Recycling and Waste

The excessive use of resources is one of the greatest challenges that the environmental movement faces. In America, we are socialized to consume and dispose, consume and dispose. By recycling instead of throwing products away, we can salvage some of the resources that would otherwise sit in a landfill for centuries. The more resources we can recycle, the less resources need to be harvested. Drake recognizes that each individual and institution must make a commitment to return useable material back to the production cycle through various initiatives.

Single-Stream Recycling

Drake University was the first commercial business in the metro area to establish single stream recycling. It is our philosophy that recycling is most effective when it is made easy and convenient, and this has made a significant impact. By avoiding the hassle of sorting each recyclable material, Drake’s recycling load has doubled, diverting many resources from the landfill to be recycled and reused.

Single-stream recycling can be seen in the residence halls, offices and across campus. With the expansion of our system, University offices were given their own recycling bins and much smaller sized trash cans. Drake has also placed stainless steel recycling bins that are located across campus in academic and administrative buildings to make recycling more convenient.

For a complete list of what can and can’t be placed in single-stream recycling bins, please click here. If you are a resident and have questions about recycling collection, please contact your hall’s environmental chair.

• Single-Stream Recycling program details

University Recycling

Aside from single stream recycling, Drake recycles additional products.  Drake has a proud history of recycling multiple products by either returning resources to the production cycle or by donating items to the community.

• Our athletics staff collects all of the plastic bottles, cans and paper they can after athletic events. Cans are then refunded and returned to the athletics budget.
• All of Drake’s waste oil is recycled.
• Drake has a special aerosol can recycler that allows us to compress aerosol cans and remove the pressure, allowing us to recycle the metal.
• University appliances are sent to be demanufactured. These parts are then either reused or recycled.
• Whenever a staff member upgrades to a new computer, the University looks internally to see if another staff member could use the old, but still usable, computer. If they can’t, the computer is sent to e-waste, where it is recycled.
• All of Drake’s old furniture is donated to charitable organizations in the Des Moines community.