Single Stream Recycling Gives Conn an Edge in Recyclemania

RecycleMania started last weekend, coinciding with Conn’s latest addition in a campaign to become more environmentally sustainable: single-stream recycling. RecycleMania is designed to raise recycling awareness for the length of the ten-week competition, with hopes that students will continue the behavior after the tournament is over.

“The basic premise of RecycleMania, is that it’s an international recycling competition between different-sized colleges and universities that takes place over the course of a couple months. It gives the school a chance to really focus its efforts and helps to kick-start the dialogue about recycling. Conn is environmentally friendly year-round, but the couple months in the spring help to focus environmental drive and stewardship,” explained Andrew Greaves ’13, Branford House Senator,

RecycleMania is divided into separate categories of competition. Conn cannot compete for the “Gorilla Prize” Competition Division, which measures the highest gross tonnage of recyclables, simply because the school is too small.

Elias Kauders ’12 Chair of Environmental Affairs for SGA said, “When Conn first participated in RecycleMania five years ago, there were 87 participating schools.” This year, there are 630.

Conn tends to do well in the “Per Capita Classic” and “Waste Minimization” divisions, although the Coast Guard Academy does even better. But this year, single-stream recycling may be enough to gain a win.

“Single-stream recycling should increase our standings,” said Kauders.

Bright orange signs explain that paper, plastic, glass and metal no longer need to be separated into individual recycling bins, and can all be placed in one single bin; a single stream.

“The new system is easier, simpler and just intuitive,” explained Kauders. “Students here are apathetic about recycling not because they don’t care, but because the process in the past has been unnecessarily complicated.”

Kauders also explained that, in using single-stream recycling, the variety of materials that the College community can recycle has greatly expanded. Solo cups and the plastic sandwich containers that Oasis uses can now be recycled, along with scrap metals and plastics, like aluminum foil and hangers.

The College’s recycling is collected from the outdoor bins by the Grounds Department, and from indoor bins by the custodial staff. “The recycling is then taken by Grounds to the New London transfer station, and from there it goes to Willimantic Waste in CT,” said Kauders.

Willimantic Waste Paper Company uses a state-of-the-art “Bollegraaf single stream system,” which, according their website, processes and separates all recyclables into sellable end products at a rate of over twenty-five tons per hour.

The Grounds Department delivers Conn’s waste to Preston Incinerator in Preston, Connecticut, where the school pays to have the trash incinerated. “We pay to dump our waste, but not our recyclables,” said Jean Michaud, a Physical Plant Custodial Supervisor.

“Single-stream means a higher volume of recyclables and lower volume of trash; so fewer trips to Preston (which is farther than the NL transfer station) and less money sent to the incinerator,” Kauders said.
Greaves expressed hope that with the help of single-stream recycling, Conn’s “overall recycling effort will increase.” •

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