Marshall University’s Physical Plant gives students the opportunity to recycle, even when it is not Earth Day.
With bins located in practically every building on campus, the plant has made it easier to turn students’ refuse into something reusable.
The campus recycling bins currently take cardboard, mixed paper, aluminum and tin cans and plastic bottles.
Out of the seven common types of plastic, the physical plant currently recycles plastic type one or polyethylene terephthalate.
The plant accepts mixed paper, which contains magazines, office papers, shredded paper, colored paper and junk mail.
The physical plant also helps people recycle batteries, old phones and ink cartridges. The companies producing printer ink reuse ink cartridges, while some old cell phones are refurbished and typically sold in other countries for cheaper prices.
Municipal Solid Waste workers around the nation collected 87 million tons of waste in 2012 alone.
This waste was composted and recycled and helped reduce the amount of waste in landfills from approximately 145.3 million tons in the year 1990, to 135 million tons in 2012.
William Izzo can be contacted at [email protected].