RECYCLING CENTER FEASIBILITY STUDY

Transcription

1 RECYCLING CENTER FEASIBILITY STUDY INDIANA UNIVERSITY OFFICE OF SUSTAINABILITY SUMMER 2009 MELISSA GREULICH SPEA, MSES CANDIDATE STEVE AKERS RESIDENTIAL PROGRAMS AND SERVICES

2 Table of Contents 1 Background Current Recycling Operations Building Services Indiana Memorial Union Residential Programs and Services Recycling Center Off Campus Recycling Program Recycling Center Purpose Recycling Center Methods Student Survey Methods Results Conclusions Campus Program Assessment Program Operations Indoor Bins Outdoor Bins Miscellaneous Improvements Recommendations Recycling Center Campus Recycling Program

3 1 Background Indiana University (IU) produces approximately 4,800 4,900 tons of waste per year, of which approximately tons is recycled, comprising % of the Indiana University waste stream. Recyclable commodities are taken to or picked up by Hoosier Disposal, where they are then sold and transported to private vendors. Non-recycled materials are picked up or taken to Hoosier Disposal who transports them to the National Serv-All landfill in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Recycling rates at IU are modest compared to other state universities the same size. Penn State recycles an incredible amount of 48% of its waste stream; University of Wisconsin recycles 28%; Purdue recycles 24.9% of their waste stream. IU can obviously make improvements and increases in the amounts of materials recycled. This is also made apparent when evaluating the waste material found in IU s trash cans. A recent study by an IU Office of Sustainability intern concluded approximately 50% of trash in IU residence halls could be recycled. These numbers suggest a disconnect exists between students and faculty present on campus and the recycling program in place. If everyone understood proper recycling practices and if an adequate program was in place, perhaps recycling rates would increase and the amount of recyclable material found in trash bins would decrease. 1.1 Current Recycling Operations The recycling program in place at IU consists of three divisions that operate separately from one another. Building services, the Memorial Union, and Residential Programs and Services all have distinct operations that are managed individually. The division was made so that each system may choose an operation that works best. Although this decision was made long ago, unification of the system has been proposed to increase system efficiency and consistency. 3

4 1.1.1 Building Services The building services department accommodates to nearly 170 campus buildings, excluding residence halls and apartments and the Memorial Union, for recycling and waste disposal. Plastic, aluminum, cardboard, and mixed paper are collected from 22- gallon bins and commingled in totes located in the rear of buildings. Recyclables are commingled due to a lack of enough totes to separate bags of materials. Labor associated with separating materials may also play a role. Waste is collected from large totes located in the rear of buildings. One tote holds recyclables and the others hold trash. Totes were purchased in the past, and therefore do not require a monthly fee for rental. Two packer trucks are leased yearly to collect recyclables and trash at different times of day. Waste is then transported to a local, private contractor, Hoosier Disposal. Hoosier Disposal awards building services with a small savings of approximately $2,000 from aluminum products recycled. An exemption from recyclable material tipping fees is also awarded and generates a cost savings of approximately $32,800 $36,800 per year Indiana Memorial Union The Memorial Union (IMU) handles waste strictly generated at the union facility. Hoosier disposal collects their trash and recyclables from rented totes. Hoosier disposal charges a monthly fee for collection and transport of materials and tote rental. The IMU does not commingle recyclable materials. Materials collected and sorted are: plastic, glass, mixed paper, cardboard, steel, and aluminum. Hoosier Disposal reduces rental and pick-up rates for the IMU in exchange for the profit made off of recyclables Residential Programs and Services Residential Programs and Services (RPS) operate similarly to the IMU; Hoosier Disposal collects waste and recyclables from Hoosier Disposal rented totes and transfers them to their facility. Recycled material is completely sorted into cardboard, glass, plastic and 4

5 aluminum, mixed paper, and newspaper. Hoosier Disposal discounts tote rental fee and eliminates pick-up costs in exchange for the profits made from recyclables. 2 Recycling Center 2.1 Off Campus Recycling Program Approximately 8,600 curbside recycling programs exist in the United States, with one of them being located in Bloomington (EPA 2007). Although the curbside program allows many residents of Bloomington to recycle, others are not eligible for curbside pick up due to a city ordinance. According to Bloomington s Municipal Code Title , curbside recycling pick-up is provided to tenants living in buildings with less than four units. The city is prohibited to pick up trash or recyclables from units that violate this code. Therefore, private companies, such as Hoosier Disposal, are hired to pick up waste from these apartments. Although Hoosier Disposal may receive income from picking up recycling at such units, employees have commented that they opt out of collecting recyclables from student apartment complexes because of high contamination of recycling with trash. Landlords of the complexes are assumed to not invest in recycling totes or pick-up because of the contamination and the need to increase already high rental rates. The situation leaves students living in off-campus housing with only a few options for recycling. Some choose to not recycle at all and throw all waste into a landfill-destined trash bag. Others may choose to drive to the Monroe County Solid Waste Management (MCSWM) drop off site located on South Walnut Street. Those without cars however, are stuck with the first option even if they desire to divert their waste from the landfill. Quite often the task of driving waste across town is greatly inconvenient for students, resulting in recyclable material in the trash. 5

6 2.2 Recycling Center Purpose Creating a place where students may drop off recyclables in an on campus location is key to solving the issue of landfilling recyclables at student housing. A recycling center would allow students to drop off common items such as glass, plastic, and aluminum and hazardous waste materials such as motor oil and antifreeze. Students would also be able to drop off reusable items such as books and paint for other students to take for free. Such a facility could also provide an educational component that informs students of the trash lifecycle. Many students are uneducated about the environmental stress created from continually producing new materials that hold goods they consume. The consequences of landfilling recyclable items, such as contaminates leaching into drinking water and affecting environmental and human health, would also be highlighted. Informing students of these issues ideally would help reduce their excessive use of such items. 2.3 Recycling Center Methods The prospect of creating a recycling center on campus was discussed in numerous meetings with representatives from the Indiana University Office of Sustainability, Building Services, RPS, and the IMU. Although the idea was attractive to some, others had reservations due to past IU material recovery facility (MRF) failures. Discussion of the costs and benefits of the MRF lasted much of spring semester Many benefits were calculated, such as the potential for IU to receive compensation for materials collected. Many costs associated with the recycling center were also highlighted; however, many of the costs were only present in the initial start up year. As the summer began, news of the county s interest in building its own MRF spread to individuals at IU. This idea was of interest to the university because the current contract with Hoosier Disposal does not provide many benefits to the IU recycling program. Rental rates, pick up rates and tipping fees are discounted, but many have questioned whether these discounts amount to the potential savings the university could receive from the amount of recyclable materials generated. Discussion of whether the university would 6

7 receive more benefits through discounted tote rates and reimbursement for commodities made the proposal appear more attractive. A recycling summit meeting was arranged between numerous players in the initiative. Representatives from IU departments included: RPS, the Office of Sustainability, Building Services, Purchasing, and the IMU. Representatives from Monroe County Solid Waste Management, Bloomington Township, and the Green Business Network also participated. This meeting outlined the costs and benefits of creating the MRF and how the facility could be managed and maintained. A second summit meeting has been planned for August 2009 to discuss the compensations IU may receive for the recyclables brought to the MRF. A recent meeting in the Bloomington Courthouse outlined the business plan of the MRF and stated the facility could be up and running within 60 days of construction. 3 Student Survey 3.1 Methods The survey was created and distributed to students May 2009 through online survey software, Survey Monkey. Surveys were circulated by representatives in Residential Programs and Services, the greek community and the Student Action Council. RPS and greek community representatives sent a link to the survey in s. The Student Action Council posted a link to the survey on their weekly newsletter for approximately one month. A sample of students living in different campus areas was a goal of the survey since methods of recycling practiced at the various sites differ. As previously mentioned, most off campus student housing apartments do not have recycling programs available unless the building has less than four units. Most greek houses participate in recycling, however a subset of them choose not to offer recycling. The residence halls have an extensive program that offers labeled recycling bins around the residence halls (Figure 1 & 2). 7

8 2 1 Figure 1 & 2. Wright Residence Hall food court recycling kiosk (1) with labeling and examples of items to recycle and throw in the trash (2). A total of sixteen questions were created; questions were divided into three sections. The recycling background section began the survey and gathered information on the students environmental awareness and their family s involvement with recycling in their home before moving to Bloomington. The next section obtained information about recycling at the students Bloomington home. Lastly, section three acquired student opinions about the on campus recycling program. 3.2 Results Sixteen questions were asked, however only questions of great importance were outlined in the results section. Percentage of Individuals 40% 35% 34.1% 30% 22.2% 25% 20% 23.8% 19.8% 15% 10% 5% 0% Very Inconvenient Somewhat Convenient Convenient Very Convenient Figure 3. Histogram of student responses to question 7: Rate the convenience of recycling at your residence in Bloomington (n=126). 8

9 Students were asked to indicate the convenience of recycling at their house, apartment, dorm, or greek residence in Bloomington, IN (Figure 3). Convenience of recycling was based on a rating scale of one to four with one being very inconvenient and four being very convenient. The majority of students rated their recycling program for home to be very inconvenient (n = 43). The average of convenience on the 4-point scale was 2.33 rating. 3.6% 7.1% Yes No Do Not Care 89.3% Figure 4. Pie Chart of student responses to question 9: If recycling is not offered at your Bloomington residence, would you like it to be? (n=56). Students were asked in question 9 if they would prefer to have a recycling program if they currently do not have one at their residence (Figure 4). The majority of students answered yes, they would like recycling to be offered at their residence (n=50). A small group did not care (n = 4) or did not want recycling to be offered (n = 2). 9

10 Percentage of Individuals 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 6.8% 60.2% 25.4% 7.6% 0% Very Somewhat Inconvenient Inconvenient Convenient Very Convenient Figure 5. Histogram of responses to question 10: Rate the convenience of recycling on campus (n = 118). Students were asked in question 10 to rate the convenience of campus recycling on a scale of one to four, with one being very inconvenient and four being very convenient (Figure 5). Most students indicated that recycling on campus was only somewhat convenient with an average rating of 2.34 (n = 71). Approximately one quarter of the responses indicated recycling on campus was convenient (n = 30). 10% 11% Yes No No Opinion 79% Figure 6. Pie chart of student responses to question 12: Is there a need for more recycling bins in campus buildings? (n = 118). 10

11 4.2% 4.2% Yes No No Opinion 91.6% Figure 7. Pie chart of student responses to question 13: Is there a need for more recycling bins outdoors on campus grounds? (n = 118). As question 10 indicated, convenience of recycling on campus is only somewhat convenient. In question 12 and 13, the survey attempted to find where the inconvenience existed by asking if more recycling bins were needed in campus buildings and outside on campus grounds (Figures 6 & 7). The majority of students suggested that more recycling bins were need inside university buildings (n = 94). Students also agreed that recycling bins were needed outdoors on campus (n = 108). 11

12 Percentage of Individuals 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% 0.8% 1.7% 16.1% Never Sometimes Most of the time 81.4% Always Figure 8. Histogram of student responses to question 14: If there were recycling bins available next to most trash bins, how often would you recycle? (n = 118). In question 14, students were asked how much they would recycle if recycling bins were available near trash bins (Figure 8). The majority of students (n = 96) indicated they would always recycle if recycling bins were conveniently located next to trash bins, while a small percentage said they would never (n = 1) or only sometimes (n = 2) recycle. 1.7% 24.8% 73.5% Yes Maybe No Figure 9. Pie chart of student responses to question 16: Do you believe recycling in the Indiana University area (on- campus housing, off- campus housing, in campus buildings, and outdoors on campus grounds) needs to be improved? (n = 119). 12

13 Lastly, students were asked in question 16 if the overall recycling program at IU needs improvement (Figure 9). Most students agreed that the program needs improvement (n = 89) whereas a small subset did not believe the program needs any improvement (n = 2). 3.3 Discussion Overall, results from the survey indicate many students are dissatisfied with the current IU recycling program. Students surveyed believe recycling bins in buildings and outdoors on campus grounds are inconvenient. Many students agreed they would always recycle if bins were conveniently located next to trash bins. However, only 126 students were surveyed out of approximately 40,000 that attend IU. Therefore results may or may not be representative of a larger population of IU students. One detail that must be examined is the population that voluntarily answered the survey. With an overwhelming response in agreement that the recycling program needs improvement, it is likely that those more inclined to take a recycling survey are those that are most interested in the subject matter. Therefore, the response may be biased towards more environmentally-minded individuals whose opinions are environmentally concerned. Although this may be true, some open-ended responses to questions lead me to believe not all who answered were environmentally conscious. Numerous respondents indicated they would not carry a bottle with them until they found a recycling bin to put it in. Others also stated that recycling was not a priority to them, but if made convenient, they would participate. 3.3 Conclusion Overall, results from the student survey that recycling programs on and off campus at Indiana University need improvement. Only a small subset of students were surveyed, yet an overwhelming response indicates the current recycling programs is not up to par. The survey has driven the current recycling internship to also include on campus recycling practices in its efforts to improve recycling convenience for students. Off 13

14 campus recycling improvements will still be pursued in the form of creating a recycling center that allows student use while also maximizing benefits for the university. 4 Campus Program Assessment 4.1 Program Operations The operations between the three recycling divisions has created redundancy and incurred additional, unnecessary costs. For instance, the building services division collects recyclables from all campus buildings, besides residence halls and the IMU, and brings them to Hoosier Disposal. RPS and the IMU however have Hoosier Disposal pick up all of their recyclable material. It is redundant for Hoosier Disposal to drive onto campus to pick up items while building services packer trucks are driving from campus to Hoosier Disposal already. Unifying such operations may come in the next year with the renegotiation of IU s contract with Hoosier Disposal and the possibility of joining the proposed county MRF. The Green Business Network collects recyclables from many businesses around town and may cater to IU if the university chooses to join the MRF. Hiring the Green Business Network will likely be compared to the cost of IU leasing more packer trucks to accommodate to all university recycling divisions in order to determine which choice is best financially. 4.2 Indoor Bins Recycling bins exist in nearly every building on campus. Bins collect commingled glass (only in RPS), plastic and aluminum, newsprint, and mixed paper. Departments may purchase bins through Onestart or at a local store. Therefore, a variety of recycling bins exist some of which may slightly resemble trash bins. Signage on recycling bins is required and is executed in a variety of fashions in different buildings. Simple pieces of copy paper with recycling related labels are used in some instances (Figure 10) while other buildings have bins with signage directly printed on the bins (Figure 11). Proper signage may play a key role in whether students participate in recycling. Inconspicuous 14

15 or indistinguishable signage may lead students to believe a trash bin is a recycling bin and vice versa Figures 10 & 11. Simple copy paper signage on tall boy bins found in Woodburn Hall (1). Signage printed on recycling bins found in the Indiana Memorial Union (2). Numerous styles, sizes and colors of recycling bins exist from building to building, leaving students with classes in more than one facility slightly confused. Without a universal recycling bin around campus, students are left without an identifiable recycling image for the university. For instance, a student walking into Wells Library may not notice the white cardboard containers used for collecting recyclables because they are only familiar with the School of Public and Environmental Affairs maroon and green labeled recycling bins. If the student cannot identify the bin from across the room, it is unlikely they will search for a recycling bin in the building. Buying new recycling bins was contemplated; however this notion would be very expensive and funding for the project is currently unavailable. Also, purchasing thousands of new, matching recycling bins would create an excess of old recycling bins that would not have a purpose once displaced. This would contradict the idea of sustainability the university is encouraging. Although new bins were not purchased a set of guidelines were made for departments to read before they invest in new recycling bins for their building. The guidelines outline qualities a recycling bin should possess in order to maximize use and efficiency. The document created will ideally be posted on the IU Office of Sustainability s webpage for all to view. 15

16 Placement of recycling bins is also critical to student participation. Often, recycling and trash bins are individually located throughout campus buildings. If a student does not see the proper bin for the waste he or she is carrying, it is probable that the waste will go in whatever bin is available (Figures 13 & 14). Data collected from the More Art, Less Trash outdoor recycling bin program indicated that in order to maximize the usefulness of trash or recycling bins, they must be placed in convenient locations and both types of bins must be positioned next to one another. Often, recycling bins located in heavy pedestrian traffic areas were overflowing with materials. Also, contamination of recycling bins occurred more often when recycling bins were alone and vice versa for trash cans. When both a recycling bin and a trash bin were next to each other, nearly zero contamination occurred Figures 13 & 14. A lone trash bin in the School of Public and Environmental Affairs (1) accumulates a water bottle and a plastic bag (2), both of which are recyclable. 4.3 Outdoor Bins Outdoors on campus grounds there are trash bins yet recycling bins are absent (Figure 15). Once a year, the More Art, Less Trash competition displays student crafted artwork on a dozen recycling bins that are then placed outside by Volunteers in Sustainability members for 2-3 months. Bins are placed in high pedestrian traffic areas and next to outdoor trash bins. New developments have been made over the summer 16

17 with the university Landscape Architect s department by testing a few recycling bin models effectiveness and efficiency on campus. Ideally, the tests will be finished before the school year and bins will be distributed throughout campus during the fall semester. Funding has been allocated for the project, however the project has not been completed. Recycling bins outdoors need to be made a priority for IU seeing how the campus is highly pedestrian-orientated. Figure 15. One of the many trash bins outdoors on campus grounds. Notice no recycling bin nearby. 4.4 Miscellaneous Improvements Without unified recycling bins around campus, students cannot recognize a universal color or image with recycling on IU s campus. Therefore, another initiative was created to construct appliqués for all recycling bins on campus. The stickers would all have the same recognizable recycling logo and could fit any recycling bin on campus. Stickers would also have to indicate items that can be thrown into the designated recycling bin. The project is still underway, and although funding has not been identified, the feasibility of the project is more realistic since the stickers would cost much less than purchasing new recycling bins. Meetings with IU licensing and trademarks have occurred so that restrictions on using the IU logo are understood. Meetings are proposed to occur with designers within the next month. Funding for the project will ideally come from the three separate recycling divisions; residential programs and services and building services has 17

18 already committed to funding the stickers for recycling bins located in their buildings. Volunteers in Sustainability has already committed to assisting with the distribution of the stickers on to recycling bins. In the end, a policy requiring the stickers on all bins would be best. An initiative to implement sustainable practices into orientation events has also been embraced. The School of Public and Environmental Affairs has planned sustainable practices for their graduate school orientation, which includes providing recycling bins and composting at all meals supplied by the school. Also, use of plastic water bottles is minimized by only allowing students one water bottle at the beginning of the week and encouraging reuse of the bottle or bringing one s own water bottle. Freshman orientation hoped to implement sustainable practices into events, however no educational event has been planned for the year. 5 Recommendations 5.1 Recycling Center Continue discussion of joining the County Material Recovery Facility. Create a study comparing the benefits of joining the County MRF versus keeping the present contract with Hoosier Disposal. Consider establishing satellite sites throughout campus that collect recyclables dropped off by students that do not have curbside. 5.2 Campus Recycling Program Pursue recycling bin logo creation and the distribute stickers with the logo to all recycling bins. Implement recycling education into freshmen orientation. Increase campus-wide recycling awareness through advertising IU as a green campus that practices recycling. 18

19 Create a campus policy controlling what recycling bins are allowed for use on campus to ensure unification of recycling bins in all campus buildings in the future. Create a campus policy requiring all recycling bins to be labeled with an official recycling bin logo sticker. Pursue outdoor recycling bin project further and distribute recycling bins outdoors on campus grounds next to trash bins and in high pedestrian traffic areas. Conduct a waste audit on outdoor trash bins, collecting data on the amount of materials around the entire campus in outdoor trash bins that could potentially be recycled. Works Cited U.S. EPA: Municipal Solid Waste webpage. 19