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Waste Diversion

Our Ultimate Goal:  Zero Waste

We strive to attain zero waste by promoting waste reduction through reuse and repair, as well as waste diversion through recycling and composting. Zero-waste is commonly considered to be the diversion of 90% of the waste stream away from conventional landfills. 

Recycling at Agnes Scott

Agnes Scott offers single-stream recycling throughout campus, for every community member and visitor. Single stream makes it easy for you to recycle since all materials go into one container—no sorting required! Recycling is also available at all on-campus events.

  • Plastics #1-7 (NOT STYROFOAM)
  • Paper
  • Magazines
  • Aluminum cans
  • Cardboard
  • Newspaper/phone books

Recycling Locations

You can find blue bins or bins with blue bags located throughout the campus.

We have partnered with the City of Decatur for glass pick-up and recycling. During their weekly collection rounds in the residential community, the City of Decatur glass recycling team also picks up from our campus. We now have one large glass collection red bin on campus. You can find it next to Rebekah Hall on the side of the Gazebo.

When you drop off your clear, brown, and/or green glass in the red bin, we ask that you ensure it is clean and has no food or liquid residue. Please also note that this collection does not include ceramic material.

E-waste is considered anything that has a cord or needs to be plugged into an outlet to function. This includes materials like computers, printers, phones, chargers, etc.

Please bring your electronic waste to ITS, located on the ground floor of Walters Hall. ITS will also accept old ink cartridges and toner. Please call the ITS help desk (404.471.5487) to set up a time and day to drop off. If you’re unsure about where to put an item, please contact sustainability@agnesscott.edu.

Center for Hard to Recycle Materials (CHaRM)

Many items that we use on a day-to-day basis are materials that cannot get recycled through single-stream recycling. We have ensured that our community has an outlet for the hard-to-recycle materials. Our main partner for these materials is CHaRM.

CHaRM Accepts:


  • Styrofoam 
  • Stretchy plastics: Plastic bags, bubble wrap, white and blue Amazon packages, etc. 
    • If the plastic cannot be stretched and sounds "crunchy" it has to go to the landfill
  • Waxed cartons
  • Batteries: non-alkaline, lithium, button, and rechargeable.
  • Lightbulbs: CFL bulbs and fluorescent tubes  

For other materials that CHaRM accepts, visit their site here.

CHaRM is a permanent drop-off facility that aims to improve environmental health by encouraging reuse and diverting thousands of pounds of household hazardous waste, bulky trash, and other hard to recycle items from Metro-Atlanta landfills and water systems.

The main drop-off location on campus is located in the Bullock Science Center on the ground floor at the loading dock. This on-campus drop-off spot is currently closed due to COVID, but we encourage those who are in the Atlanta area to make an appointment to go straight to CHaRM to drop off your hard-to-recycle materials. 

Composting at Agnes Scott

Our new partnership with Goodr will allow us to divert more waste from the landfill by continuing to compost in Evans Dining Hall. As we tackle the challenges of the spring 2021 semester, composting will only be provided for materials in Evans Dining Hall. Goodr does industrial composting, which allows them to accept more materials than the typical backyard composting would.

Landfills produce Methane (CH4) which is a greenhouse gas that remains in the atmosphere for approximately 9-15 years. Methane is over 20 times more effective in trapping heat in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide (CO2) over a 100-year period.

Seventy percent of landfills are in low-income and minority communities.

Landfills pollute the air, land and water causing health issues, eliminate green space, reduce property value, and impact the quality of life.

  • Fruits, vegetables, and plant matter
  • Meat, fish, bones, and tofu
  • Pizza, pasta, grains, bread, and fries
  • Tea bags and coffee, dairy products
  • Waxed paper products
  • Used paper plates and napkins
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