Truth or Myth: Talking Trash on Recycling

Posted on by Patricia Beaumont

“Why should I bother recycling? It all ends up in the
dumpster anyway!” It is almost impossible to talk about recycling at the
University, be it with students, faculty or staff, without this rumor
surfacing. In nearly every area on University property, there are three
separate bins available: paper, plastics/metal/glass, and trash, with the
responsibility on individuals to separate their own waste. People then see
maintenance staff collecting all waste, recyclables as well as trash, all at
once, sometimes even into the same bin. They assume that when the carefully
separated recyclables are collected this way, they must not be staying
separate.

Luckily, this one is a myth! Here’s why: In many University
locations, Environmental Services staffers use tandem carts, with a different
bin for trash and recyclables. In these places, it is clear that the items are
sorted. However, in many River Campus and other University locations, these
bins are not available. In these cases, all waste material is placed into one
bin when it is collected, but it does not stay that way for long. Material is
then separated when it is brought to the collection containers to be picked up
by Waste Management.

Still don’t believe us? In 2010, recycling and reuse for the
entire University community (River Campus, the Medical Center, Eastman School
of Music, and the Memorial Art Gallery) reached 32.2% of total waste stream, an
increase of more than 19% since 2006. Good luck talking trash about that.

Blog written by Grace Interlichia, Class of 2014

Sources:

http://www.facilities.rochester.edu/sustainability/milestone2010.shtml

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4 Replies to “Truth or Myth: Talking Trash on Recycling”

  1. It is important to preserve the environment. We are part of the ecosystem and all the waste which are generated people are responsible. Universities save money if they put more bins to collect the trash separately. They don’t spend money with people to separate after collecting the bins.

  3. I agree the every university not have the separate bins for different material. And the recycling of this material is depend on the university. That not the student duty to check the material is recycle or not.

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