An extensive recycling program has been initiated by the Mount Pleasant schools, Michigan, in coordination with the Republic Waste Services. A meeting to discuss the program was held on Friday, October 19, 2012, and was attended by nearly 40 “Green Team” members.
The members were representatives from the food, custodial and teaching departments. Lisa McDaniel from the Republic Waste Services addressed the gathering.
The recycling program
McDaniel said that extensive recycling programs are gaining popularity in East Texas only in the recent days. Though an initiative on the same lines had been made about 20 years ago, it had failed due to contamination and sorting problems.
The recently launched program is user-friendly and simple. A facility at Kilgore collects and recycles the material.
Material will be collected from the schools once a week and transported to the Republic for processing. The newly recycled products are packaged to various companies. The material is also made into eco friendly promotional items to spread environmental awareness.
As part of this program, each classroom is provided with recycling boxes. Containers are also placed in teacher’s lounges, vending areas and cafeterias. The containers are to be carried to Republic Waste Services by green team volunteers.
The containers are kept secure by an automatic lock system. The containers are latched when placed upright, and automatically opened when up-turned for emptying the contents. McDaniel asserted that by recycling, natural resources are saved and the local landfills are used more effectively.
Material that can be recycled into eco friendly promotional items
Any paper that can be torn and is not contaminated with food or drink can be recycled. The materials that are suitable for being recycled include flattened cardboard boxes, dry paper, thin, chipboard carton, aluminum and steel cans and newspapers.
It is however not possible to recycle food stained paper, food waste, restroom waste and mails. Plastics, metal cans and bottles are collected in the teachers’ lounges and vending areas whereas the classroom containers hold only paper trash. A large bin is provided for each school to hold all the collected recyclables.
Greased pizza boxes are often thought to be non-recyclable material, but McDaniel says that a small level of contamination is permissible and the boxes can still be recycled. Recycling food containers is possible if they are emptied of their contents. Textbooks can be recycled after the covers are torn off.
Source: http://www.dailytribune.net/news/article_c5858b16-1ae2-11e2-b9bd-001a4bcf887a.html
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