping staff to follow through with everyone’s efforts towards better recycling habits.  Also, look for more College of Dentistry recycling activities in the future.  We are looking to participate in a UIC designed program to recycle clear plastic barriers that are used in clinical and laboratory areas.

      What Can I Recycle at UIC?

      Many commRecycling_LifeCycle2015.pngon materials are recyclable by placing in the appropriate recycling bins distributed across campus. Check out the full list of accepted materials on the UIC Office of Sustainability Recycling page.

      • Paper
      • Cardboard
      • Glass, Metal, Plastic
      • Electronics
      • Batteries
      • Toner and Ink Cartridges
      • Pipette Tip Boxes
      • Chemical Bottles
      • Office Furniture
      • Plastic Bags and Film
      • Writing Utensils

       

       

       

       

      Sustainability and Recycling at University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC)

      The UIC Office of Sustainability coordinates all campus recycling activities, including supplying recycling containers, scheduling collections, and providing education for the campus community as to resource conservation and waste reduction activities.

      For information about recycling at UIC:

      Address: Room 112 PSB (M/C 996), 1140 South Paulina Street, Chicago, IL 60612
      Phone: (312) 996-2517 -- e-Mail: Recycling@uic.edu

       

      UIC Earth Month Events

      Since 2008, the Office of Sustainability at UIC has presented a diverse array of fun and educational events during our Earth Month celebration. Scheduled every year during the month of April these activities provide outreach to our campus community of 40,000 students, staff, and faculty.  The daily events focus on many pathways to reduce individual environmental impacts – energy conservation, local food, alternative transportation (walking, public transit, bikes, etc.), recycling, and water.  Other events focus on economic and social justice initiatives and programs happening around the UIC campus.

         

        Recycling Tips from the UIC Office of Sustainability

         

         

        video-play.png  Watch Video:  Recycling at UIC