Recycling Problems

A collection of unused garbage recycling cans are located underneath the bleachers at the Moore Fieldhouse.

Anthony Fantano
Staff Writer

Normally, it would be safe to assume the contents within the Student Center’s bottle and can containers would be recycled, but English major Sarah Green said this isn’t the case.

“I’ve seen [Student Center custodians] mixing recyclables with trash two or three times,” said Green. “I’ve only noticed it in the Student Center, but not in the academic halls.”

“I don’t think the average student would care, honestly,” Green said. “Students don’t noticed it because of schoolwork and stress.”

Recycling can be a lot of work, but it’s frustrating to see the process get interrupted, she said.

“If they’re not going to [recycle], then [the Student Center] shouldn’t put out the recycling bins,” said Green.

According to Ceneviva, the building has been avidly recycling and is sure recyclables are not being thrown in the trash.

The Student Center has a private contract with the cleaning company Limpiex, said Ceneviva, adding that state employees handle custodial services in the university’s academic buildings.

Ceneviva said the proper disposal of recyclable materials is an important part of the contract the Student Center holds with Limpiex.

“I have instructed and reminded the owners [of Limpiex] and its workers of our contract,” said Ceneviva.   “Recycling is part of their job.”
The Student Center’s three cleaning shifts—day, evening, and late night—have all been instructed of proper disposal procedures in regards to recyclables, adding that they would take care of any issue of disposing of recyclables improperly, he said.

“I know [recycling] is the right thing to do,” said Ceneviva. “I would definitely be on top of it as long as I know it’s going on. That’s why the building is so clean.”

Giovanni Morales, the foreman of Southern’s 11 Limpiex custodians, said his workers understand these recycling requirements in the Student Center’s contract with Limpiex.

“They know they have to every day, all the time, keep emptying the recycling containers,” said Morales.

Morales said not only are the bottle and can containers on the plaza level disposed of properly, but the small blue recycling containers meant for paper are regularly emptied.

According to Morales, students often assume cans and bottles can be placed in these containers meant for recyclable paper, but the Limpiex custodians take the extra step of separating bottles and cans from paper so the materials may be recycled.

“It’s difficult for us to separate everything when students mix [bottles and cans with paper],” he said.

Limpiex custodians are and have not been disposing of the Student Center’s recyclables improperly, said Morales.

Mixing recyclable bottles and cans with trash, Morales said, is primarily done by Southern’s students by placing recyclables in trash containers and placing trash in recycling containers.

According to Colin Bennett, member of Southern’s Environmental Futurists, he has been keeping track of this problem.

“The custodians are just doing their job,” Bennett said. “Not to cause problems, but it’s an issue that has been going on.”

However, Bennett said this issue is only one example of the university’s recycling habits.

“It’s only the beginning of the problem,” he said. “There’s so little opportunity for people to recycle.”

One problem he noted was the dozens of unused recycling containers collecting rainwater underneath the bleachers next to the Jess Dow Field.

According to Bennett, the Student Government voiced its support of the Environmental Futurists’ cause in a meeting last Friday.

But the meeting attendants mixed the recyclable trash with the regular trash.

“Is that because they’re saying one thing and doing another,” Bennett said, “or are there not enough places to recycle on campus?”

“During Student Appreciation Day, students were given free drinks, but had nowhere to recycle them,” he said.

On May 8, Ceneviva said, the Environmental Futurists will be meeting with Southern administrators in the facilities operations building.

According to Ceneviva, the momentum these meetings are generating isn’t likely to fade.

Bennett said the Environmental Futurists plan to push ideas, such as student recycling workers at the meeting, and would like to test recycling programs within two residence halls to observe the responsiveness of students.

The primary goal of the Environmental Futurists, Bennett said, is to encourage President Norton to sign the American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment, which would pledge an effort to reduce Southern’s greenhouse gas emissions.

“There are more administrators that need to be involved in this at a higher level,” said Ceneviva. “The biggest thing was that we needed more of the Southern community involved in these meetings.”

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