Recycling
From Umreg.org
Contents |
[edit] What is Recycling?
Gather waste material, clean it, process it, and make it into something new; that's called Recycling. Rather than burying or incinerating natural resources after minimal use, several industries have discovered that it is worthwhile to collect used material in place of the virgin resource. Depending on the material, recycling can often save energy compared to processing from other sources. Metals have been recycled since they were first extracted from their mineral compounds and the steel industry now claims that up to 65% of all steel is eventually recycled.
In developed countries, most product packaging is now made of recyclable material. Recycling programs are offered in almost all municipalities and some even enforce participation. Unfortunately, the recyclable portion in trash that ends up at landfill is sent there by consumers, where it is not yet economical to retrieve the raw material. The fault may lie in communication, consumer apathy, or laziness, but consumer recycling programs are still in their first generation. Increased diversion rates will come with time as energy and natural resources see their value increase, generating a push to conserve what already exists.
Recycling, along with Reduction, Reuse, and Regulation, are all symptoms of a flawed design according to Cradle to Cradle authors William McDonough & Michael Braungart. They claim correctly that most recycling is actually down-cycling, producing progressively poorer materials that will eventually be down-cycled beyond use, made into garbage. When down-cycled products are used for something beyond their original designed purpose, dangerous side-effects may surface.
"Just because a material is recycled does not automatically make it ecologically benign, especially if it was not designed specifically for recycling. Blindly adopting superficial environmental approaches without fully understanding their effects can be no better - and perhaps even worse - than doing nothing." Page 59.
A better system would see products and packaging designed to be reused, recycled, or absorbed safely by the earth. As this group was created to reduce waste, recycling is our immediate available action, but avoiding waste, reusing products, and promoting alternatives are equally important.
[edit] Daily Activities
There are a number of responsibilities associated with and expected from UMREG staff members: the first and foremost one is the actual physical recycling duties, and the second is environmental education in the form of what has been called "special projects". Lists of special projects are developed each year, and include essentially any environmental initiatives that are priorities for the group. Each staff member is expected to participate or initiate a special project, which the hopes of furthering environmental sustainability on campus and in the community.
A number of coordinator type roles have been suggested in the past in order for staff members to try and coordinate the volunteers who are quite eager to get involved. The following is a list of suggested positions drafted by the 2001-2002 staff. This list has not, and will not apply every year, but can serve as a rough guide to some of the roles that staff may want to consider adopting:
- Administration Coordinator(s)
- Recycling Coordinator(s)
- Finances Coordinator
- Environmental Awareness Week Coordinator(s)
- Special Events Coordinator
- Paper Recycling Coordinator
- Resource Centre Coordinator
- Volunteer/ Outreach Coordinator
- Lobbying Coordinator
[edit] Information on Weights Recycled
General trends between 2000 and 2006:
Total weight trends upward
Total weight per capita (students) trends upward
Aluminum weight trends upward
#1 (PETE) weight trends upward
Steel/tin weight trends upward
#2 (HDPE) and #3&6 (PVC&PS) weights trend upwards
PCMC and #4,5,7 (LDPE, PP, other) weights show no trend
Glass weight trends upward
Glass weight as percentage of total weight trends downward
Weight recycled by month:
Highest point in March
Second peak in October/November
Low point in August
See Detailed Weights for more information
[edit] Bin Types
To accomodate various demands, UMREG has several different bin types to suit the campus needs:
[edit] 360L Bin (BB-360)
These bins hold 360 litres. As wall space is generally limited, these bins go in areas where this wall space is at a premium, for example in some residences and kitchens. The wall-footprint is basically the same as our 240 litre bins, but it is longer and slightly taller. Please see our blue bin recyclables section for what you can recycle.
[edit] 240L Bin (BB / BG)
These bins hold 240 litres. This is the most common bin that UMREG has in its recycling arsenal. You can find these strategically placed all over campus from residences, to lecture halls, to the various athletic facilities. There are two types of 240 litre bins; a blue, and a green version. Please see the blue bin recyclables section for what you can place in the blue bins, and the green bin recyclables section for what you can place in the green bins.
[edit] Little Blue (LB)
These bins hold 32 gallons, or approximately 120 litres. They are best suited for areas with moderate volumes of recyclables, where they could be fitted under a table, or in a corner of a room. These are most commonly placed in staff or student lounges. Please see the blue bin recyclables section for what you can place in the little blues.
[edit] Blue Box (box)
These bins hold 60 litres, and are of the typical curbside variety. They are most commonly placed under tables, desks, chairs, or displays, and are used in areas where there is little traffic, but where recyclables are still generated. Please see the blue bin recyclables section for what you can place in the blue boxes.
[edit] 240L Grey Bin (paper)
The 240 litre grey bins are operated by the Waste Prevention Office. Please visit the WPO website for information regarding those bins.
[edit] Blue Bin Recyclables
The blue bins can handle any recyclable object. Sometimes there is not enough glass generated at a particular location, so instead of hogging valuable room, we place a single blue bin instead of a blue bin and a green bin. This means you CAN put glass in the blue bins. You can also put in aluminum cans, steel cans, milk cartons, tetra paks (juice boxes), and any plastic that has a recyclable symbol with a number inside it on the bottom. We currently recycle all plastics numbered 1 - 7. Check out the FAQ.
[edit] Green Bin Recyclables
Glass. Green bins hold glass. Please do not throw anything other than glass objects into the glass recycling bins. No ceramics, no styrofoam or paper cups, no pantyhose, only glass.
[edit] Bin Locations
In the near future, this page will have a list of all the bin locations on campus.
If you do not have a bin near you, this page will also have a form which you can fill out to request a new bin.
