Dialog, UA Faculty and Staff News

Throw It Away, We Pay: UA Recycling Program Makes a Comeback

Willie David loads up UA's recycled materials on his daily pick up route.

By Joanna C. Hutt

When you throw away instead of recycling that computer paper and mixed office paper, those aluminum drink cans and newspapers, the University pays. We all pay environmental costs as well. It seems recycling makes good cents and sense, reason enough for UA faculty and staff to get involved with recycling on campus.

Scott Elliott, assistant director of logistics and property management and UA's manager of recycling, would agree. "It costs the University money not to recycle," he said. "Throwing materials and waste away to be dumped in the landfill costs in tippage fees, usually charged by weight."

About 18 months ago UA's recycling program hit a bump that has since been overcome, and faculty and staff likely have noticed some changes since last summer. Waste Recycling Inc., the local business UA sells to because it accepts all the kinds of recycled materials, began complaining about the level of trash mixed in with the recycled materials. "In a bag of aluminum cans or box of mixed office paper, there would be trash people had dropped in, like lunch leftovers, gum and gum wrappers, Kleenex,"said Elliott. "The business stopped accepting our materials, and we had to stop the program."

Last summer, the recycling program geared back up with new blue bins and liners and more specific instructions for recycling computer paper and mixed office paper. Individual desk boxes for mixed office paper have instructions printed on them. The blue bins and liners are for collecting paper. The custodial staff takes the liners to a drop-off area in a building, where it stays until Willie Davis makes his run to that particular site.

Offices can request bins for recycling aluminum cans and office paper. The University is paid for all the materials it takes to Waste Recycling Inc. but is paid better for some materials than for others. "We get paid the most for clean computer paper, and we get most of that from Seebeck Computer Center," said Elliott. "We get the least for newspaper."

The University recycles metals, but not in the blue bins, since it is not yet part of the program. "We're under contract with a scrap metal business, and departments that have scrap metal put it in the bins behind the air conditioning shop on campus," said Elliott. Vendors then pick up the metal and pay for it. The property control office tracks the poundage.

The University does not recycle plastics or magazines yet, and although it eventually sells the plastics, Waste Recycling doesn't pay anything to receive it. The city of Tuscaloosa collects it and other materials, including magazines, at pick-up sites, generally located at fire stations. The nearest station to UA is on Paul Bryant Drive near the Alabama Credit Union.

Elliott said awareness levels about recycling are going up. He asks that everyone on campus get involved. "Get in our program; call us," he said. "Help us to collect clean, recyclable materials."

Next on the recycling agenda is cardboard. "We hope to get a route up and running by mid-fall semester, and we are asking everyone to help us get it started," Elliott said.

Can composting be far behind? "The city of Tuscaloosa is looking at a program for composting, and we might learn enough from its experience to make composting work for UA," Elliott said. He has helped get a coalition of recycling program heads together, from Northport, DCH, Tuscaloosa, the VA hospital and others to talk about problems, about "how to," and ideas for working together. "We're brainstorming about using a hotline number, other materials to recycle and other topics," he said.

For information about the program, pick-up schedules, getting extra bins or other issues, contact Elliott at 348-7501 or e-mail selliott@fa.ua.edu.