The Recycling Process

The Rhode Island Resource Recovery Corporation (RIRRC) has implemented changes to its’ Material Recycling Facility in Johnston, which directly impacts recycling procedures at Providence College, as the state now uses a “single-bin system”. From now on, any recyclable bottle, can, or paper item may be placed in any recycling receptacle on campus. (Please watch the “How To Recycle Right!” video on the left!)

All faculty and staff should have a blue recycling bin and a trash can next to their desk. The college’s cleaning company empties them and keeps them separate. Students should also have a trash can and recycling bin in their dorm rooms. They then bring their trash and recycling to their designated Trash Room. The college’s cleaning company staff brings all trash and recycling out of each building. All trash goes to our onsite transfer station, until it is removed from our site and sent to the landfill. All recyclables are deposited in large totes marked MIXED RECYCLABLES that are in every building.

The cleaning company brings the totes outside to the curb, once a week in the summer, and twice a week during the school year, when our recycling hauler, empties them. Recyclables are then brought to the recycling facility at Rhode Island Resource Recovery in Johnston, RI.
Cardboard is also taken out daily by the cleaning company, and brought to one of two designated compactors on campus. Cardboard boxes should be flattened out and placed by your blue bin, or for students, left near a tote in the Trash Room. Cardboard is shipped by the truckload to different mills, where it is remade into cardboard or different paperboard, such as cereal boxes.

Please be aware that contamination is one of the biggest concerns now for recyclers. If your mixed recyclables are contaminated with trash, it all goes out as TRASH. Please be sure to use the blue bin for MIXED RECYCLABLES ONLY!