Hi Pete and Shawn—

Here are the zero-waste activities for the week: Morgan, Brent Lewis, and I met with Shawn Hopkins of Bigbelly to discuss possibilities for indoor bins. 

• I responded some emails about styrofoam recycling.
• I participated in a CURC listserv discussion about conveyor belt sorting systems. I asked Morgan about any pictures, videos, schematics, and data we might be able to share,
• I drafted a semesterly report and scope-and-timeline change request for the SSC funding to see if they can give us another year and if we can focus the remaining funds on replacing the outdoor bins with dual bins. Morgan has the draft to review. 
• I responded to an inquiry from La Casa Cultural Latina about participating in the glove recycling program. 

Best regards,
Marya Ryan
Zero Waste Coordinator

Hi Pete and Shawn—

Here is a summary of zero-waste activity from this past week: 

• I completed a draft Architecture Review Committee proposal for replacing trash bins with dual bins in the core campus area. It is with Morgan for her comments.
• The BER student volunteers have been in touch. Two of them are available over the summer to review the OBFS/Purchasing report of departments that purchase gloves. They will use the campus directory to identify initial contact people in the departments so that they and/or other volunteers can reach out to departments that are not yet participating in the glove recycling program. I will prepare the report for their use by deleting departments that are already participating and those that purchase only small amounts of gloves (under $2,000 for the year covered by the report). 
• I emailed Joe Pickowitz to see if the vendors have provided parts for the EPS densifier yet. He was also making inquiries about obtaining throughput data for the machine. 

Best regards,
Marya Ryan
Zero Waste Coordinator

There is a grant for helping libraries go green, which could potentially support solar at the Oak Street facility.

EBSCO has expanded this year’s EBSCO Solar Grant. For the first time, it will provide three $100,000 grants to libraries looking to install solar arrays. If you’re eager to show your community the benefits of solar energy or to add to your sustainability plans, consider applying to the EBSCO Solar Grant now through April 30th. The winner will be announced on June 22nd, 2018, both online and at ALA Annual 2018.

Hi Tracy—

Here are my updates on zero-waste activities from the past week: 

• I updated the information on glass recycling on the iCAP Portal page.
• I drafted instructions for units that would like glass recycling pick-up from Housing; they are with Morgan and Housing for review.
• Although no new changes have been made to the battery recycling program, there was quite a bit of correspondence about it during the past week.
• I participated in some correspondence about the best way to wind down the Styrecycle program and transition to decentralized EPS recycling.
• Anna Barnes notified me the previous week that she has time available to work on glove recycling materials, so I re-sent drafts of content I had developed. 

While I’m on this email, I have a question for you that came up in my work on glass recycling. You told me a while back that campus units can purchase blue desk-side recycling bins through Central Stores. I’ve been trying to reach Marcy Wright at Purchasing to see if the larger indoor bins and outdoor toters/bins should be purchased through iBuy. Do you have information on that question? I tried to get in and look through iBuy catalogs on my own, but I wasn’t able to find a way to do so; I think it may require an iBuy login, which I wouldn’t be eligible for, given that I don’t have any purchasing responsibilities of my own. 

Best regards,
Marya Ryan
Zero Waste Coordinator

Hi Tracy—

Morgan is reviewing a Styrecycle change-of- program message for our participants that I wrote week before last; she will also give me feedback on the updates I made to the iCAP Portal regarding EPS recycling. There were no new activities for me this past week.

Best regards,
Marya Ryan
Zero Waste Coordinator

In July 2017, the vendor with whom the UIUC campus had partnered for EPS recycling was purchased by another vendor that was not able to continue the partnership. Central funding for transporting EPS to drop-off locations ended. Departments that had been participating in the Styrecycle program will be notified of the changed circumstances and will be encouraged to arrange their own transporation of EPS to the drop-off location at Dart Container, 1505 E. Main St., Urbana. There is no charge to drop off EPS at Dart. F&S is exploring options to provide an EPS recycling location on campus.