Recycling on campus just got simpler.

Facilities Management signed a new contract with the City of Tucson allowing them to put paper, cardboard and plastic together. Before last year they were required to separate everything.

Facilities Management is looking into streamlining the bins around campus to reflect the new contract, said Chris Kopach, the director of Facilities Management.

“”So when you see a box, even if it’s white paper, if you want to put plastic in there instead of throwing it in the regular trash, go ahead and do so,”” Kopach said.

David Reiber, project manager at Facilities Management, said the switch has reduced labor.

Reiber said they used to have to remove all of the cardboard resulting in 8-foot piles around the recycling center, causing more work and frustration.

Prior to the contract, if more than 5 percent of the recycling was mixed, the city would not accept it at all, according to Reiber.

Now sorting of recyclable materials is the responsibility of the city’s recycling center.

“”We were using a lot more man power and resources to actually separate everything, or if it was too contaminated we couldn’t use it all,”” Reiber said.

Facilities Management used to have two men do the required daily sorting.

At the recycling center, two 40-yard bins filled with paper, plastic and cardboard are emptied each day.

While plastic, cardboard and paper can now be recycled together, aluminum must still be separated because the UA collects money on aluminum separately.

For all of the paper, cardboard and plastic the UA splits the money 50-50 with the City of Tucson.

Increasing the amount recycled cuts waste and saves UA money by reducing “”tipping fees,”” the fee charged to put trash in a landfill, according to Kopach.

“”Overall, we are doing well,”” Reiber said. “”The students and staff, they do really well as far as recycling.””