The CU Recycling Process

At the Intermediate Processing Facility (IPF), students work sorting, weighing, and shipping recyclables that have been collected from all over campus. Up to 10,000 pounds of recyclables are processed at the IPF each day!

First, the poly-carts full of recyclables are loaded into the “dumpers” which dump the materials onto the conveyor belt.

On the sorting lines, students do what we call a "negative sort". Here, contaminants, or unrecyclables, are pulled out of the recyclable waste stream.

After materials are sorted, the processed recyclables are weighed and recorded.

Then they are prepared for shipment by separating into large roll-offs, or truck beds. The materials in the roll-offs is taken to a local recycling operation, Eco-cycle, who sells them to markets all over the country, where they are made into materials for use again.