Recycling On Campus

• Recycling on Campus
• Harford Recycles: Goals and Strategies 
• Recycling in Harford County

Recycling at Harford Community College

Harford Recycles   

Harford Community College's Sustainability Work Group continues to assess and make improvements to the recycling program at the campus.  The recent migration to Single Stream Recycling has made the process much more efficient and has caused a significant increase to recycling on campus.

Recycling Goals and Strategies

• Increase level of campus participation in on-campus recycling efforts.
  • Provide paper recycle collection cans at each office desk;
    o provide beverage container recycle cans at major functions;
  • Ensure that each building on campus has adequate collection containers in public areas;
  • Encourage recycling by displaying recycling signs near trash cans, discussing recycling in campus publications, and reviewing recycling procedures with the building representatives;
  • Establish recycling goals and a keep "tally" of the weight of trash versus recycled materials on the web page; 
  • Standardize recycling bins and signage across campus.
     
• Improve custodial support of recycling program. 
  • Identify any roadblocks to successful recycling: are members of the campus community mixing trash in with the recycling materials? Is the recycling dumpster easily accessible? Does the custodial workforce require regular orientation to our recycling program do to the high turnover rate?
     
• Increase types of materials we are recycling. 
  • Locate markets for items appearing in trash that could be recycled.
  • Establish collection sites for wide varieties of recyclable materials.
     
• Increase student involvement with and knowledge of recycling and our recycling programs.
  • Ensure that recycle collection sites are visible to students and encourage them to recycle items generated at home that are not picked up curbside, such as cell phones, rechargeable batteries, and printer cartridges;
  • Have our recycle program be part of student orientation;
  • Have a clearly visible recycling program, through signage and video displays.
  • Encourage student clubs and groups to sponsor recycling program.
     
• Ensure our materials are as recyclable as possible.
  • Consider the recyclability of items that are purchased.
     
• Purchase more recycled materials/items with highest recycled content feasible.
  • Develop written Purchasing Green Practices that support the purchase of recycled and recyclable materials;
  • Establish more resources for common items purchased campus-wide.
     
• Encourage campus community to recycle at home.
  • Provide information in Green Harford on recycling programs throughout Harford County.
  • Establish Tips for an Eco-friendly Home on Green Harford web site that encourages material reuse.
  • Create teaching opportunities throughout campus to better educate employees and students about the benefits of recycling.
  • Create a "swap" column for items that have reuse value.
  • Encourage employees to share their recycling stories.
     
• Reduce resource consumption.
  • Encourage the use of reusable mugs instead of disposable; offer a drink discount price when a reusable mug is filled.
  • Teach employees how to make double sided copies and encourage this type of printing to be the default setting on all computers.
  • Encourage decreased use of printed materials.
  • Only provide bags upon request at the College Store.
     
• Benchmark and build partnerships.
  • Visit other colleges and conduct web research to see what other schools are doing.
  • Establish partnerships with other recycling groups to continue to learn and improve recycling on campus.

Recycling in Harford County

Harford County has a residential recycling program with two components: curbside and drop off. Curbside recycling is available to all 77,000 households. Trash haulers licensed to serve residences in the county must offer curbside pick up of recyclable refuse once per week. Trash haulers serving commercial customers must offer a separate and appropriate recycling collection method.

As of September 2010 Single Stream curb side recycling occurs weekly in Harford County. Acceptable single stream items include:

• Plastics - including bottles, (all types with the exception of pesticide or solvent), jugs, disposable plastic cups, flower and nursery pots, plastic toys and buckets and pails with handles.
   
• Metal and Glass: Aluminum, steel or tin cans, empty aerosol cans, aluminum foil, aluminum foil bake ware, glass food and beverage bottles and jars.
   
• Paper: juice boxes, milk and OJ cartons, junk mail, greeting cards, hardback books, paperback books, paperboard boxes, (shoe, cereal, frozen food, packaging etc.), phone books, newspaper, catalogs, paper bags, office paper, gift wrap, corrugated cardboard, magazines

All above items can be placed in the same container for collection.

Harford County also offers a drop off program for the above described recyclables and for certain other types of recyclable wastes, free of charge. The items may be brought to the Harford Waste Disposal Center (HWDC) located at the Scarboro Landfill. The other items the HWDC collects include: yard debris, lead acid batteries, antifreeze, motor oil, white goods, scrap metal, textiles and contaminated gasoline. Yard wastes are banned from the trash-to-energy facility, which is where the majority of the county's trash is incinerated. Residents may bring yard wastes to a Tollgate Road location or directly to the HWDC; for more information, contact Harford County Recycling Coordinator, at 410-638-3417.

Visit the Harford County Recycling web site at the following address: http://www.mde.state.md.us/assets/document/recycling/Harford.pdf