The University of Wisconsin-Platteville might rank nationally in the Recyclemania competition this year because of a new single-bin recycling system.

“I want to see our rate get from 42 percent of our waste recycled to 60 percent,” Sustainability Coordinator Amy Seeboth said.  “If we can get to 60 percent, then we rank in the top 20 nationwide.”

The single-bin system should help increase UW-Platteville’s recycling rate because plastic, aluminum and paper do not need to be sorted anymore––making it easier for people to recycle on campus, according to Seeboth.

The new system became possible after Faherty Incorporated, a company that collects waste from UW-Platteville and the community, switched their process of collecting recycleables.

“We used to separate all of the recycleables on the truck up until September,” said Ed Faherty, owner of Faherty, Inc.  “Now, we collect all recycleables together and transfer it to a single-stream sorting facility in Madison.”

At the facility, a large automated machine with magnets and screens will sort paper, metals and plastics.  The facility separates 16 tons of materal per hour which is what Faherty collects on average in one day.  The switch simplified the recycling process for many.

“We basically had our hands in people’s garbages because not everyone rinses their recycleables,” Faherty said.  “It made it simpler for our workers, but ultimately, it makes it easier for all of our customers, university or not. People don’t like to think ‘Where does my paper go or my plastic bottle,’and now they don’t have to.”

Weighing the waste

Faherty, Inc. measures the percentage of waste that UW-Platteville recycles by taking samples of the recycling weights two or three times per week.  They will use the averages to calculate what percentage of UW-Platteville’s waste is recycled.  Faherty caluates the waste-to-recycling ratio for Recyclemania.

Students get involved through class project

Kyle Henningfield, senior business administration major, formed a group in his quality management class to help the campus with the Recyclemania tournament.

“We are all excited and passionate, not only to get a good grade in the class, but that we get to implement everything we have learned about management into a free-range project,” Henningfield said.

Henningfield and his group are working on educating the student body about the single-bin recycling system.  During week four, they will place orange stickers on the bins that signal it to passersby.

“We are going to take the data of how much recycling was collected in the first four weeks and compare it to how much was collected in the last four weeks (of recyclemania) to see if the logos attracted people to recycle more,” Henningfield said.

The group also plans to create a catchy phrase to market how simple the new recycling system is, according to Henningfield.

“We are thinking of ‘Simply Single,’” he said.  “We want everyone to be able to relate to it and become aware that recycling is easier than before.”

The group chose recycling as its project because of the members’ personal interests.

“I’m an outdoorsy guy, along with my group,” Henningfield said.  “We are firm believers in helping preserve the environment.  We want a cleaner campus because it makes it more appealing.”

Seeboth also said she believes that recycling benefits UW-Platteville and the community, making participation in Recyclemania sweeter.

“Recycling is a very simple way that people as campus residents can have a positive impact on the economy by reusing products and reduce their impact on the environment,” Seeboth said.

The nation-wide, intercollegiate recycling competition began on Monday and will end March 30.

Last year, UW-Platteville ranked number one for general recycling in Wisconsin.

For more information on Recyclemania and events surrounding the competiton, visit uwplatt.edu/sustainability/recyclemania.