Upon the recommendation of the Campus Planning Council, WMU hired a recycling coordinator in October 1990 to “coordinate” the various groups that historically had tried to recycle.

In January 1991, several buildings started recycling paper and cardboard. Custodial Services collected both trash and recycling until August 1992. In October 1992 students were hired to collect recyclables from offices and classrooms. Residents of campus apartments and residence halls are responsible for removing their own recyclables.

The program started with just paper and cardboard.

Current recyclables include paper, cardboard, green, brown and clear glass bottles, #1 (PET) and #2 (HDPE) plastic bottles, metal cans, caps, and foils, laser toner cartridges, inkjet cartridges, polystyrene foam, transparencies, batteries, Tyvek, cell phones, electronic equipment, empty aerosol containers, fluorescent light bulbs and ballasts, waste oil and oil filters.