Tulane once had a plastic recycling program. According to Mike Stringer, Support Services Supervisor of the Physical Plant Department, plastic recycling was discontinued because the recycling department lacked the space and workers to handle the large amounts of generated plastic. However, now that there is curb-side recycling uptown, plastic accumulation at the recycling site should be less, so the stream of plastics being stored might be less today than it was five years ago. Keith Hook said that if the University provided his department with a larger collection site his staff could handle the plastics generated and it would be no problem to reinstate the program. There are some recycling bins located throughout campus, but more bins are needed in high traffic areas.
Many offices utilize paper bins for recycling.
There are also bins on each residence hall floor on the uptown campus. The residence hall bins are emptied by Jani-King workers. However, the bins have white liners, rather than clear liners, and the recyclables in the bags are difficult to identify. We are uncertain if these bags of recyclables are actually being recycled since it is difficult to see what is in the bags. Furthermore, students are putting other garbage in the bins that are contaminating the recyclables.