When students returned to campus this semester, a reorganized recycling policy awaited them. According to organizers the new approach incorporates steps to promote an environmentally efficient lifestyle and is relatively easy to follow.
“We are educating everyone about all of the places you can recycle at, and what you can recycle,” said Associate Director of the Environmental Health and Safety Department Bill Nelligan. “Now we’re all doing it the same way.”
The student-run Environmental Organizers Network (EON) has also been active in addressing recycling issues on campus.
“EON pushed long and hard last year for Wes to step up its recycling program,” said Albert Hill ’07, a member of EON. “I hope the University will work towards having a comprehensive composting program to complement the new recycling program.”
Each recycling bin on campus has been labeled with the materials that should be placed in it. According to Nelligan, working with a new recycling company has revised the items that fall into each group.
“We are working with a new company, Recycle America, who bought out our old recycling vendor,” Nelligan said. “The category of ‘mixed paper’ has expanded from what it used to be. Now, pretty much anything paper can go in, including milk and juice cartons.”
Nelligan explained that the main issue with regards to maintaining the effectiveness of the recycling program on campus is the abundance of trash contamination in recycling bins.
“We need help keeping contamination low,” he said. “A lot of recycling gets to the recycler contaminated with trash, so it gets thrown out. We have issued a ‘Clear Bag Policy’ in all containers, which should be in place in the next few weeks. Bins with clear bags are for recycling, not trash.”
According to the Wesleyan Recycles website, all academic and administrative buildings should have sets of blue recycling bins designated for mixed paper, newspaper, and bottles and cans. In the dorms, the aforementioned recyclables also have labeled bins for their disposal. Malcolm X House, 202 Washington, 230 Washington, 344 Washington, and 356 Washington participate in the campus’s recycling program. Cardboard, boxboard/paperboard, and Styrofoam must be taken to specific locations listed online, like dumpsters placed outside the Campus Center or Science Tower.
Program houses and all senior houses have their recyclable items collected by the city of Middletown. There are also 95 outdoor recycling bin locations throughout campus, distributed among housing locations and frequently-trafficked buildings.
The new plan is the result of over a year of work between the Administration, Nelligan, and the Recycling Committee, specifically Leslie Starr, a member of the Education Sub-Committee. The Recycling Committee is comprised of seven students, six faculty members, and seven staff members.
“What is making the whole program work is getting [participation] from all parts of campus,” Nelligan said.
According to EON member Jacob Mirsky ’08, it was decided early last year that the Recycling Committee should be reorganized because of the poor state of the recycling program at the present. “As a result of strong efforts from committed members of the [Recyling Committee], several improvements were made in accordance with a rough strategic plan for revitalizing the system,” Mirsky said.
Many students have taken well to the new program, as recycling bins are placed more prominently and in more locations around campus.
“The new recycling system streamlines efficiency while drawing to the attention of the campus the important environmental aspects of recycling,” said Asia Neupane ’09. “It makes people more aware of the environmental issues attached to recycling.”
Pamphlets distributed to all students outline the increased emphasis on this new policy, specifying exactly which materials and products are recyclable and which are not. The pamphlet also provides students with information on ways to save energy, reduce waste production and reuse certain items.
The details of the recycling program are outlined at www.wesleyan.edu/recycling.
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