|
Recycling
at Northern Illinois University began in the 1970s as a volunteer effort
from a handful of students who traversed the streets of the city of DeKalb,
picking up recyclables from curbside bins of private residences. In the
mid 1980s the students were given a fenced-in enclosure by the university
from which to base their operations. The program also received support
from the Student Association. In 1986, the Student Association Recycling
Program (SARP) moved its operations into an unused barn; this barn was
renamed the Tom Kennedy Recycling Center in 1992. From this location, the
SARP serviced the recycling needs of the entire university, including all
of its academic, administrative, and residence buildings.
The
recycling center's front doors swung open, serving as a community drop-off
center. Inside, a tray held all the recyclables received from the community
until they could be sorted and bagged. The recycling truck would go on
route picking up the recycling from all the buildings on campus. On specific
nights, the truck would visit the residence halls and wait in front for
the recycling captains on each floor to bring down the recycling bins from
every pressing room. The materials then would be dumped out and sorted
through.
Paper
received there would be put
in the baler and loaded on one of the wooden pallets you see here in front
of the center. Then, the forklift would lift the bale of paper into the
semi-trailer. Once it was full, the company who marketed this product came
to take away the trailer.
Glass
and Aluminum were separated
and put in special boxes and bags for pick-up and marketing by the hauler.
These were more profitable to recycle than any other type of recyclable
materials.
Tin
and Plastics didn't
need to be separated and were just thrown into a huge dumpster for hauling.
This accounted for a large portion of the community's materials left
on the tray.
Student
Association Recycling functioned as the sole source of recycling education,
pick-up, and processing of the materials. It also was NIU's environmental
awareness center. Programs, speakers, and celebrations of Earth Day were
organized through SA Recycling.
Unfortunately,
recycling wasn't profitable, and SA began to incur a deficit. The university
began discussion on different approaches to recycling at NIU. Here's
a Daily Chronicle article describing the deficit and what key members involved
thought about what would come for recycling. Another article from the Northern
Star titled NIU Can't
Salvage Recycling Center
addresses the Tom Kennedy recycling centers closing and the effects on
recycling. To read some of the articles published about the recycling
program, click here.
The
Student Association discussed options for a new plan of action for recycling
with the administration and Physical Plant. It was decided that a pilot
recycling program should be implemented to determine the best way to serve
the students, faculty, and staff. SA Recycling would collect aluminum cans,
until the closing of the Tom Kennedy Recycling center, to generate revenues
to reduce the program debt.
Today,
the NIU recycling efforts are a part of the duties of the Physical Plant.
The program uses 3- and 4-bin units that allow for the collection of garbage,
cans and bottles, and paper. For the faculty and staff of NIU, desk
side blue bins are placed for paper recycling, and optional mini-bins replace
garbage cans. The 3R
Program has received funding
from the University, the Department of Commerce and Community Affairs (DCCA),
and the Illinois Bureau of Energy and Recycling. To find out what the current
program accepts, click here.
|
|
