By Cole Strzelecki
The United States’ national recycling rate was only 32% as of November 2020. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the average American person will produce about 5.91 pounds of trash daily, and only about 1.51 pounds will be recycled. These rates show that a concerning lack of recycling is happening in the U.S., which could cause a slew of global issues in the near future. With all of this in mind, it is good to know that Western New England University is doing its part to help the recycling cause.
At our University, the Facilities Team provides many means to recycle across campus. There are blue bins placed in University offices and classrooms that accept mixed paper and some in residence halls that take mixed paper, bottles, and cans. There are also collection centers in residence halls for inkjet and LaserJet cartridges and a center for cell phones at the Facilities Management building across from the tennis courts.
The items accepted at those locations aren’t the only ones Facilities Management takes. They are involved with recycling items like fluorescent light bulbs, rechargeable batteries, many types of electronics, hazardous waste, yard waste, and many other substances. “Our goal is to pull out as much recyclable material as possible from solid waste,” Assistant Director of Facilities Management Christopher Freitag informed.
When Freitag first came into his position, not much recycling was happening at our University. However, the facilities team, at the time, found that companies wanted Western New England University’s recycling, and thus our University began its recycling campaign. It started with recycling paper and cardboard but has expanded from there into the previously mentioned list.
As time went on, Massachusetts laws began requiring that facilities start making steps towards recycling. Our University was often ahead of the game. For example, in 2013, Western New England University implemented composting food waste. The year after, composting became a requirement at any education facility.
With all these different materials taken in, the facilities team makes sure that everything is disposed of properly. This process involves carefully following the state regulations about how each material gets recycled. Their primary method of doing this is by segregating recycling streams to avoid contamination between certain materials. If the material does get contaminated, it becomes more difficult to recycle and risks improperly being recycled.
Contamination of recyclable materials turns out to be a more common issue than it would seem. There was a time when there were recycling bins in every dorm on campus. However, contamination occurred more often due to students accidentally mixing recyclable materials that shouldn’t be that way. Because of this, it became harder to segregate and recycle materials, so the facilities management team had to change their system to one where they do most of the sorting themselves.
Despite these results, the facilities management team still wants to get students more involved. “We used to have a recycling committee on campus that got students more involved with the process,” Freitag mentioned, “we’d like to get that back together at some point.” He also brought up how our University had clubs that also got involved.
At the end of the day, though, the facilities management team’s primary goal is to find ways to become more sustainable and make things energy efficient. They aim not only to reduce the University’s carbon footprint, but to make sure they are doing their part for the collective and community off-campus. “We’ve looked into upgrading the campus’ buildings and their cooling systems,” explained Timothy Keefe, the new Manager of Safety and Environmental Affairs. “We’ve even had an evaluation done to the campus to see if we could go solar. But that process is only in its early stages.”
The facilities management team does so much for the environment, and they want the residents of Western New England University to know about it. If everyone gets involved with the recycling effort, the team can accomplish more than they already do. Next time you go to throw something out, think about if it is recyclable. If it is, then you have the opportunity to do a simple, positive thing!
