Heaping piles of trash nearly burst at the seams of the recycling bins on campus, especially since the new and stricter policy on litter was enacted. However, this overload of garbage in the recycling bins is damaging the university’s recycling program.
There have been successful uses of the university’s recycling system, but many more pitfalls.  
“Since we began collecting single-stream recycling in July 2012, we have collected over 56 tons of paper, plastic and metal cans,” said Carlos Doolittle, manager of grounds, landscape and recycling. “Since we began baling cardboard in July 2013, we have baled 24 bales of cardboard. We have been disappointed in the type of collection that we find in the outdoor recycling containers. We have experimented with different locations and have placed many of them adjacent to garbage cans. However, we continue to find contaminated collections.”
The university’s recycling bins have adopted the single-stream recycling system, which means all paper fibers, plastics, metals and other containers are accepted. This system of recycling makes it easier to recycle since the bin serves as a catch-all for recyclable materials; however, there is a drawback, since many of the mixed recyclables could be easily contaminated by a single misplaced piece of garbage such as food or drink.
“If someone discards a half-filled cup of drink into a recycling bin, it contaminates the paper,” said Doolittle. “In many cases, we must discard the bag of recyclables as waste. When waste management and the physical plant have to discard recyclables as waste, it is counter-productive to the recycling effort, since they will be transported to a landfill instead of being repurposed, meaning one carelessly discarded milkshake could set back the efforts of many other mindful civilians who appropriately discarded proper recycling materials.”
The Physical Plant plans on expanding and improving upon their recycling efforts which include changes to the appearance and location of recycling bins, lending themselves to the convenience of everyone on campus, as well as providing education and awareness. Campus Beautification has a common goal with Physical Plant of expanding the recycling program to improve the livelihood of not only the students, but also the surrounding nature and wildlife.  
Stephanie Travis of Campus Beautification Liason said, “Having trash cans and recycling bins in the same place allows students to be aware we have a recycling bin, and that’s what we’re trying to move toward.”
Doolittle hopes by changing the appearance of recycling bins, there will be less confusion among students when discarding trash.
“We realize that the black, plastic, cubical containers that we are using as outdoor recycling bins look very much like an ordinary garbage can,” said Doolittle. “Outdoors, we will soon be going with distinctly-styled ‘recycling’ receptacles. We also intend to provide a map with the bin locations pinpointed on it. QR codes on the containers may also link interested individuals to the map and other relevant campus recycling data.”
There is much agreement that these actions should improve the campus’ recycling system significantly if students also work to do their part.
Action is already being taken; however, changes may not be seen immediately due to the small number of staff members working on the recycling movement.
 “We are aware of it, but there’s not as much staff as we would like, to be able to implement all of these things as fast as possible,” said Travis.
The recycling program is striving to become a natural part of campus life by providing as much convenience as possible.
“We’re just trying to make it convenient, and the key really is just convenience. The more convenient we make it for students, the more likely they are going to recycle,” said Travis.