Student employees working at the Michigan State University Recycling Center encounter many unconventional throwaway items in the facility’s sorting line — vapes, fireworks and raw meat among them — although the worst offenders contaminate materials, rendering them unsuitable for recycling. MSU Recycling Center student employee Emma Lindsay, a sustainable parks, recreation and tourism senior, encourages students to try and get rid of any food residue attached to the cardboard that they are recycling because they can cause maggots to appear on the sorting line. “The amount of cardboard that we get that's just covered in maggots, we can't take it, and it's gross,” Lindsay said.
She recommends tearing off leftover cheese on pizza boxes in order to limit the amount of rotting food present in the Recycling Center’s supply. Cold foam from coffee cups is another contamination culprit due to its tendency to stick to its container as it ages. MSU Surplus Store and Recycling Center Coordinator Chris Hewitt said the longer liquids sit, the worse they’ll look and smell.
He advises students to think about what the things they are recycling will look like in two weeks. The best course of action when it comes to recycling coffee cups is to quickly rinse off cold foam or leftover liquid under a nearby sink or drinking fountain. Contaminated materials also prevent the Recycling Center from compressing the material into bales that will be given a second chance at being used for new products.
Although contamination is a widespread problem on campus, the overall lack of recycling is a larger issue, Hewitt said. The Recycling Center conducts periodic waste searches with classes by taking trash samples, during which Hewitt found several recyclable materials. “I think the biggest barrier for why people usually don't recycle is just lack of access,” Hewitt said.
The reason for this is that trash cans are more convenient than recycling cans, although the Recycling Center is working with residents' halls and other facilities to rectify the issue. Akers Hall recently converted certain trash chutes into recycling water bottle chutes. In a partnership with Meijer, the Recycling Center has opened recycling areas for plastic bags and film in certain MSU buildings and at Spartan Stadium for the first time since COVID-19.
The plastic bags and film are turned into bales at the Recycling Center and then taken to Meijer to be repurposed in an effort to reduce the amount of land devoted to waste. READ MORE Support student media! Please consider donating to The State News and help fund the future of journalism.
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Source: The State News
