Employees:

MCC is paid by the ton for all paper that is recycled separately from the cans/bottles.

Please place all paper items into the specified paper-only receptacles in your work areas and the recycling team will collect the paper on the scheduled pickup days. 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 provide you with temporary additional paper-only bins that are sized for lifting and moving around heavy paper.

MCC is paid by the ton for all cardboard that we collect and bale separate from other recycling contents.

All cardboard generated by MCC operations is required to be recycled.

All cardboard boxes should be flattened whenever possible and left near a blue bin for pickup. All packaging materials (bubble wrap, air pillows, foam pieces) or unwanted enclosures (manuals, cords, CDs) can be left inside a non-flattened box and the recycling collectors will sort and recycle everything except the foam and packing peanuts. 

Recycle your pizza boxes as long as there is not food residue present (chunks of cheese, crusts, small cups of dips/dressing). If you have a large amount of pizza boxes from an event, please contact recycle@mesacc.edu and let us know so we can get them out of the way ASAP for you!

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 Copy Center or recycling team can collect and recycle the larger toner cartridges.

Pens/Markers/Pencils    

Employees: WE NO LONGER HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO RECYCLE PENS/MARKERS/PENCILS. These items must be placed into trash cans.

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

 Follow www.facebook.com/mcc.recycle for posts about special electronics recycling events in various cities in the valley.

Students: Please recycle cell phones (functional or non-functioning) and accessories in the box in the upper level of the Kirk Center near the elevator. Phones are recycled with Cell Phones for Soldiers.  If you have other electronic items to recycle at home, check your city's solid waste or recycling website to find out about electronic recycling in your area. 

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

This includes:

• keyboards
• mouse
• cords/wires
• drives (hard, external, zip, etc.)
• cell phones and accessories (donated to cellphonesforsoldiers.com)
• items with cords (fans, microwaves, toasters, etc.)
• cameras and accessories
• calculators
• remote controls
• miscellaneous computer components
• typewriters
• clocks/timers
• speakers
• power tools
• printers and faxes (contact Copy Center to pick these up if they have a Copy Center sticker on them)

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 buying 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 $40,000 in supplies were donated and redistributed for MCC operations.

The supply giveaways (FOR EMPLOYEES ONLY) are usually held once each month and are announced via the Intranet. 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. 

Light Bulbs

Bulbs are a Universal Waste that is regulated by the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality, among other places. Many 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://www.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 and wraps separate near a blue bin for the MCC collectors and they will take them. 

This includes:

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

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