♻ Recycle Right, Cardinals!
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Hey Cardinal!
Can You Recycle Right?

BSU recycles using blue bags. When we recycle wrong, the whole bag goes to the landfill — even the correctly sorted items inside it.

⚠ Muncie accepts no more than 10% contamination per bag
How it works: BSU uses blue bags inside campus bins. When a bag is full, it goes to the Muncie sorting facility. If a bag contains more than 10% non-recyclable material, the entire bag is rejected and sent to the landfill — even the correctly sorted items inside.
♻ What is Recyclable at Ball State?

✅ Goes in the Blue Bag

  • Paper & cardboard (dry, unsoiled)
  • Newspapers, magazines, glossy paper
  • Paper envelopes and mail
  • Plastic #1 (PET) — water & soda bottles
  • Plastic #2 (HDPE) — milk jugs, shampoo bottles
  • Plastic #5 (PP) — yogurt containers, PP cups
  • Glass bottles and jars
  • Aluminum cans and foil (metal)
  • Steel and tin cans

❌ Does NOT Go in the Blue Bag

  • Plastic #3, #4, #6, #7 (not accepted at Muncie)
  • Styrofoam / plastic #6 (PS)
  • Plastic bags and film wrap
  • Black plastic (undetectable by optical sorters)
  • Food-soiled paper or cardboard
  • Ceramics (contaminates glass batches)
  • Laminated paper (plastic coating cannot be removed)
  • Compostable containers (not recyclable)
  • Containers with liquid inside

Ready to Sort?

You will go through three scenarios. Sort each item correctly to keep your contamination rate under 10%.

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Scenario A

Residence Hall — Sort 14 everyday items from your dorm room

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Scenario B

Dining Hall — Sort 10 items from your lunch tray

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Scenario C

Muncie Facility — Accept or reject incoming bags on the sorting line

Scenario A — Residence Hall
⚠ Contamination Rate0%
Must stay under 10% — Muncie threshold
♻ Recycling Score0%
Correctly sorted recyclable items
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Cardinal Green says: Sort each item. Use what you learned on the intro page. Where does it go?
Item 1 of 14
item
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Scenario C — Muncie Sorting Facility
⚠ Contamination Rate0%
♻ Recycling Score0%
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Cardinal Green says: You are now on the sorting line at Muncie. Five bags arrive on the conveyor. Read what is inside each bag, then decide: Accept to send to recycling, or Reject to landfill.
A
Outstanding, Cardinal!
Ball State University · Recycle Right, Cardinals!
🏆 BSU Leaderboard Top 15% this week
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♻ Recycling Score
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⚠ Contamination Rate
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📦 Lbs Correctly Recycled
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✅ Items Correct
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Your decisions made a real difference.
Learn more: BSU Waste Innovations →