Irresponsible recycling cost university big bucks
By Sandra Hawryn
Vomit. It is just one of the contaminants Michael Collett has come across as a Ryerson recycling collector.
“I was about to empty a recycling bin by the library (in Jorgenson hall),” Collet said. “I looked inside, and saw that someone had thrown up all over the cans and bottles. It was the worst thing I’ve found in my two years here.”
The mixing of garbage and recyclables is a big problem. Collet and Roque have found oranges, apple cores, pudding, and pizza crust in fine paper and newspaper bins regularly.
The worst culprits on campus are the staff and students in the Rogers Communication Centre, according to Collett.
“Rogers is a shithold for recycling. I wish people would stop using the bins for garbage cans,” he said.
Ryerson began its recycling program in 1991. Everyday, Collett and his partner, Hermano Roque, collect cans, glass bottles, cardboard, and paper.
If the bins are less than 50 per cent contaminated, Collet and Roque will try to clean them out. But once the recycled paper is soiled, or too many cans and bottles have been mixed with it, the load cannot be saved. Everything goes in the garbage.
Despite this problem, Ryerson is profiting from the recycling program. In May, 1994, Browning Ferris Industries Ltd. (BFI) began giving Ryerson a $150 to $300 discount on its $5,000 monthly garbage bill. In return, BFI gets most of the mixed paper recycled on campus. Ryerson collects two to four tonnes of mixed paper weekly and BFI pays $75 per tonne.
A year later, Ryerson began a trial agreement with the Quno Recycling Corp. Quno pays cash for recycled paper. Ryerson gets $80 to $120 per tonne of cardboard, $300 to $400 per tonne of fine (computer and ledger) paper, and $75 per tonne of newspaper. The net result is a $3,000 cheque every 45 days. The money goes to the Ryerson accounting department and is reinvested in the school.
Sal Martinez, manager of campus services, said Ryerson is keeping its options open by not signing a contract with Quno.
“We do what’s best for Ryerson and we would prefer to do even better. If another company comes along and offers us more money, we’ll be able to take it,” he said.
The City of Toronto doesn’t pay for the cans, glass, and plastic bottles it collects but the service is free. Both RFI and Quno also pick up Ryerson’s recyclables for free and they provide all of the school’s receptacles.
Unfortunately, a lack of funding means not all sites on campus have receptacles, Martinez said. Each school department has only one recycling station per food.
Adriana Salvati, a first-year AIM student, praised Ryerson’s recycling efforts anyway.
“It would be disgraceful if I didn’t see any blue boxes around Ryerson,” she said. “We wouldn’t be participating in cleaning up the land. Even recycling one bottle can make a difference. It’s just like saving pennies — over time, it adds up.
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