U of S Campus Launches New Recycling Program in WRW

To celebrate Waste Reduction Week in Canada 2006, the new U of S Campus Recycling Program was officially launched. This new campus-wide project has assembled a hodge-podge of recycling efforts into one unified program for recycling beverage containers. Led by several groups that previously carried out separate efforts, the new program will see recycling bins virtually everywhere on campus.

The Facilities Management Division, Consumer Services Division, the Department of Health, Safety and Environment, and the USSU have signed on to jointly manage the project. Throughout campus, about 70 new and refurbished recycling stations have been installed in most major buildings and in main thoroughfares. With the launch of this program, the U of S will join the ranks of universities throughout Canada that have campus-wide recycling. For instance, at the University of Manitoba, which has roughly the same population as the U of S, about 35 tonnes of material and an estimated 650,000 individual beverage containers are recycled each year.

Besides diverting things that can be recycled from the landfill, this program will save energy and natural resources and keep the campus clean. In addition, the program will employ students who have an environmental interest. After start-up costs are repaid, surpluses generated by the recycling program will be reinvested into small sustainability initiatives and into the expansion of the recycling program. The hope is that over time the program will expand to include other recyclable products such as batteries and cell phones. Over the long-term, food waste composting may also be considered.

The program will not infringe on student or staff groups who wish to continue to operate their own legitimate recycling initiatives.

To get involved with Campus Recycling or to find out more about the program, please contact Margret Asmuss, Sustainability Coordinator, at 306-966-1236.

[Adapted from a story in On Campus News in Dec. 2006 WasteWatch]

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