Solid Waste
The Recycling/Surplus/Solid Waste (RSSW) division of Facilities has the responsibility of managing the Recycling, Campus Surplus, and Solid Waste programs for the university. As of FY13, the solid waste program moved to a rolling toter/compactor system to deal with the Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) for campus. This allowed RSSW to quantify our MSW on a tonnage basis rather than a volume basis, thus saving the university significantly on expenses, as well as allowing RSSW to more closely monitor the waste stream exiting campus. The Solid Waste division may be reached by dialing 885-1714. Please leave a message if there is no answer.
This monitoring is a critical element of our program as the rules and regulations concerning waste disposal continue to increase and be more stringent. Our compliance is required or significant fines can be assessed against the university. Only MSW is allowed in these rolling tow units. Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) is defined as any solid waste produced, other than hazardous, infectious, or unacceptable waste. Unacceptable waste or waste not allowed in tow units at the University of Idaho includes any hazardous or infectious materials (i.e., blood, body wastes, paints, spray cans, liquids, toxic substances, pesticides, oils, chemicals, non-alkaline batteries, any items with mercury in them, light bulbs such as compact florescent bulbs, projector bulbs, sodium vapor and metal halide bulbs etc.) Other unacceptable waste includes furniture, metals, electronic waste such as computers, monitors, keyboards, mice, printers, VCRs, cords, scanners, wood and construction debris, lab equipment, etc. For items of these natures contact either Environmental Safety & Health 208-885-6524 or RSSW 208-885-2091 for proper disposal of these unacceptable items.
Our goal is to mitigate the waste stream for campus to reduce costs and overall waste tonnage while complying with the numerous policies and regulations that relate to solid waste disposal. Combining the three programs that garner over 90 percent of the waste generated on campus has allowed us the ability to modify our programs so they work synergistically. This has allowed us to significantly decrease waste tonnages going to the landfill and increase our surplus and recycling tonnages, which is much more sustainable for UI overall.