The Waste Management division of Facilities has the responsibility of managing the Recycling and Solid Waste programs for the university. As of FY24, the previous Recycling/Surplus/Solid Waste division was restructured to partner Facilities with the similarly restructured Fixed Assets department in managing the disposal of Surplus items. Our goal is to mitigate the waste stream on campus in order to reduce costs, follow regulations and decrease overall waste tonnage. Recycling, Solid Waste and Surplus garner over 90 percent of the waste generated on campus. Working together the programs have created ways to work synergistically, resulting in a significant decrease in waste tonnage going to the landfill as well as additional items being recycled.

The solid waste program provides service to campus via rolling 2-yd dumpsters and a compactor system service provided by Facilities personnel. This system allows Waste Management Services to quantify our Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) on a tonnage basis rather than a volume basis. In 2023, the university generated 936 tons of waste. With increased enrollment projected waste is expected to rise to 1200 tons. These program improvements saves the university significantly on expenses (2013 average tons of waste generated was 1500), as well as allowing the university to more closely monitor the waste stream exiting campus. Monitoring is a critical element of our program as regulations around waste disposal continue to become more stringent and possibly more costly if fines for non-compliance are incurred.

Municipal solid waste is defined as any solid waste produced by normal daily university activities excluding extraordinary/unacceptable, hazardous or infectious waste (APM 40.23). Unacceptable waste or waste not allowed in tow units at University of Idaho includes any hazardous or infectious materials (i.e., blood, body wastes, paints, spray cans, liquids, toxic substances, pesticides, oils, chemicals, non-alkaline batteries, any items with mercury in them, light bulbs such as compact florescent bulbs, projector bulbs, sodium vapor and metal halide bulbs etc.) Other unacceptable waste includes furniture, metals, electronic waste such as computers, monitors, keyboards, mice, printers, VCRs, cords, scanners, wood and construction debris, lab equipment, etc. For items of these natures contact either Environmental Safety and Health at 208-885-6524 or solidwaste@uidaho.edu for proper disposal of these unacceptable items.