The WCU recycling system has undergone the second change in many years to alleviate contamination in academic and residential buildings.The new plan is to remove large blue dumpsters that commingle recyclables and replace them with the large containers inside buildings that are sent to compactors at recycling centers. These containers will be in lobbies in residential buildings, academic copy rooms and computer labs as an attempt to collect paper more efficiently.
The commingle system makes it easier to collect the recycled materials, allowing material to be combined into one bin for glass, plastic and aluminum, rather than three.
The new containers are to be shipped from the buildings, to a compactor and sent to a recycling center.
“We’re excited about getting back into a recycling opportunity,” Royston Gathings said, director of Transportation and Work Management for West Chester University.
The commingling system still exists on campus, but because of contamination, the University lost a large amount of their recycled materials. Individuals would place trash and other non-recyclables into the mixed where it was rejected at the recycling center.
Gathings noted that the recycling company could accept a two-percent contamination before they decline recyclables completely. With the large dumpster, contamination levels reached levels close to six percent regularly and they were disposed as garbage.
In the Borough, residents must sort through their recyclables, but WCU has set up a commingling system so they can eliminate losses like recyclables being placed in incorrect bins and issues with trash going into the containers.
According to Gathings, earlier this semester there was an email was sent out to resident directors to be forwarded to students and explain the new changes.
Francis Stern is a fourth-year student majoring in English with a minor in journalism. He can be reached at FS628548@wcupa.edu.