ScotSurplus Sustainability
Reuse. Recycle. Reinvest. Riverside.
Since January 2025, ScotSurplus has recycled …
Our Sustainability Efforts
We take sustainability seriously. Our efforts have kept massive amounts of waste out of landfills and given thousands of items a second life. Our recycling programs have kept more than 1.3 million pounds of CO2 out of the atmosphere over the past 18 months alone. Beyond recycling, our surplus program actively powers the circular economy and prevents the heavy carbon emissions associated with manufacturing new products. Here are some of our big wins since January 2025:
| 🌲 The Forest Effect 🌲 | By shredding and recycling 90,225 pounds of paper, we saved 766 trees and 315,000 gallons of water. |
| 🚗 Heavy Lifting 🚗 | We recycled the weight equivalent of 60 standard passenger cars! |
| 🐘 Toxic Diversion 🐘 | We safely recycled 45,485 pounds of E-Waste, keeping 4 adult elephants' worth of heavy metals out of landfills. |
| 💻 The Tech Second-Life 💻 | We rehomed 87 laptops and 332 desktop computers, bypassing the need to manufacture new ones and avoiding roughly 19 metric tons of CO2. |
| 🪑 The Furniture Refresh 🪑 | We kept bulky items in circulation and out of the dump, including 109 office chairs and 90 tables. |
| ♻️ Circular Economy ♻️ | By reselling 382 books and 203 pieces of clothing, we actively reduced the global demand for new textile and paper production. |
Keeping Items Out of the Landfill
ScotSurplus gives furniture, equipment, and other usable campus items a second life whenever possible. By redirecting materials back into use, we help reduce landfill waste and support a more circular campus model.
90%+ of surplus items reused, repurposed, or recycled instead of entering the landfill
Campuswide Shredding Services
We provide shredding services for the entire UC Riverside campus, helping departments securely dispose of sensitive documents while supporting responsible paper destruction practices.
100% of campus departments have access to ScotSurplus shredding services
Copier Toner Recycling
ScotSurplus helps ensure copier toner is recycled rather than discarded, supporting a cleaner process for managing print-related waste across campus.
100% of copier toner cartridges collected and recycled
ENERGY STAR Copier Program
Our copier program includes ENERGY STAR equipment designed to support energy efficiency and reduce environmental impact while meeting campus printing and copying needs.
Up to 30% energy savings with ENERGY STAR copier equipment
Metal Recycling
We recycle scrap metal and other eligible materials to help divert waste from landfills and promote responsible resource recovery, as recycling metal requires 60-95% less energy than producing new metal from scratch.
Our metal recycling program keeps an estimated 90 metric tons of CO₂ out of the atmosphere each year
Why It Matters
These efforts support UC Riverside’s broader sustainability goals by:
- Reducing landfill waste
- Encouraging reuse across campus
- Supporting secure and responsible disposal practices
- Promoting recycling and resource recovery
- Using energy-efficient equipment where possible
ScotSurplus is proud to support a more sustainable UC Riverside through programs that prioritize reuse, recycling, efficiency, and responsible operations. Contact us today to learn more about our efforts or visit an upcoming ScotSurplus sale!