Use food service buckets as collection containers. A substantial start-up cost of any university recycling program is the containers actually used to collect recyclable materials. Depending on the nature of the recycling program and the type of collection containers required, some programs employ re-useable plastic food buckets to collect materials for pickup. Large, five-gallon plastic food service pails with handles fill this need quite well. Make recycling as or more convenient than garbage disposal.
Convenience is a key to high recycling participation rates.
If recycling is less convenient than garbage disposal, large quantities of valuable recyclables may still end up in the trash. Several universities are attempting to level the playing field between recycling and garbage disposal, making recycling more convenient and reducing the demands on housekeeping staff. At Dennison University, the Recycling Program staff convinced Physical Plant administrators to replace garbage containers with 32-gallon recycling barrels on all dorm floors. Students now have to take their garbage outside to dumpsters. With a 1990 grant from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Dennison has also purchased 13-quart recycling bins for use inside students' rooms.