Recycling has been a surprisingly hot topic on campus the past few months.   Since the infamous email sent out mid-September by Phil Scheurer (Vice President for Operations), everyone seems to want to know why and how the recycling system has changed.   As a person who advocates for a holistic recycling program on campus, and has dedicated two years towards making this happen, I think I can explain.   The current recycling program involves several parts.   To say that little is recycled at our university would be untrue.   Facilities Services runs a successful cardboard recycling program that employs two full time staff. Scrap metal, ash from coal burning, and scrap wood is also recycled through Facilities Services.   What is lacking on campus is a recycling program that allows students, faculty, and staff to easily recycle materials such as plastic bottles, aluminum cans, and newspapers in academic, administrative, and residential buildings.   The biggest problem with the recycling program is that it is currently a hodgepodge of programs, with no specific person held accountable for overseeing all of the recycling programs on campus.

In academic and administrative buildings, the 95-gallon recycling bins that were once visible all over campus have been confined to loading docks and closets.   This has been done for several reasons, one being an attempt to make our campus more aesthetically pleasing.   Although the bins must now be out of sight, they can still be used.   If your department would like to have a 95- gallon bin to recycle white paper, mixed paper, or newspaper it should find an adequate location to place the bin and contact Facilities Services.

S.P.E.A.K. (Students Promoting Environmental Action in Knoxville) has run two outdoor recycling centers for students living in residence halls for over a year now, and everything placed in the outdoor bins has been recycled.   If S.P.E.A.K. stopped its involvement, the recycling centers would not function.   There are several problems with the S.P.E.A.K. program including a lack of funding for advertisement and educational programming, strict time restrictions, and the closure of bins during exam week and the summer.   If a student living in the residence halls wants to recycle, he/she must either take her/his recycling off campus to a facility such as the City of Knoxville facility at Kroger, or try to make the small time frame of 5 - 6 pm, Sunday through Thursday when the outdoor bins are open.

So what is the future of recycling at our university?   I am happy to say that there is hope for the design and implementation of a successful, holistic recycling program.   Currently the Recycling Taskforce, a group of students, faculty, and staff, has been tasked with designing a workable recycling program.   In the last week the group presented its program design to the administration.   How will the proposed recycling program be different from what we have now?   The most important aspect of the proposed program is the creation of a position in Facilities Services of "waste management coordination."   The sole job of this person will be to oversee all aspects of recycling and other waste management issues on campus, creating accountability for the program.   Will this actually happen?   I think that it will. It is time that our university joins the ranks of almost all other major universities and