Items We Recycle

Employees:

MCC is paid by the ton for all paper that is recycled separately from the cans/bottles, so please do not place paper into the rolling City of Mesa barrels. 

Please place all paper items into the specified paper-only receptacles throughout campus and the recycling team will collect the paper on the scheduled pickup day. If you are going to have a large amount of paper items (i.e. end of semester cleaning, relocating offices, magazine purging, etc.), please contact the recycling team and we will temporarily provide you with additional paper-only bins.

Paper includes:

• office paper of any color
• envelopes
• phone books
• folders
• junk mail
• magazines
• newspapers and inserts
• food boxes (crackers, cereal, etc.)
• catalogs
• flyers/brochures
• books, even those with hard covers, staples, and bindings
• posters

The only paper not accepted is paper plates with food residue and any paper towels/tissues/napkins.

Ink and Toner Cartridges

Employees: The recycling team will pick up small inkjet cartridges during our collection route, so place them near a blue bin or in the collection box available in many department copy areas. The Ricoh Copy Service will recycle the larger toner cartridges.

Students: There is a collection box in the Kirk Center near the Student Life counter for your inkjet cartridges.

Pens/Markers/Pencils    

Employees: MCCCD has partnered with Terracycle to recycle pens, markers, and pencils. As part of the program, Terracycle will donate 2 cents to the Maricopa Foundation scholarship fund for each eligible pen and marker recycled. For ease of collection, any brand, type, and style of pen, marker, and pencil is accepted and recycled, however only Papermate, Sharpie, and Expo are the eligible brands for the 2 cent donation.

Most department copy areas have a box marked for recycling pens and markers.

Batteries

Many employee copy areas now have a collection box for batteries and other small recyclable items. There are also collection spots located on some of the recycling bins in the LS building for the students.

Place all batteries in these boxes, including

• rechargeable batteries (camera, laptop, tools, etc)
• lithium ion
• button batteries
• 9-volt
• AAA-D alkaline batteries.

Do NOT bring vehicle batteries to MCC for recycling. Contact an automotive repair shop or battery retailer.

Cell phones/electronics

 Students: Please recycle all cell phones (functional or non-functioning) and accessories in the box in the Kirk Center near the Student Life counter. For each cell phone recycled, 25 cents is donated to the Maricopa Foundation for student scholarships. If you have other electronic items to recycle at home, check your city's solid waste department website to find out about e-waste disposal in your area.

Employees: Cell phones and other electronic items generated through MCC operations and employee use can be recycled.

This includes:

• keyboards
• mouse
• cords/wires
• drives (hard, external, zip, etc.)
• printers
• cell phones and accessories (For each cell phone recycled, 25 cents is donated to the Maricopa Foundation for student scholarships)
• items with cords (fans, microwaves, toasters, etc.)
• cameras and accessories
• calculators
• remote controls
• miscellaneous computer components
• typewriters
• clocks/timers
• speakers
• power tools

Check large items for college surplus tags; if a tag is present, those must be disposed of via the Property Accounting Department.  Otherwise, you can place items into the small box located in many copy rooms, or give them to a recycling collector. If you have an item that you are not sure about, just contact recycle@mesacc.edu and ask.

Office Supplies

Employees only: Instead of throwing out your unneeded office supplies, give them to the Recycling Team for our office supply redistribution program. We offer the items to other departments at MCC to help everyone cut down on the cost of new supplies. This also helps reduce landfill costs, packaging waste, and shipping fuel emissions that result from buying new products. We keep an inventory of items donated to the program, and since 2010 over $30,000 in supplies were donated and redistributed for MCC operations.

The supply giveaways (FOR EMPLOYEES ONLY) are held the first and third Tuesday of each month and reminders with the location noted are emailed each time. You are welcome to contact the Recycling Team anytime at recycle@mesacc.edu to inquire about available items or arrange a visit for a new employee.

If you have items to donate to the redistribution program, please give them to a recycling collector. Due to space restrictions, only Southern/Dobson employees can contribute, however employees from any MCC location are welcome to stop by and 'shop'.

Items frequently available in the giveaways include:

• 3 ring binders (many colors and sizes)
• folders and hanging folders
• sheet protectors
• tabbed dividers
• desk trays and accessories
• scissors, tape dispensers, staplers, hole punches
• CD/DVD cases
• report covers

CDs and other media

      

Employees: CDs, DVDs, and floppy disks, as well as VHS and audio cassette tapes, can be recycled in the boxes in many copy rooms, or just give them (in a box or bag) to the recycling collectors. We can even find a reuse for most of the soft and hard cases for the CDs.

Light Bulbs

Bulbs are a Universal Waste that is regulated by AZ Department of Environmental Quality, among other places. Bulbs contain mercury and other chemical wastes which are strictly regulated with regard to disposal. Bulbs are one of few items that we must pay to have recycled. For this reason, only bulbs generated at MCC facilities can be recycled by MCC, and only by the M&O employees.They have a designated area where spent bulbs are labeled and safely stored for recycling. Bulbs left in any other types of recycling bins or boxes will not be accepted.

If you have CFL bulbs for recycling at home, you can visit http://earth911.com/  for information about how and where to recycle them in your area.

Metal

Employees: If you have large heavy pieces of metal, please contact M&O and they will pick up your items and take them to our scrap metal area. Other smaller metal waste can be given to a recycling collector.

Students: can recycle metal such as food and drink cans in the blue recycling bins around campus.

Tires

Tires are used at MCC under various circumstances, such as automotive training, fleet operations (both street automobiles and electric carts), and landscape/agricultural operations.  Due to state regulations requiring specialized fire control access routes, fire extinguisher placement, and safety signage, MCC is not registered or permitted to accumulate waste tires on site for disposal. When a new tire is being purchased, the purchaser will pay the vendor’s disposal fee in order for the vendor to immediately take and legally dispose of the used tire.

Other Miscellaneous Plastics        

          

The following items can be recycled at MCC by employees, but NOT in the blue bins or barrels. Keep your plastic bags, wraps, and squishy foams separate near a blue bin for the MCC collectors and they will take them. 

This includes:

• 'squishy' foams (NOT the hard white styrofoam)
• shrink wrap
• clean zip lock bags

• bubble wrap
• air pillows
• wrappers from cases of water bottles
• grocery store bags

You can leave us these bags to recycle, but how about dropping them off at a neighborhood dog park to be reused instead? Don't forget to use reusable bags when you shop to avoid the plastic bag waste in the first place!