Residential Waste
The Department of Resident Life and Residential Facilities provides landfill, recycle, and compost collection for students.
Waste Collection in Residence Halls
Students living in our residence halls are asked to take waste from their rooms outside to the nearest recycling and landfill dumpsters. Students who live in Oakland, Prince Frederick, Pyon-Chen, and Johnson-Whittle Halls will take their waste to their floor waste rooms.
Public waste bins are available in select locations in buildings, but should not be used for students' personal waste from their rooms. Signage is placed over every bin to help direct you on how to sort your waste. Public waste bins are serviced by Residential Facilities Housekeeping staff.
No plastic bags: Recycling should be placed in dumpsters without any plastic bags. Empty loose material directly in the waste collection bins, unbagged.
Glass is not recyclable in campus recycling bins, including residence hall recycling bins and dumpsters. Glass recycling is collected separately at purple glass recycling dumpsters.
For more information about our campus waste program, visit recycle.umd.edu.
Compost in Residence Halls
Composting in the UMD residence halls began as a pilot in 2015. Since then, the residence halls compost collection program has expanded to more than 32 residence hall locations. In many residence halls, compost collection bins are located in waste collection rooms, lounges, and bathrooms within the hall. In some locations, including our on-campus suites and apartments, compost collection bins are located in the lobbies of the Community Center (see below for details).
Please note:
- Compostable items should not be placed in bins within in plastic bags. Empty loose material directly into the collect bins in your lounges, trash rooms, or community drop off location. Do not place your waste in outdoor compost toters or dumpsters.
- Compost bins in bathrooms should only be used to dispose of paper towels.
The following residence halls have compost collection bins located in lounges, bathrooms, or waste collection rooms within the building.
- Bel Air
- Cambridge
- Centreville
- Chestertown
- Cumberland
- Denton
- Dorchester
- Easton
- Elkton
- Ellicott
- Hagerstown
- Johnson-Whittle
- LaPlata
- Oakland
- Prince Frederick
- Pyon-Chen
- St. Mary’s
- Worcester
Students who live in the following residence halls should dispose of their compostable materials in the compost collection bins located in the lobby of their Community Center:
The following residence halls use the Annapolis Hall Community Center compost collection site:
- Annapolis
- Frederick
- Garrett
- Harford
- Howard
- Kent
- Leonardtown
- Montgomery
- Prince George's
- Talbot
- Washington
Leonardtown Community residents should dispose of compostable materials using the collection bins in the Leonardtown Community Center.
Donations:
Residential Life's Terps Move-Out Donation Drive is a campus-wide initiative to engage in the sustainable practice of donating goods to benefit the local community during move-out at the end of the academic year.
The Resident Life Terp to Terp Program collects and distributes unused or gently used small appliances, cooking/kitchen items, room accessories, and school supplies donated throughout the year by students, faculty, and staff.
E-Waste
Battery and E-Waste recycling bins can be found at all community service desks. Please be sure to tape the metal terminals of all batteries. Download battery signage here.
