Elon University Waste Reduction and Recycling Manager Elon University
Elon, NC
Application deadline: open until filled
Bioethics In Practice (OTS-202) Course TA
Tufts University Somerville, MA
Application deadline: open until filled
The first weeks of May are always a hectic time around Tufts campus. As the weather gets warmer and classes end, students are busy with finals, commencement, and summer plans. At the Office of Sustainability, this means that it’s time to start helping with move-out! Every year, our goal is to promote easy, sustainable move out practices by providing donation stations across campus. Read on to learn about why and how we make sustainable move-out possible at Tufts!
Why does sustainable move-out matter?
By taking the time to recycle, reuse, and donate unwanted items during move-out, you can help reduce your impact on the environment by diverting items from the landfill and helping them find a new home. In 2021, we collected 9 tons of donations from students, meaning we kept 9 tons of move-out waste from going straight to the landfills!
Even better, our non-landfill disposal options help others at Tufts and beyond because almost all of the donations we receive from move out will go to students at the FIRST center, future Jumbos at our Back to School Sale this fall, or to other students and people in need of quality supplies through our other donation partnerships.
How do I donate my items?
We have three donation stations set up across campus: Haskell, Houston, and Hill Hall. Until May 23rd, you can drop off gently used unneeded items at your closest donation site, where they will be sorted by our staff and prepped for donation!
Where will your donations go?
Dorm room items: sheets, blankets, fans, mirrors, etc.
Unwanted clothing and textiles
Electronics
Crutches, Braces, and Splints
As the school year comes to a close and we begin the move out process, consider making your spring cleaning “green” by donating your unwanted items at one of our stations!
For a complete list of donatable and recyclable items, visit our Move Out Page.
Due to shifts in global recycling systems and high contamination levels of U.S. recyclable materials, the Massachusetts DEP has recently announced new recycling rules. One major change is that colored plastic cups will no longer be accepted in our recycling stream. However, clear plastic cups will still be taken. To avoid accidentally ending up with a colored cup, be sure to bring your own reusable cup the next time you buy a beverage on the go!
For details on the rules, view the visual guide below and check out the DEP’s website on their new guidelines.
Items that can be recycled such as hard plastic containers, yogurt cups and plastic bottles and jugs (with the caps on) as well as glass bottles MUST be emptied, cleaned, and dried before being placed in a recycling bin. Please do not put any items with food, food residue, or liquid still in them in the recycling bins.
Any kind of plastic film or plastic bags can not be placed in the recycling bins. This includes grocery bags, bubble wrap, flexible plastic packaging, saran wrap, zip lock bags, and styrofoam. These items get caught in the machinery used in sorting facilities and can cause breakdowns and even worker injuries.
These items go to the landfill. Do NOT place these items in the recycling bins.
Paper items
Cardboard
Plastic (even with recycling symbol)
Glass
It may seem counterintuitive to throw something out in order to support sustainability. However, it is much better to throw something out if you are unsure it can be recycled rather than contaminate the recycling with materials that can not be recycled. Please refer to the infographic below, but when in doubt, throw it out.
In addition, do not rely on the triangular recycling symbol found on many products. This symbol signifies that the material used in the product are physically able be recycled, but that does not meant that the waste infrastructure in your specific community has the capacity to recycle them.
For example, the sorting facility where recyclables from Tufts end up can not accept plastic bags, as they can damage the sorting equipment. However, companies like Trex take plastic bags and have a separate, special sorting facility where they can turn those bags into recycled outdoor decking materials and products.
On Thursday, August 2nd, 12 Eco-Ambassadors, two Office of Sustainability staff members and one intern visited the Casella Waste Systems Inc. Material Recovery Facility located in Charlestown, MA.
The visit was facilitated by Gretchen Carey, the Recycling & Organics Coordinator from Republic Services, Tufts’ waste hauler. Once we arrived at the facility, Mark Evans of Casella’s Commercial and Municipal Business Development Department explained the recycling process, what kinds of materials are processed at the facility, and the dos and don’ts of recycling.
A typical recycling lecture may simply end there. However, given China’s new policies about what recycled materials they will accept from the U.S. that has had a significant impact on the U.S. recycling industry, Mark spent a majority of the time explaining the current state of global recycling systems and what it means for the U.S.
Mark explained that 800 – 1000 tons of materials are processed at their facility each day. The facility does not have the capacity to store a large amount of materials at a time. After materials are sorted and baled, they get shipped to places that will take the recycled materials and use them to manufacture new products.
In recent years, around 90% of all recycled materials sorted by Casella were exported to China. This is different than when Mark first started working in the business, when only around 20% of the material was exported. Back then, a majority of the materials would go to domestic processing plants which have since been shut down due to China’s domination of the market.
In the last few months, China stopped accepting recycled materials from the U.S. due to the level of contamination of U.S. recycled materials. This is in large part due to their desire to increase implementation of environmental policies.
In the U.S., recycling has moved to be collected in a single stream in most locations, meaning that all recyclable items can be disposed of in a single container. The contents are then separated and processed in a plant like the one we visited. Contamination is an inherent problem with mixed recycling.
In recent years, due to the switch to automated waste collection, there is no one to physically monitor the items being hauled into the recycling trucks and delivered to the recycling plants. According to Mark, on average, the material that comes through Casella’s plant has a contamination level of around 10-20%.
One of the largest hits to Casella is associated with mixed paper – basically anything that is not cardboard or newspaper. Casella used to be able to sell mixed paper to Chinese companies for around $80-90 a ton. Now, they have to pay to get rid of it. As a result, Casella had to increase what they charge their customers for processing their recycling.
These changes were implemented so quickly that the U.S. industry has not had time to adapt. Gretchen mentioned that there was very little warning regarding China’s new policies. Last summer, they were notified that the level of contamination had to go down to 0.5%. By December, China started to implement this policy.
You can’t recycle electronics through regular recycling!
“They are just doing what should have been done years ago,” Mark commented, referring to China’s new, stricter regulations. However, now that China has made the switch, the U.S. also has to find ways to reduce contamination of recycled materials and increase outlets to recycle the material domestically.
Because of the single-stream and automated systems, it is imperative that individuals know what can and can’t be recycled and act accordingly. Gretchen and Mark both mentioned the phenomenon of “wish-cycling” or “aspiration recycling.” This is when someone thinks, “this seems recyclable, so maybe if I put it in the recycling bin it will get recycled.” If there is any doubt, it is better to simply put the items in the trash rather than to contaminate the recycling and increase labor for the workers in the recycling plants.
Materials like plastic film, cords, and other items that tangle easily in particular increase labor for workers at the plant, as they get wrapped around equipment used for sorting and compacting. The equipment is rendered useless until cleared.
Systemic changes also need to occur within the U.S. recycling industry to create more outlets for recycling. One solution is for individual companies to become outlets for specific materials.
If you are often on the Tufts Medford/Somerville campus, you have probably run into a Terracycle recycling bin. Tufts is part of Terracycle’s “Energy Bar Brigade.” Through this program, foil-lined energy bars collected get sent to Terracycle to be recycled and turned into new products. Because the materials collected are so specific and uniform, there is no contamination and it is easy to turn the materials into new products.
Similarly, recently, Tufts has recently started to look into putting out separate collection bins for plastic bags and film, which cannot go in the regular recycling stream. Once collected, these can be sent to Trex, an outdoor decking company. Trex is able to use the plastic film to create new eco-friendly products.
These kinds of new outlets for recyclable materials, if utilized, can help reduce contamination rates of single stream recycling.
Despite the bleakness of the past few months in the U.S. recycling industry, Mark noted that he is beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Recently, Nine Dragons, a Chinese paper milling company, announced that it will acquire two U.S.-based paper milling plants. This could open up domestic outlets for U.S. waste facilities to send recycling.
While this will definitely help the current disastrous situation for the U.S. recycling industry, one or two new domestic mills will not be enough to meet the demand for recycling outlets. Industries, companies, and vendors will increasingly be pushed to create products with recycled materials, or to take back materials that cannot be put in the regular waste streams.
All in all, the trip was an incredibly informative and enlightening experience that is sure to make all of the already environmentally-conscious Eco-Ambassadors even more attentive of what they place in their recycling bins.
According to a National Geographic article, 8.3 billion metric tons of plastic has been created since manufacturing of the material began six decades ago. The article also estimates that 91% of all plastic consumed around the world is not recycled.
As you may have seen on social media, many people have attempted to avoid using plastic products completely for the month of July, as a part of Plastic-Free July. Although July is coming to an end, that does not mean that we should abandon the effort to reduce our plastic consumption.
Here are just a few small changes you can make to reduce your consumption of plastic on a daily basis:
According to a 2017 article, “a million plastic bottles are bought around the world every minute.” That comes down to around 20,000 plastic bottles every second! Not only is using a reusable mug or water bottle a great way to reduce plastic consumption, it may also save you some money. Many coffee shops and other stores offer discounts to those who bring their own bottles and mugs.
As with reusable mugs and bottles, bringing your own reusable bag to grocery stores often gets you a discount. To take a step further, you can also purchase reusable mesh bags for produce instead of using the plastic bags available in the produce section of grocery stores.
Buying in bulk is not always feasible if you do not have many mouths to feed in your home. As an alternative, many grocery stores have bulk sections where you can purchase items like grains, nuts, spices and dried fruits from bulk bins in the exact quantities that you need. Bringing your own container and measuring out the exact amount of an item you need is a great way to eliminate both packaging waste and food waste – because are you really going to use up that large container of cardamom you bought to make curry that one time?
Whenever possible, try bringing your own utensils and plates to events and meetings where food may be served. For packed lunches, you could invest in a reusable sandwich or snack bag to replace single-use plastic bags. You could even try out beeswax wrap, an alternative to plastic wrap!
© 2024 Sustainability at Tufts
Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑
Find Us On Social Media!