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HARD TO RECYCLE GUIDE

Recycling Guide

In efforts to make it more accessible to recycle difficult materials, the Auraria Sustainable Campus Program has several Hard-to-Recycle programs. Each one increases waste diversion on the Auraria Campus and helps close the loop on commonly discarded products. As of October 2026, we've diverted a cumulative:

561,586 lbs

oral health
cosmetics

Personal Care Products

The ASCP is no longer accepting personal care or oral care products as part of our H2R program

ewaste

E-Waste

Accepted Items

  • Cables

  • Flash drives

  • String lights

  • Small general electronics

  • Mice

  • Keyboards

  • Electric toothbrushes

  • Curling irons

  • Hair Straighteners

  • Batteries

Not Accepted Items

  • Equipment owned by the schools and Auraria Campus

  • Printer cartridges

  • Monitors or towers

  • Large LED bulbs

  • Materials containing Freon or Mercury

  • Oversized appliances e.g. microwaves and dishwashers

  • Smoke or carbon monoxide detectors

The Auraria Sustainable Campus Program partnered with local Blue Star Recyclers recycling program in 2018 to close the loop on hard to recycle electronic products!! Find a bin on campus using our campus map! Campus office or department? Please reference the documents below for details on how to properly recycle your e-waste!

bic

Writing & Art Supplies

Accepted Items

  • Empty writing instruments

  • Mechanical pencils

  • Pens and pen caps

  • Highlighters

  • Empty glue sticks and caps

  • Watercolor paint sets and dispensers

  • Packaging

Not Accepted Items

  • Correction products e.g., Wite-Out

  • Free ink markers (whiteboard and easel board)

  • Dry erase markers

  • Expo pens

The Auraria Higher Education Center partners with the ASCP, MSU Denver, UC Denver, and CCD to collect and monitor hard-to-recycle items generated throughout campus. To schedule an item pick-up or learn more, please check out the Auraria Campus material collection webpage.

soft plastics

Soft Plastics

Accepted Items

  • Air packing

  • Bubble wrap

  • Cereal bag liners

  • Plastic shopping bags

  • Empty glue sticks and caps

  • Plastic/saran/shrink wrap

Not Accepted Items

  • Shipping and packing peanuts

  • Please clean heavy dirtied or stickered plastics

The Auraria Higher Education Center partners with the ASCP, MSU Denver, UC Denver, and CCD to collect and monitor hard-to-recycle items generated throughout campus. To schedule an item pick-up or learn more, please check out the Auraria Campus material collection webpage.

tobacco

Cigarette Materials

Accepted Items

  • Extinguished cigarettes

  • Cigarette filters

  • Loose tobacco pouches

  • Outer plastic packaging

  • Inner foil packaging

  • Rolling paper

  • Ash

Not Accepted Items

  • Outer paperboard packaging (use GFL recycling bin)

The Auraria Sustainable Campus Program partnered with TerraCycle's Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Company recycling program in order to close the loop on hard to recycle cigarette materials!! Thank you to Auraria Campus Grounds for collecting and participating in this program.

lights etc

Other Materials

Accepted Items

  • Florescent/LED lightbulbs

  • Scrap metal

  • Lithium-ion batteries

  • Bulk equipment/furniture

  • Construction material

  • Hazardous waste materials

Not Accepted Items

  • Outer paperboard packaging (use GFL recycling bin)

The Auraria Higher Education Center partners with the ASCP, MSU Denver, UC Denver, and CCD to collect and monitor hard-to-recycle items generated throughout campus. To schedule an item pick-up or learn more, please check out the Auraria Campus material collection webpage.

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