Page 10
Pitching in: recycling becomes
Campus community adapts to collection of reusable materials
b Robb Frederick
The Collegian
you've seen them in
hallways, in residence hall
laundry rooms, and in the
Wintergreen Cafe -- bulky, white
cardboard boxes, emblazoned with
the blue label reading "PENN
STATE RECYCLES."
They first appeared in September
1990 under the guidelines of Act
101, Pennsylvania's "Municipal
Waste Planning, Recycling and
Waste Reduction Act." The
legislation, signed into law by
Governor Robert Casey on July
28, 1988, called for
implementation of curbside
recycling programs for all
municipalities with populations
of at least 5,000 by September
1991.
Within four months, more
than 35 tons of recyclable
material -- glass, aluminum and
bi-metallic cans and hi-grade
office paper -- had been deposited
in the cardboard receptacles. The
trend continued during the Spring
semester of 1991, when another
t tons of reusable waste were
collected.
According to John Ream,
director of Operations, these
numbers indicate a sincere
commitment to recycling.
"We are currently recycling
18.5 percent of our waste
stream," he explains. "That's still
a bit below the state's goal of 25
percent, but it's a good start."
The numbers also raise a few
questions, however; most
notably, where does all that waste
go?
Once filled, the recycling
boxes are emptied by Housing
and Food Services workers and
members of the College's
janitorial crew, who deposit the
materials into a dumpster located
behind the Wintergreen Cafe.
This dumpster is emptied
monthly or hi-monthly
(depending on waste flow) and
shipped to Waste Management,
1154 W. 16th St., a processing
center which separates and sells
reusable materials to regional
natural resource markets.
"We process more than 1,000
tons of material each month from
Eric alone," says Bud Sprague, a
special projects manager for
Waste Management. "With that
kind of volume, it's impossible
to not flood the market, and that's
where we've run into problems."
The creation of Act 101
further complicated matters,
Sprague says.
"In 1990, we (Waste
NI anageme nt) had 195
114‘ t‘t%
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communities on line," he
explains, "and since then we've
added 211 more." The company's
service area extends west to
Ashtabula and east to Corry,
including several municipalities
reaching as far south as
Greenville.
After being sorted, recyclables
are sold for various uses: paper is
sorted by grades and turned into
products such as corrugated
cardboard and shredded animal
bedding, while aluminum and
glass products are sold to their
respective resource markets.
Plastic, the most versatile
resource, can be used to make
outdoor carpet fiber and to
insulate sleeping bag liners.
Before deciding to work
through Waste Management,
Behrend officials contemplated
transferring recyclables directly to
resource markets.
"We thought about selling the
products ourselves, but it's just
too chancy," Ream explains.
"There basically isn't enough of a
market for recyclables, other than
for aluminum cans."
Under the agreement with
Waste Disposal, the College
receives a minimal payment for
recyclable wastes. But that
amount, according to Ream, is
countered by the fee Waste
Management charges for regular
garbage removal.
"The current arrangement is
convenient because it ties our
recycling efforts into our
established waste removal
system," he says. "But we're
certainly not making money on
our recyclables. In fact, we're
actually losing money in this
area.
"On the other hand," he
continues, "by removing
recyclables from our regular
waste stream, we don't have to
increase our regular trash
pickups. So we're pretty much
"We're certainly not making money on our recyclables. In fact,
we're actually losing money in this area."
breaking even in the long run."
Ream would like to see
improvements in other areas,
however
"There's still a fair amount of
recyclables finding their way into
the trash cans," he explains. "But
through additional work on
education, we can get more
people involved." Suggested
eatures
Drop it in: Karen Salsbury, fifth semester
management, places a glass bottle into a Reed
Building recycling bin. More than 32 tons of
reusable materials were collected on campus last
Spring.
educational tactics include
informational fliers, table-tents
and "polite reminders" for
students and employees who are
not recycling.
Another improvement would
be the collection of additional
recyclables, Ream adds.
"I'd really like to sec the
collection of plastic materials,
particularly near the apartments,
where students use more cleaning
and cooking products."
In spite of these weak areas,
Ream believes recycling is here
to stay.
"I think recycling has just
passed through its infancy and
begun to come into its own," he
says.
Greg Geibel/The C,
Sprague, who deals first-hand
with the technology used to sort
and sterilize reusable products,
agrees. "We've seen a lot of
changes in the last 17 months,"
he explains. "The mills are
getting better equipment and
more effective technology, but
we still need more involvement
from the consumers, the people
-John Ream
Director of Operations
who create the demand for
recycled products."
For more information on
recycling, call the recycling
hotline (toll-free) at 1-800-346-
4242, or the Meadville Regional
Office of the Bureau of Waste
Management at 7244526.
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Thursday, December 5, 1991
a reality