Recycling Matters
Winter 1995
FEATURES:
![[Image, Recycling Bin on the Diag]](/grounds/recycle/pictures/Diag_Recycling.GIF)
Magazine Recycling Now Available on Campus
Glass Recycling at UM
Learn the history of glass recycling, as well as what you can do at UM.
Spring Brings Diag Recycling
New containers on the Diag fill a recycling need.
Planning an Office Spring Cleaning?
Before purging your office files for an end of the semester clean out, please plan ahead. Call the Recycling Office to schedule an extra recycling pick-up for your building. If you have large quantities, we can provide a cart to help in the process. Call Jane Reading-Boyd at 3-5539 to schedule.
Flatten Cardboard Boxes
Waste Management reminds all University staff to flatten corrugated cardboard boxes before placing them in the hallway for custodial pick-up, and before placing them in recycling bins. Flattening boxes helps increase collection efficiency and lowers recycling costs to the University.
Just Say: Thank You!
UM Building Services staff empty the paper recycling bins in over 100 campus buildings. Please be sure to thank your custodian for recycling.
Magazine Recycling Now Available on Campus
Waste Management Services is pleased to announce the start-up of magazine recycling on campus this winter.
Prior to January, limitations in the way recyclable papers were collected and processed prevented the addition of glossy magazines to the University program. Paper mills that did take old magazines insisted that they be kept separate from old newspapers. This would have required separate bins inside buildings, a separate collection vehicle, or the capability of sorting magazines from newspapers at the existing recycling facility. None of these were feasible options for Waste Management.
In the latter part of 1994, some paper mills began accepting glossy magazines mixed together with newspapers. After several months, the end market now seems stable enough to handle the two papers on a continuing basis.
The magazine recycling guidelines for campus are as follows: Any glossy magazine or catalog is acceptable. All the inside pages of the publication, along with the cover, must be glossy or shiny. Magazines can be stapled or glue bound. Magazines should be put in any newspaper recycling receptacle found throughout campus buildings. If you have larger quantities, you can seal magazines in a clear plastic bag, and bring them directly to the blue recycling dumpster at the building's loading dock.
After collection by Waste Management staff, all papers are dumped at a nearby recycling facility. The bags of newspapers and magazines are separated out, then baled and shipped to markets who utilize the old paper in the manufacture of new paper. Mills are developing new technologies to screen out the glue bindings from magazines, so these are no longer considered a problem. Additionally, manufacturers find the clay coating of magazine paper helpful in the deinking process. After paper is pulped with water, detergents and air bubbles are blown through the mix. Ink particles from old newspapers attach to the clay and float to the top where they are skimmed off. The down side of recycling magazines is that as clay coating becomes more prevalent, the costs of recycling technology and environmental concerns associated with wastewater and sludge disposal increase.
Waste Management Services anticipates a significant increase in total campus recycling levels with the inclusion of glossy magazines and catalogs. Call the office at 763-5539 for more information.
A reminder to staff, faculty and students: The recycling program is for materials generated at the University campus only. We do not accept materials brought from private residences for recycling, just as we do not accept trash from private residences.
Glass Recycling at UM
Glass containers can be recycled in bins marked "Cans and Bottles" in most campus buildings. At the loading docks, they are transferred into the recycling carts marked "Mixed Containers," along with aluminum and steel cans, and plastic bottles.
From there, all are taken to a recycling facility where glass is separated from other materials, and then sorted manually by color: flint (clear), amber (brown), and green. Glass is crushed into cullet (used glass) and shipped to glass manufacturers who melt it and form new bottles and jars. Broken pieces usually become mixed glass cullet.
The State of Michigan is one of only ten states that has a bottle deposit on certain containers - mostly carbonated beverage and beer bottles. "Bottle bills," as the deposit programs are called, are a hotly debated issue in the recycling industry. Many fruit juices and so called "new age" beverages are packaged in glass.
The University collects non-deposit glass containers which include all beverage bottles and food jars. The largest quantities come out of Dining Services kitchens. Glass should be rinsed out and the caps should be detached. Lids, and other ferrous metals like cans, are separated out with a magnet at the recycling facility. It is important to unscrew the metal lids before placing them in the mixed containers bin.
Items that cannot be recycled include: laboratory and other heat resistant glass, such as Pyrex; and light bulbs. (Note: In Fall 1995, ceramics and non-container glass like drinking glasses, were added to the program. This glass is sorted out from bottle glass and crushed into aggregate material for use in paving.). These materials melt at different temperatures and contain additives that can adversely affect the bottle making process.
Recycling glass has been in practice for hundreds of years. Glass blowers in colonial America even melted scrap glass to make new bottles. Today most containers (jars and bottles) have about 30% recycled glass in them. With improvements in sorting and quality control, the amount should continue to increase.
The average American uses 176 glass containers each year. In 1990, glass containers made up almost 6% of landfilled municipal solid waste by weight. By recycling glass, manufacturing facilities conserve energy since glass furnaces melt cullet at a much lower temperature than the raw materials that make up glass: limestone, sand and soda ash. Recycling also reduces the amount of natural resources that are mined to produce glass.
Food containers represent 33% of U.S. glass production, beer bottles are 31%, other beverage containers are 22%, wine and liquor are 9%, and the rest are cosmetics and pharmaceutical bottles.
One interesting problem encountered by the glass industry is a weak market for green glass. At least half of imported bottles are green (mostly beer bottles), while very few U.S. beers are sold in green bottles. This leaves the U.S. with a glut of green glass to recycle.
Other applications for green or mixed glass include using it as aggregate in asphalt to make "glasphalt," or in fiberglass insulation.
Spring Brings Recycling on the Diag
As soon as winter fades, Grounds and Waste Management Services will be rolling out new recycling containers on The Diag. The containers, specially designed for outdoor use, were styled to look like existing litter cans and blend in with campus aesthetics. Each contains two slots: one for newspapers, another for cans and bottles.
Waste Management staff recognized the need for outdoor recycling last year. The process turned out to be not as simple as first thought. Several designs of containers were reviewed by the University's landscape architecture staff for appearance.
Additionally, containers needed to be sturdy enough and fire safe to withstand vandalism and arson which sometimes occur on The Diag. Containers also needed to have a locking lid to discourage scavenging of recyclable materials. Finally, the logistics of emptying the containers on a regular basis needed to be worked out.
Subsequently, a group of students from the School of Natural Resources and Environment freshman seminar class conducted a survey about recycling on The Diag. They sent a list of questions via electronic mail to students of selected departments. They asked about attitudes and the utility of outdoor recycling. Here's what they heard from 80 respondents.
Seventy-two percent (72%) said they would use recycling bins if they were placed on The Diag. When asked if recycling bins would "distract or take away" from the general appearance of The Diag, only 19% said yes, 35% said no, and 46% said it depends on how they would be set up.
The survey asked what materials need to be recycled. Ninety-one percent (91%) said newspapers, 76% said glass containers, and 69% said aluminum cans. Some of the other items mentioned by respondents cannot be handled in an outdoor setting, or are not recovered for recycling at this time.
For example, household batteries were mentioned by 19% of the respondents. These cannot be safely stored or collected outside, and are actually collected as a "hazardous waste" by UM Occupational Safety and Environmental Health. A large group, 54%, indicated that "food" or biodegradable waste should be collected. The University currently does not have a system to compost food wastes on a large scale, and it is not appropriate to collect food wastes in an open or outdoor setting.
Look for the new recycling containers for newspapers, and cans and bottles, when the snow melts and the University community heads outside once again to play, enjoy their lunch or take a study break on The Diag.
Content modified: August 6, 2001
Please direct questions and comments to Recycling (get address). |
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