Recycling Made Easy

Recycling is an important part of the culture at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and essential to the way we do business. On this site, you will find outlined the provisions of our recycling program and how the program is implemented at the Lab. Ultimately, our goal is to have the Laboratory's program recognized as a model for recycling within the federal government—and in our community.

A goal of NREL's recycling program is to make recycling easy. By adding convenient collection points and identifying the appropriate materials for recycling, we aim to make it easier for all NREL employees to recycle.

This Web site contains comprehensive information regarding NREL's recycling program. However, if you still have specific questions after reading this material, please contact your recycling coordinator. If you have questions regarding the overall program, please contact Karri Bottom in Site Operations.

We have also included other links that provide general recycling information for NREL employees and the public:

• Waste Management provides a list of items that are generally recyclable (PDF 219 KB). Download Adobe Reader.
• Denver Recycles provides information on what is recyclable and what is not in addition to a directory of drop-off recycling centers.
• Colorado Recycles provides information on curb-side recycling for many Colorado municipality recycling services in addition to annual cleanup events.
• Colorado Department of Public Health and the Environment Web site on Household Chemical Waste Collection Events or Facilities
• Electronics Recycling

What can I recycle in my personal blue bin?
You can now put just about anything that tears into the personal blue bin at your desk—and you don't need to worry about including things such as paper clips, rubber bands, staples, and plastic tabs. Access the list of items that are OK for your office blue bin, as well as a short list of items that you can't include.

What materials are collected for recycling at NREL?
We have compiled a list of materials that are collected at NREL for recycling, with direct links to detailed information about each below. Please take a look at the list any time you have a question about recyclability.

Paper, newspaper, books
Cardboard
Aluminum, tin, glass, and plastic containers
Computer Materials
Packing peanuts
Tyvek envelopes
Batteries
Transparencies
Toner cartridges
Scrap metal
Fluorescent light bulbs
Phone books
Pallets

Where, in addition to my blue bin, can I take recyclables in my building?
NREL has recycling centers within each building, which can be used in addition to your office blue bin. Each building has one or more building recycling coordinators leading the recycling program, so please contact your representative if you have any comments, questions, or suggestions. If you have a large amount of materials to be recycled or shredded from an office cleaning or move, please contact Work Control (ext. 7344) and request that recycle bins or data-destruction bins be delivered temporarily to your location. This keeps you from having to haul a lot of materials to the recycling center, and prevents the recycling center bins from getting overfilled. When you have completed your clean-up task, contact Work Control to pick up the bins.

Can I bring recyclables from home?
If you don't have curbside recycling service at home, you also can bring some materials directly to collection locations in select NREL parking lots—we encourage you to recycle materials from home. However, we are prohibited from dropping off recyclables-from-home inside NREL's buildings; this would result in an increase in the already substantial volume of recyclables, and overload the paid employees who handle the transfer to the outdoor containers.

Frequently Asked Questions
We have compiled a list of frequently asked questions, which we hope will answer some of your recycling questions as well.

Why recycle?
In this century, most of the world has been educated regarding the benefits of recycling. When you throw a plastic bottle or a magazine in the garbage, it gets buried along with the rest of the trash. A recent study conducted at NREL showed that 45% of the material that was placed in the dumpster could've been recycled. A National Geographic article from the 1980s pictured items removed from a core sample drilled from a landfill somewhere in the United States. There was green lettuce and almost-fresh meat alongside newspapers, which revealed the date as 1973. If lettuce can stay green and intact for 10 years, it's hard to imagine just how long it would take a plastic bottle or magazine to break down.

Why do we care about recycling? At NREL, we believe that material waste that cannot be prevented by reducing the amounts of materials used, should be reused or recycled. Disposal should be employed as a last resort, and should be done in an environmentally safe manner.