Recycling, Compost & Waste

The UW has a new partner for batteries. Batteries Plus has a contract with the University providing recycling and disposal along with offering batteries for purchase. 

If you are moving out of an HFS residence hall or apartment, you can donate certain items through the UW’s SCRAM (Student Cleanup, Recycle and Moveout) event. The event runs from August 19 – 23, 2025 and is only open for HFS residents to donate. 

SCRAM donation sites are in the below locations. If there isn’t a donation station in your residence hall, bring your items to a nearby location.

SCRAM donation sites

Sites are drop-off only. Please do not touch or move other donations.

The 2022 Trash Art Contest, organized by UW Recycling, gave UW artists a space to make statements around waste and sustainability while using materials usually thought of as trash.

Five winners transformed trash into stunning art pieces in the third annual UW Trash Art Contest.

The contest, organized by UW Recycling, received more than 20 submissions from students, faculty and staff in the categories of literature, 2D art and 3D art. The artwork needed to be created from items normally thought of as trash. Artists were asked to express feelings or ideas about waste, or a sustainability topic that relates to waste.

This year's winners were:

UW Recycling is excited to host another Trash Art Contest for 2022!  

The categories this year include literature, 2D and 3D art. Participants must create an art piece from items normally thought of as trash or a literary piece about waste. Art pieces should express feelings or ideas about waste, or a sustainability topic that relates to waste. This contest is open to all UW students, faculty and staff.

Campus Race to Zero Waste (CRZW) starts this week at the University of Washington! For the tenth year, the UW will be participating in the friendly recycling and waste reduction competition between colleges and universities. As part of CRZW, UW Recycling is organizing activities to focus on good waste sorting practices. Here are some ways you can get involved.

The Post-Landfill Action Network’s Annual Students for Zero Waste (SZW) Conference will be held virtually from November 5-7, 2021. As a member school, all UW students can attend this conference for free. To register for free, sign up on PLAN's website with your uw.edu email address, and then go to the Member Hub. 

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It's almost football season, and UW Athletics needs your help to keep Husky Stadium clean, green and beautiful. Sign up today to be a part of the 2021-2022 Game Day Sustainability Team! 

Looking forward to living on campus? UW Recycling has nine tips to make move-in easier and reduce waste.

1. Bring only what you need

Don’t let those MUST HAVE shopping lists distract you - only get the basics that you’ll need. Before you start shopping, take note of all the things you use in your everyday life and will continue to use.