Waste Bin and Sorting Best Practices

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Submitted by mwhite on Thu, 05/15/2025 - 11:00

Frequently Asked Questions

Wanting to add new bins or signage? Have questions about what belongs where? Take a glance at these bin FAQ before reaching out to the Office of Sustainability with more questions:

*Buildings that are in scope with this document include the Moffitt Long medical center, Mount Zion medical center, Mission Bay medical center, the Ambulatory Care Center, and the Bayfront Medical Building.

1. Where should bins go?

Bins are better together!

Centralized waste stations help to fundamentally change the way waste is being collected.
- Leave no bin behind: solo bins are much more likely to become contaminated!
Separately colored bins with clear labeling and corresponding-colored liners help to keep materials clean and separate.
It is imperative that the waste stations have a permanent location after implementation: allows employees to know exactly where to dispose of waste properly.

Best bins for your space:

Break Rooms/Pantries: a trio of landfill/recycling/compost is best!
Team-work areas: a duo of landfill/recycling is best!
Restrooms: a duo of landfill/compost is best!
Public areas: a duo of landfill/recycling, with a bottles and cans recycling lid is best!
- Bottles and cans lids help to reduce the PPE contamination of public recycling bins

landfill, recycling, and compost bin — Break room waste station.

Recycling bin with lid and landfill bin — Public area waste station.

landfill and compost bin — Restroom waste station.

But why is it not best to have a landfill, recycling, and compost bin at every location?

The City of San Francisco has maximum allowable contamination rates for the landfill, recycling and compost streams.
For landfill the maximum allowable contamination is 25%, for recycling it is 10%, and for compost it is just 5%.
If contamination exceeds this rate, UCSF Health gets fined, and the entire recycling and compost bags will be disposed of in the landfill, hence why sorting properly is so important!
By only placing bins where they are most needed and will be used correctly, we can reduce waste stream contamination.

2. Where should signs go?

If there’s a bin, there needs to be a sign
Signage at eye level above the bin is most effective
Sign locations can include on the wall by the bin, on a sign holder attached to the bin, or on the bin itself
Compost signage depends on where the bin is: restrooms should have paper towels and napkins only signage vs break rooms should have food signage.

landfill bin with bin signage, a sign holder, and wall signage — Example of wall signage, a sign holder, and signage on the bin.

sorting signage for compost, recycling, and landfill — *Restroom compost signage has been simplified to reduce confusion and contamination

3. Why aren’t more bins better?

Switching individual bins to a few centralized waste stations changes staff recycling behavior.
Instead of tossing waste below desks without a second thought, waste stations make employees approach bins with proper signage and sorting information.
- This makes sorting easy, and makes employees think while they are tossing.
Waste stations reduce waste stream contamination, the amount of plastic liners required, and lowers custodial costs.
Because of this, hospitality will not provide small bins to units.

Example of a small deskside bin that should be removed. Instead, the employee should use the waste station.

4. What goes where?

Landfill

Uncontaminated PPE including masks, gloves, and eye protection
Plastic film/bags
Snack wrappers
Food soiled plastic containers
Foil pouches
Styrofoam

Recycling

Cans
Paper cups
Clean Paper
Cardboard
Thick plastics
- Plastic bottles
- Utensils
- Plastic cups
- Coffee cup lids
- Plastic containers

Compost

Food
Paper towels
Napkins
Compostable containers
Food contaminated paper products
- Muffin wrappers
- Paper plates

Special Circumstances

Items that don't belong in the landfill, recycling, or compost
- Medical Waste
  - Follow disposal guidelines
- Hazardous Waste
  - Follow disposal guidelines
- PHI
  - Shred/follow disposal guidelines
- E-Waste
  - Bring to free e-waste disposal event at UCSF
- Batteries
  - Check out the EH&S Battery Disposal Guide
If there are no compost bins around, these belong in the trash, not the recycling
- Paper towels
- Napkins
- Dirty paper plates
- Compostable containers
- Food
If there are no recycling bins around, these can go in the compost
- Paper
- Cardboard

5. Why aren’t there compost or recycling bins in patient rooms?

We cannot train patients and visitors on proper sorting techniques, resulting in high levels of contamination.
We have tested out having recycling bins in patient rooms before, and audits in 2020 confirmed that it causes high levels of contamination.
- The audits also showed that there is not a significant amount of recyclables being produced to require recycling bins in each patient room.
Given that the City of San Francisco’s maximum allowable level of contamination for the recycling is 10%, any bags with a higher level of contamination gets sent to the landfill and results in a fine.
If patients would like to recycle or compost in their room, they can leave recyclables and compostable materials on their food trays, which get sorted by kitchen staff.

6. What are hospitality’s contributions?

Hospitality works very close with the Sustainability department by:
- Purchasing bins for the waste station programs
- Covering costs for auditing tools
- Collecting all waste
- Training all team members on the correct colored liners to use for each waste stream:
  - Clear bags for landfill
  - Blue bags for recycling
  - Green compostable bags for compost
If you notice the wrong color liners are being used, please reach out to healthsustainability@UCSF.edu

7. What are Waste Sustainability Unit Report Cards?

The Sustainability Department performs waste audits of units that are in scope.
Audits are done to bins that are in public facing areas, such as nurse stations, pantries, corridors, team work areas, dirty utility rooms, and staff restrooms. No audits are done in patient rooms or restrooms.
The audits record how full each bin is and lists what contaminants are in the bin, to determine the level of contamination for the unit as a whole.
The data from the waste audits are used to make Unit Report Cards, which get shared with unit directors and should be shared with all staff.

To request a waste sorting training, a waste bin placement walkthrough, waste sorting signage, or a waste audit, visit "Sustainability Services" in MCSS. To request waste bins, see "Hospitality" in MCSS.

If you have any remaining questions, please reach out to healthsustainability@UCSF.edu

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