University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh
IN-3: Innovation 3

The plastic film recycling program was initiated at UW Oshkosh by a part-time employee and a student intern who both work for the Office of Sustainability. The idea came about by analyzing the waste stream and figuring out how to reduce the campus' impact. The obstacle for this program was finding the partner to accept large quantities of plastic wrap that are otherwise not recycled through the campus' waste service provider. After several attempts to reach out to various organizations, it was discovered that the plastic wrap could be recycled in large quantities at a local big-box grocery store. This partnership was established by the part-time employee and the material which is collected monthly is delivered to the grocery store by the part-time employee and student intern. The program initially focused on receiving areas to collect plastic wrap from palleted boxes and other items. In November of 2015 this program expanded to include collection bins on campus where campus community members could recycle their plastic bags and plastic wrap.

This program began in January of 2015 and has resulted in 50-100 lbs of plastic wrap being recycled each month, rather than being landfilled. The response to the expansion of the plastic film recycling program has dramatically increased the amount of plastic film being recycled to over 100 lbs/month in recent months (November 2015 - January 2016).