By Reece Nations, Managing Editor
Bins for disposing of recyclable material located in the Student Union Building. Photo by Reece Nations.
Recycling is crucial to the sustainability measures implemented by the Texas Tech University Office of Sustainability.
However, due to the closure of Texas Tech’s on-campus recycling center, locating recycling bins around campus can prove troublesome if one is unsure where to look.
Although the enthusiasm for green campus initiatives is present, Joseph Martis, a second-year master’s student in experimental psychology from El Paso, said overall awareness is lacking. With the closure of the Texas Tech Recycling Plant, many are uncertain of where they can bring their recyclable material.
“People leave campus (at semester’s end), and things can change or move around,” Martis said. “If students can’t find where to recycle, a lot more material will needlessly end up in the landfill.”
Carboard recycling located outside the Rawls College of Business. Photo by Reece Nations.
Cardboard material is collected by custodial services and brought to a large compactor in the Student Union Building, Carey Hewett, Director for Services and Campus Sustainability Officer, said. Cardboard recycled on-campus is done in by joint-operation between hospitality operations and student union building staff.
“Custodial services still recycles, takes paper in the classroom and the educational buildings (as well as) in the office buildings around campus,” Hewett said. “They collect it on a regular schedule and then it gets recycled.”
All academic buildings at Tech are outfitted with recycling reciprocals that individuals can use to dispose of their plastic and aluminum material, he said. While cardboard can be disposed of at various on-campus locations, glass, rubber and Styrofoam cannot, according to Tech’s Office of Sustainability website.
A paper shredder located on-campus. Photo obtained from the Operations Division website.
“We started our recycling efforts in 2009, and it started with just trying to recycle the cardboard that came in during move-in,” Sean Duggan, student housing managing director, said.
Since 2009, the administration’s emphasis on sustainability has grown in scale and encompasses grounds maintenance, utility reduction and water conservation, he said.
Further, Duggan said these sustainability efforts apply to buildings of the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center as well.
Tech’s overall recycled material amounts by year in tonnage. Graphic obtained from the Operations Division website.
“I know the departments — you know, they want to recycle and somebody wants to take it over to the other locations and recycle it,” he said. “So, our hope is that recycling efforts still continue, but it’s just going to be on a less formal basis.”
About Reece Nations, Managing Editor
