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Recycling Education at the University
REdU

February 21, 2006 Meeting Minutes

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Mission Statement: REdU is an effort to establish Recycling Liaisons in departments across campus. Liaisons will be our front line champions and will disseminate information presented along to others in their department. They will also be tagged within their department as a person to ask regarding recycling questions. They can also bring questions and concerns back from their areas to WMS staff so that we may address them.

Attendees:
Tracy Artley Waste Management Services
Gail Chapman Space Info
Eileen Cicotte Procurement and Logistics
Paul Clark Law Club
Laura Claus Waste Management Services
Lou Cruzen College of Engineering
Steve Kunselman UPE/EMS
Debra Lefree SNRE
Jeff Nichols Institute for Social Research
Alison Richardson Waste Management Services
Julie Weatherbee University Library
  1. Introductions

  2. Lynne's Departure: Lynne has graduated and is no longer an intern with Waste Management Services. Good luck to Lynne in her future endeavors!

  3. Follow Up to October's Meeting

    Presentations at staff meetings: Waste Management staff is always available to present or talk at staff meetings about recycling at the University in general or address specific recycling questions and issues. Waste Management will also prepare articles for newsletters, pamphlets, or fliers for posting.

    Recycling Video on Recycling Website: Members expressed interest at the October meeting to have the video "Recycling is Easy, Make it Second Nature" put up on the website. We are currently working on this and hope to have to video available for viewing on our website in the near future. The video is now available for viewing. There is a link from the main page, www.recycle.umich.edu, under the News and Updates section.

    Financial Savings from Recycling: At October's meeting there was interest in how much money the University saves by recycling. For the 2005 fiscal year, UM saved $41,250 by recycling rather than landfilling materials. This figure is based on disposal costs and does not include labor.

    REdU Email Group: We have created a REdU email group, REdU-email (get address) (38.107.191.116). Members can feel free to post questions to the group. If you would not like to be included on this list, just email Recycling (get address) (38.107.191.116) and we will remove you. If you know of anyone who would like to be included, also email us and let us know.

  4. Plastics, Why are they so difficult?
    Types of plastics that can be recycled at UM
    • Only #1 and #2 plastics
    • Must be jar or bottle-shaped (neck smaller than the body)

    What types of plastics can't be recycled at UM?
    • Cannot recycle #'s 3-7 (no matter what shape they are)
    • #1 and #2 plastics that are not bottle or jar-shaped (yogurt cups, frozen meal trays, etc.)

    How can you tell if a #1 or #2 plastic is recyclable?
    • Do the twist test; if the top twists on or off, it is recyclable
    • If the tops pops off, it is not recyclable
    • No top at all? It is not recyclable

    Why the difference between plastics?
    • Different plastics have different chemical compositions
    • Even #1's and #2's can be different
      • #2 bottle vs #2 yogurt cup
      • blown-molded vs. injection molded

  5. Recycling Matters
    Recycling Matters is a bi-annual informational guide published by Waste Management Services. Waste Management is extending the invitation for a REdU member to write an article (100-150 words) for the next issue. The topic can be of your choosing - waste problem in your building and how you solved it, praises or (constructive) criticism of WMS, thoughts on REdU, or whatever you want. The article will be due by Monday, March 6. We will send hard copies and/or electronic copies of the next issue to all members.

  6. Discussion
    Waste Management is looking to expand food waste composting on campus. Currently, five residence halls and two locations in Pierpont participate, but other locations in University Housing and the University Unions are interested. Waste Management will be meeting with the City of Ann Arbor soon to see if and by how much we can expand the program. We should have answers on this by this coming fall. The Washtenaw County Drop-Off Station, currently located on Ellsworth at Platt will be building a new facility off of Platt Rd. (will be internal to the Materials Recovery Facility). It is planned to be built and open in the fall of 2007. The DOS currently accepts recyclables that cannot be put in bins or in curb carts (polystyrene, CD's, etc.)

  7. Next Meeting
    Meetings will now be bi-monthly. Our next meeting will be April 18th from 2-3 pm, location TBA.

  8. Adjourn

March, 2006

Please direct questions and comments to Recycling (get address) (38.107.191.116).

*This website is intended for use by University of Michigan faculty, staff and students. Please keep questions limited to recycling and waste disposal within the University and Washtenaw County.

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