Resources and Statistics
Find out how to recycle on campus!
Campus Recycling
We have recycling locations across campus for easy sorting and recycling.
You can recycle household plastic, paper, and aluminum in recycling stations.
Indoor recycling stations are installed all across campus. Whether you’re in an academic building, the JFL, athletic facilities, or recreational spaces, you’ll find these stations readily available for your recycling needs.
*Glass and plastic bags are not recyclable at these locations. Please dispose of glass with waste and recycle plastic bags at your local grocery store.
There are two types of outdoor recycling/ waste containers.
The outdoor pedestrian cans offer single-stream recycling. Place cans & plastic bottles in recycling and all other items in the waste. Pedestrian cans are located across campus.
*Glass and plastic bags are not recyclable at these locations. Please dispose of glass with waste and recycle plastic bags at your local grocery store.
BigBelly bins offer single-stream recycling. Place cans & plastic bottles in recycling and all other items in the waste. In the fall of 2023, we installed BigBelly bins on the Academic lawn and the area between the Hill Dorms and the Divinity Tower to increase recycling. These bins compact waste to save space.
Recycling in Residential Halls
Students are responsible for taking their recycling and waste from their dorm room and disposing of them at recycling locations. Our residential dorms have outdoor and indoor recycling/waste drop-off locations.
You can recycle household plastic, paper, and aluminum in waste rooms.
Waste rooms are conveniently located on each floor of Residential Commons 1-4. These rooms have waste chutes and blue recycling toters.
*Glass and plastic bags are not recyclable at these locations. Please dispose of glass with waste and recycle plastic bags at your local grocery store.
Help Gary (pictured above) by emptying and flattening your cardboard when you recycle cardboard boxes!
You can recycle household plastic, paper, and aluminum in the enclosures.
These enclosures are provided for residential hall waste disposal and are conveniently located outside dormitories. The enclosures have cardboard and waste dumpsters, plus blue recycling toters.
*Glass and plastic bags are not recyclable at these locations. Please dispose of glass with waste and recycle plastic bags at your local grocery store.
Recycling Best Practices
- Sort your items at every recycling drop-off location, both indoors and outdoors.
- Flatten cardboard before placing it into the cardboard dumpster.
- Avoid using non-recyclable materials, such as Styrofoam and plastic bags.
- Keep food waste out of recycling bins.
- If in doubt, throw it out!
Can I recycle this?
Click the links below to learn how to recycle a specific item on campus.
July 2023 – June 2024 Academic Year Overview
We preserve the land by diverting recyclable materials from the landfill. The statistics below display our results for the 23-24 academic year. Our recycling efforts have reached a total of 474.87 tons, including 133.47 tons of metal, 12.3 tons of paper, 261.41 tons of cardboard, 57.83 tons of single-stream recyclables, and 9.86 tons of other materials. In comparison, our total waste stands at 3,065.16 tons, resulting in a diversion rate of 13.14%.
Our goal is to reach a 15% diversion rate by June 2025.
(The Diversion Rate is the percentage of materials diverted from the landfill.)
Every time we take one second to sort our recyclables instead of tossing them in the waste, we’re moving closer to our goal as a community.
Liberty University Composting
Liberty currently composts manure from our equestrian program; however, we do not include this compost in our diversion rate. We aim to create a comprehensive compost program that includes food scraps and more.
What can you do today?
Reach out to the Recycling Team for questions.
Frequently asked questions
What happens to our recycling once it leaves campus?
Can I recycle glass?
Can I recycle plastic bags?