This past Wednesday Waste Management, Woosterís new waste removal vendors, sent Major Account Representative Scott Colvin and Account Manager Dick Kuralt to give a presentation on the new waste removal processes at the College.
ìWe want to be more than just the people that pick up your waste,” said Colvin. ìWe want to establish a relationship with the school and help reduce its waste.”
Colvin said Waste Management wanted to raise the percentage of recycled waste at the College as high as possible. Among other efforts, Colvin stated during his presentation that Waste Management converts methane gas from landfills into useable energy.
ìWaste Management competitively bid for the contract for waste removal and recycling for The College of Wooster. They were one of four companies asking to submit a bid, and they were the winning selection,” said Director of Campus Grounds Beau Mastrine. ìThey had all of the resources we were looking for that we wanted to implement on campus. They were very upfront about wanting to build a strong relationship and partnership with us that extended well beyond the dollars of the contract.”
The partnership with Waste Management started July 1, 2009 and has been running smoothly for the last seven months. Presentations like this one have become fairly regular since the partnership started, but Colvin hopes to keep doing them to raise attendance and awareness.
ìCurrently, the challenges we face have to do with lack of student and faculty awareness and participation,” said Colvin. ìWeíve done these and turnouts have been okay, and other times theyíve been poor.”
ìBut weíre eager to work with all involved in the process,” added Kuralt.
The biggest problem they wanted students to be aware of was that the change in waste removal vendors means trash needs to be sorted. ìThere are still a lot of students and faculty who think we can still throw everything into one container, and we want to correct that.”
Kuralt explained that the process involves people hand-picking recyclables off a conveyer belt, and that leaving trash in the recyclables hinders their ability to reach items that can be recycled.
ìOur new single stream recycling program is far more efficient than the previous setup,” said Mastrine, when asked why the College switched vendors.
During their presentation, Colvin and Kuralt listed the objects that could and could not be recycled by WM for clarity. Objects that should be thrown in recycling bins include water bottles, soda bottles, detergent containers, salad dressing containers, milk jugs, plastic cups, tupperware, office paper, junk mail, tin cans, aluminum cans, glass (clear, green or brown) and paper coffee cups. Colvin specified that the liner, cup and lid of a coffee cup can all be recycled.
Objects that canít be recycled include stretch wrap and plastic bags (which clog the sorting machines), pizza boxes, wood, plastic banding, styrofoam, tarps, automotive parts, tires, PVC piping, light bulbs, window glass, clothes hangers, vinyl siding, unnumbered plastics, ziplock bags, ceramics, mirrors, porcelain, computers and silverware.
Batteries will eventually be considered recyclable on campus, said Colvin. Waste Management plans to fill residence halls with drop-off points for used batteries, which the custodial staff can take to the service center at the physical plant where they can be recycled.
Questions regarding what can be recycled at the College can be sent to recycling@wooster.edu. More information on WM can be found at www.wm.com.