America celebrates recycling
Recycling has economic, environmental benefitsBy GARRETT NEESE, DMG Writer
Article Photos
HOUGHTON - The standard recycling logo is an triangular loop of arrows. A graph showing the spread of recycling, on the other hand, is a steady upward line
According to the National Recycling Coalition, the national recycling rate improved from a low of 7.7 percent of waste in 1960 to today's rate of 33 percent.
Americans recycled and composted 85 million tons of the 254 million tons of total municipal solid waste produced last year, up slightly over 2006, according to a new Environmental Protection Agency report. The average American produced 4.6 pounds of trash per day, recycling or composting 1.5 pounds of them.
The EPA also promotes America Recycles Day, a day devoted to encouraging Americans to recycle. About 35 states are holding events related to the day, being celebrated this year on Saturday.
Recycling from aluminum and steel cans, plastic polyethylene terephthalate and glass containers, newsprint and corrugated packaging conserved an amount of energy in 2006 equal to the annual electricity usage of 17.8 million Americans, and last year prevented 35 million passenger vehicles' worth of greenhouse gas emissions, according to the EPA.
There have also been economic benefits, including an estimated 1 million jobs.
Michigan Technological University started its current recycling program about six years ago, said Andy Niemi, supervisor of the university's grounds department. The program includes recycling paper and cardboard, and is also being expanded to No. 2 and No. 3 plastic, and certain kinds of tin cans.
Over that time, Niemi said, there's been a definite improvement.
"In six years, we've gone from very little recycling to recycling 40 percent of our waste stream," he said.
To this point, Tech has collected 60-gallon containers from each building and consolidated it into a roll-off container. Next week, Niemi said, they will get two compactors on site from Waste Management, where the 60-gallon bins will be brought and compacted in a 40-yard container.
While there are additional manpower costs, Niemi said, "We're going to have some savings, no doubt about it."
The compactors will also enable them to take in a wider array of material, Niemi said.
"Once we get the compactors in place and useful, we'll be able to take 99 percent of the paper products on campus, all of the food service containers, a good huge portion of the food service-type refuse, paper, plastic, tin cans that all the food actually comes to the campus in, that's all going to be recycled, with this new program," he said.
Tech's program is only available to students, staff and faculty. For those elsewhere, Tech's Center for Science and Environmental Outreach maintains a list of places to take various recyclables in the Keweenaw at emml.mtu.edu/gem/community/recycle/Kew_recycling.htm. The site also includes information on household battery recycling and worm composting.
Since 2005, the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program has held collection days for unwanted household items through an EPA grant. Things brought in have included TVs, DVDs, record players, computers, cell phones and fluorescent light bulbs.
So far, they've collected more than 75 tons from more than 1,100 households, according to program director Barb Maronen.
The grant is set to expire in December, but Maronen is hopeful they'll be able to get an extension, or a new grant.
"It always depends on funding," she said. "We're continually looking for new funding sources. We're hoping to get a grant so we'll be able to do collections next year."
The benefits, Maronen said, are "providing an opportunity for people to dispose of their unwanted electronics in an environmentally friendly way, and just making sure that there's an option for people."
Garrett Neese can be reached at gneese@mininggazette.com.
