The PWR SWATeam discussed the history and future opportunities and mechanisms for battery recycling on campus. They also talked about updates in the rearrangement of outdoor and indoor bins.
The existing baler at the Waste Transfer Station cannot handle plastics beyond #1 and #2. Thus, UIUC requires a new baler before the university can increase the types of plastics collected and ultimately recycled. In order for Facilities & Services (F&S) to purchase a new baler, they first need to conduct a conceptualization study, analyzing cost, construction, and maintenance. The Student Sustainability Committee funding provides support to F&S to conduct the necessary conceptualization study. Once F&S completes this study, they will make plans to expand plastic baling to a wider range of plastics.
The Purchasing, Waste, and Recycling SWATeam met to discuss a variety of updates and challenges regarding recycling on campus. The group discussed progress on the rearrangement of outdoor dual bins on the North Quad and standards for the placements of bins inside of buildings. The group also discussed their long-term vision for trash and recycling operations on campus and brainstormed various methods for increasing recycling at the Waste Transfer Station. An update was also given on the status of SmartWay certification on campus.
Locations of outdoor trash bins has been completed.
Content has been drafted for a PowerPoint presentation to encourage the use of separate bins for recyclables and trash. It will emphasize that separation at the point of disposal is more effective than the older system of placing all items in a single bin and will therefore help the campus meet landfill diversion targets. The presentation will be made over the summer to Campus business officers, the Staff HR Advisory Council, and student groups that can talk to other groups.
A resident of Ashton Woods reached out to discuss the potential for increased recycling at graduate student housing sites. The Zero-Waste Coordinator met with her in early May and is in the process of gathering information from Housing, F&S, and the cities.
The SSC funding for Zero Waste Coordination ($64,862) covers four different recycling efforts.
1) Campus-wide infrastructure, $29,750: Expanding the “Dual bins on the Quad” to north of Green and eastward to Goodwin Avenue, in collaboration with F&S Superintendent of Grounds Ryan Welch. Ryan’s Grounds workers are mapping the existing bins, as a first step. All of this funding is for the physical infrastructure (bins and lids, etc.).
2) Campus-wide education, $1,032: The key message of personal responsibility for waste management needs to be communicated through multiple channels on campus, in order to effect the culture shift that we deeply need on campus. F&S will create educational materials to explain the recycling options available to the campus community, to reduce confusion. The funding is based on 8 presentations throughout campus and development of educational materials (which will be used in future years as well). All materials will thank SSC for their funding support.
3) Building specific solutions, $30,520: Per the completed Waste Characterization Studies, there are various changes that can be implemented in the studied buildings to improve waste diversion. These changes need to be approved and implemented in coordination with building occupants, so there is a need for a staff coordinator to work with the individual units. The funding is based on two weeks of staff time per building, for eight buildings.
4) Special recyclables expansion $3,560: There are new programs available for interested units on campus to recycle nitrile gloves, styrofoam, alkaline batteries, and glass. Unfortunately, very few units are aware of these opportunities. We are requested funding for student employees to reach out directly to potential participants and help them incorporate the applicable programs.
Cassettes and VHS tapes are recycled at Plastic Recycling Incorporated through a mail in program. Their address is:
2015 S. Pennsylvania St.
Indianapolis, IN 46225
317.780.6100
Following the completion of the iWG Assessment for the PWR006 Expanded Recycling, it was forwarded to F&S.
The iCAP Working Group (iWG) met on September 25, 2015, to discuss and start the assessment of SWATeam recommendation PWR006 Expanded Recycling. The iWG's official comment for this recommendation was:
"The iWG enthusiastically supports this recommendation."
See attached the iWG assessment of SWATeam recommendation, PWR006 Expanded Recycling, complete with official comments from all the iWG members.
The PWR SWATeam submitted a recommendation to the iWG stating, "We recommend that the Waste Transfer Station accept all plastics number 1 through 7 to simplify what can be recycled and to better align with what is accepted by the Cities of Champaign and Urbana, The University of Illinois Chicago, Parkland College, students' high schools, and students' homes."
See attached the SWATeam recommendation PWR006 Expanded Recycling complete with comments from all the PWR SWATeam members.
The University is participating in its first Game Day Recycling Challenge at the October 25th homecoming game against the University of Minnesota. For the event the usual landfill bins will be replaced with 3-bin stations to separate landfill, recycling, and compost. The materials collected will be weighed, the diversion rate calculated, and then entered into a friendly national competition. To volunteer for this event, please email Bart Bartels at bbartel@illinois.edu.
My name is Max Colon, and I am a Resident Advisor in Allen Hall that works with a sustainability group to try and keep Allen green. Every year, we hold a recycling box drive where our organization hands out cardboard recycling boxes that have been given to us by Housing. I have a attached a photo of one of these boxes for identification purposes. I am wondering if it is possible for you to help me figure out who in Housing should be contacted in order to continue this tradition. Any information you could provide would be greatly appreciated! - Max
We had the boxes over 10 years and we have depleted all supplies last year. Sorry- Vonne Ortiz
Tim Hoss: Our First Green Hero
The year was 1987. In just a few hours on the Quad, members of Students for Environmental Concerns (SECS) got over 2,000 signatures on a petition to encourage campus leaders to start a recycling program at the University of Illinois. Campus leaders agreed it was a good idea, and an advisory task force of students, faculty and staff was given the charge to study what it would take to set up a campus-wide recycling program. After reviewing the task force's 170-page report, campus leaders approved approximately $650,000 to start a recycling program, which was to be set up over a 5-year period. Grants from various state agencies contributed the other resources needed to cover the final $1 million price tag.
Tim Hoss, with a lot of help from students, was able to get a recycling program that serviced over 200 buildings on campus operational in about two years. And since 1989, Tim Hoss, Coordinator of Campus Waste Management, operated a comprehensive recycling program at the University. In 1995, $1.3 million was spent on a material processing addition to the Waste Transfer Station (WTS). When it opened in November 1997, the University's Material Recovery Facility was one of the first state-of-the-art recycling-sorting facilities on a university campus in the nation.
Fast forward to 2010. Everyday two trucks from the WTS collect waste paper, and another truck collects cardboard twice daily from around campus. Recovering recyclable material from the University's waste stream is no small job. The WTS collects waste from thousands of recycling bins and 250 dumpsters. Except for the waste from University Housing (which runs its own program), all wast
e on campus comes to the WTS. Once back at the recovery facility, all of the material gets sorted: equipment, construction waste, and non-recyclable materials are removed. Recyclable materials such as cardboard, paper, aluminum, and plastics are all sorted out and placed into storage bunkers. Tim is quick to point out that it takes a team of people to get the job done including: 5 drivers, 2 operating engineers, 4 laborers, and 6 workers from the Developmental Services Center in Champaign who help with the sorting.
Once sorted, the materials are compressed into large bales and sold. The WTS generated about $500,000 in revenue during fiscal year 2008, and saved the University over $200,000 in landfill costs. In 2008, the WTS recycled: 838 tons of cardboard, 1,236 tons of paper, 21 tons of plastic, 41 tons of aluminum, 625 tons of scrap metal, and 325 tons of pallets. Through these efforts, the Un
iversity diverted 48.8% of our waste stream from landfills.
Tim retired from the University in January 2010. But he still has great ideas for how the University can continue to lessen its impact on the environment. When asked what he'd like to see happen in future recycling efforts on campus he had two ideas:
1) Start a comprehensive organic waste management program, and
2) Restructure the way that surplus equipment is disposed.
Tim Hoss made a tremendous positive impact while he was here at the University, and so we are happy to recognize him as our first Green Hero. Tim certainly did his part to make our campus a Greener place. And you can too. Consume less. Recycle more.
Cardboard recycling appears to have started in July 1988
