A woman holding over a recycling bin.

Rebel Recycling

The Rebel Recycling Program provides campus with comprehensive waste reduction, recycling, and resource management.

Who We Are

Our mission is based on the Five R's: Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, and Rot.

Refuse
to accept or buy wasteful items.
Reduce
the amount of things you throw away.
Reuse
the things you have until they can no longer be reused.
Recycle
once you have completed the first three R’s.
Rot
compost food, landscape waste, and non-recyclable paper products.

The Rebel Recycling program serves the UNLV community by raising awareness of the benefits of sustainable living. Our program reduces air pollution and conserves water, landfill space, finite and renewable resources, and energy. By reducing what we throw away, Rebel Recycling supports Nevada’s state recycling goal of 25%, avoids landfill fees for the university, and supports UNLV's Sustainability Council’s initiatives.

Recyclable Items

Acceptable Items

The following items should be empty, clean, and unbagged:

  • Cereal boxes
  • Office paper
  • Junk mail
  • Newspaper
  • Books
  • Cardboard
  • Aluminum cans
  • Plastic containers and bottles
  • Steel cans

Unacceptable Items

  • Tissues
  • Paper towels
  • Paper and containers with food and / or grease on them
  • Liquid
  • Wet paper
  • Food
  • Plastic bags
  • Masks and gloves
  • Styrofoam
  • Batteries
  • Glass

Recycling Services

  • Recycling bins are located in each office and in common areas in each building.
  • Rebel Recycling team members do not have keys to offices and therefore cannot enter offices to empty deskside containers. When your deskside bin is full, please empty it in the nearest common area receptacle. 
  • Rebel Recycling empties hallway bins on a weekly basis. Each building has a specified schedule. Contact your building’s FM liaison for your schedule.
  • If you have a question about your pick-up schedule, contact your FM liaison or email recycle-group@unlv.edu.
  • Visit the Republic Services website to learn more about what is and isn’t recyclable.

The following items require a special pick up:

  • Recyclable materials that do not fit into a unit's recycling bins such as:
    • Oversized cardboard
    • Bags of shredded paper
  • Boxes of binders/reusable items
  • Ink and toner cartridges
    • Ink and toner cartridges must be separated from other items. Please place them next to your recycling bin.
  • Shred toter exchanges.

To schedule a special pick-up, please complete our "Request for special pick up of recyclable material form.

We provide and switch out clean recycling bins for units when requested. If your recycling bin is soiled or in unsatisfactory condition, email recycle-group@unlv.edu to schedule a bin cleaning or new bin drop off.

Rebel Recycling provides toters to campus units to collect items to shred. We will help haul the materials, when requested. A representative from the unit does not need to be present during the shredding process. We also allow campus customers to use the shredder to shred their own materials.

To request shredding services, email recycle-group@unlv.edu.

Recycling stations are available for on-campus events at the host’s request. Upon approval of the upcoming event, email recycle-group@unlv.edu and a representative will help you determine which recycling station setup would best suit your needs.

Drive Up, Drop Off (DUDO) is available 24/7 to give faculty, staff, and students living in apartments or condos the opportunity to recycle. Please visit the DUDO webpage for additional details, including items we can and cannot accept.

There are over 100 hydration stations in 31 buildings on campus to refill water bottles free of charge.

During the fall move-in process, Rebel Recycling provides bins on each floor of residence halls to collect cardboard and other recyclable packaging students have left over after settling into their dorm rooms.

Collection bins for reusable items are located on the first floor of each residence hall. Rebel Recycling empties these containers on a weekly basis, making room for more items. During the move-out process at the end of the spring semester, recycling bins are placed on every floor to meet the increased demand. The items collected are donated to local charities.Visit the Residence Hall Usable Items webpage to learn more.

Rebel Recycling helps event planners coordinate zero-waste events. The waste that these events generate is 90% compostable or recyclable. Contact Tara Pike-Nordstrom at tara.pike@unlv.edu to help plan a zero-waste event, meeting, or conference on campus.

Rebel Recycling collects food waste from every eatery and academic kitchen on campus and sends it to Las Vegas Livestock, a sustainable local pig farm, to be cooked into livestock feed. On average, Rebel Recycling repurposes 189 tons of food waste annually.

Special Projects and Community Involvement

  • Earth Day and America Recycles Day events
  • Tours and paper-making projects
  • Christmas Tree Recycling
  • Rebel Recycling works with the Southern Nevada Christmas Tree Recycling Committee to recycle Christmas trees. Individuals can drop off trees at over 30 sites across the city. The program partners with sellers to recycle unsold trees and with Boy Scout troops to pick up trees from people’s houses. Most of these recycled trees are used to create mulch for local parks.
  • Campus Race to Zero Waste (formerly Recyclemania)

Court-Ordered Community Service Volunteers

Court ordered community service volunteers can assist with a variety of recycling initiatives.

Contact

Campus Map

Rebel Recycling Center
Located on the north-west side of campus, near the Stan Fulton Building.

Mailing Address

University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Mail Stop:
4505 S. Maryland Pkwy.
Las Vegas, NV 89154

Phone

702-895-3760

Email

recycle-group@unlv.edu

Staff Directory

Tara Pike-Nordstrom
UNLV Sustainability Coordinator / Recycling Manager
tara.pike@unlv.edu
702-895-3760

Sinn Yahsin Armstrong
Rebel Recycling Facility Supervisor
yahsin.armstrong@unlv.edu
702-895-1358