Partners
News
4/29/08 - Move Out for Charity Begins
Final exams are ending and students quickly pack up to leave and go home for the summer. And oh the things they leave behind… books, food, pots, pans, microwaves, and more. Maybe they don't want it anymore or there just isn't room in the car but thousands of pounds of useful items are left behind at the end of each school year. Since 2000 The Office of Waste Reduction and Recycling and The Housing and Residence Life Office have teamed up to provide an alternative to all of these items being wasted.
This year's “Move Out” for charity program is underway. “Our goal is to keep new and reusable clothing, furniture and household goods, canned goods, and building materials (bricks, lumber, etc.) out of the waste stream, and to provide materials to groups that help less fortunate people, said Devin Hatley, Environmental Educator for the Office of Waste Reduction and Recycling. Our long term goal is to change student attitudes about what “garbage” really is, and what can still be used.” The OWR&R and HR&L work together to promote the program which collects materials such as furniture, clothing, food and appliances by placing boxes in all of the residential halls.
Students are also reminded to recycle paper, cans, plastic and glass. The Recycling Department collects the materials throughout the last few weeks of the semester and donates it to the Salvation Army. Food is given to area food banks.
In 2007, over 16,000 pounds were collected and given to the Salvation Army. Since the program’s inception, UNCC students have diverted over 100,000 lbs. of usable goods from the landfill and given them to charitable organizations.
The Office of Waste Reduction and Recycling provides recycling and waste reduction services to the entire UNCC campus. The recycling team collects recyclables from over 1000 recycling containers weekly. Programs on conservation and recycling are provided to staff and students throughout the year. Over 2.5 million pounds of material was diverted from local landfills in the school year 06 - 07.
4/22/08 - UNC Charlotte celebrates Earth Day
3/12/08 - Motor Fleet wins Centrolina fuels award
10/14/07 - David Jones wins N.C. Employees Excellence Award
9/14/07 - UNCC Students vote to go green
8/15/07 - Interview for WSOC's Green Minute (video)
8/3/07 - UNCC Increases Electric Car Fleet (video)
7/10/07 - University of North Carolina at Charlotte’s Office of Waste Reduction & Recycling Construction & Demolition Recycling Program wins APPA Award.
July 10, 2007, Baltimore MD - The UNC Charlotte Office of Waste Reduction and Recycling Department recently won a national award given by the Association for Higher Education Facilities Officers (APPA). The Effective and Innovation Practices award was given in recognition of UNC Charlotte’s Construction and Demolition Program. Along with the Award, UNC Charlotte also received a check for $4000.
Since 1990, University of North Carolina at Charlotte has provided staff and students with a recycling program that has grown enormously from its simple collection of aluminum cans to its present program which collects over 40 different items and offers waste reduction and conservation education to the entire campus. The Office of Waste Reduction & Recycling (OWR&R) collects recyclables from over 1,000 recycling containers daily. The OWR&R is constantly looking to recycle more materials generated on campus, so it was a logical step to set up a program to recycle construction and demolition waste generated on campus to deal with the ever expanding campus and its construction.
UNC Charlotte is the 4th largest university in the state system. Over the past six years, it has added over 600,000 gross square feet of building space to accommodate a rising student population currently at 21,000 students. This increase in square footage is a direct result of a successful bond-funded construction program. “Prior to the implementation of the Construction and Demolition (C&D) Waste Management strategy, our C&D recycling was a “hit or miss” program. We were contractor-dependent with much of the waste never being sent to an approved C&D landfill,” said David Jones, UNCC Waste Contract Administrator. Since the inception of this collaborative initiative, UNC Charlotte has recycled and reused over 2.1 million pounds of material, increasing its C&D recycling by 113%. Additionally, in 2006, the C&D program has saved contractors $8,750 in tipping fees and diverted over 700,000 pounds from landfill which represents 49% of all C&D material generated on campus.
“The C&D program serves as a signature effort for our University. It marked the first time that our capital projects, recycling and business support (purchasing) departments joined forces to develop a successful process beneficial to the university and community-at-large,” said Kathy Boutin-Pasterz, UNCC Recycling Coordinator.
In addition to the savings accrued by recycling, the community as a whole benefits from this program: less waste is sent to the landfill; CO2 emissions are reduced, contractors are trained in regards to the benefits of recycling construction material, and this knowledge is shared throughout the community.
Continued support and involvement of its participants has enabled the program to build the momentum that it currently enjoys. Given the level of participation and the resulting success of this program, management remains committed. The C&D program demonstrates that UNC Charlotte is dedicated to campus recycling and waste reduction efforts.
Phil Jones, Associate Vice Chancellor of Facilities Management, Kathy Boutin-Pasterz and David Jones were present to receive the award which was given at the Baltimore Convention Center in Baltimore, Maryland. It is the second of the year for the C&D program, earlier earning “The New and Emerging Programs Award” given by the Carolina Recycling Association.
7-12-07 UNC Charlotte serious about the environment.
UNC Charlotte continues it commitment to the environment through their Construction and Demolition recycling / reuse program. Recycling or reusing material helps to improve environmental sustainability and save the university and it’s contractors money at the same time.
As the university continues to grow, so do the number of construction and renovation projects on campus. Having thousands of pounds of concrete, brick, wood or other used construction material at any given time is not unusual, and this material has to be disposed of in some way. Rather than sending it to the local Municipal landfill, the university tries to reuse the material for new projects, or place it in a special construction and demolition landfill.
“It’s important to try and reuse construction materials on other projects if possible or find a market where they can be recycled into another product. Additionally, we want to keep these materials out of the municipal landfills,” said David Jones, Construction and Demolition Administrator for UNC Charlotte.
One of the latest projects of the university is to remove 472 tons of river washed stones from the roof of the Smith building and use them as part of the foundation for the upcoming Student Union Center project. A new roofing system is planned for Smith and will not require the use of stones.
7/1/07 “Move out” a success
Classes ended and students quickly pack up to leave and go home for the summer. And oh the things they leave behind… books, food, pots, pans, microwaves, etc. Maybe they don't want it anymore or there just isn't room in the car but thousands of pounds of useful items are left behind at the end of each school year. Since 2000 The Office of Waste Reduction and Recycling and The Housing and Residence Life Office have teamed up to provide an alternative to all of these items being wasted.
This year's “Move Out” for charity was once again a huge success. Over 16,000 pounds were collected and given to the Salvation Army. Our initial goal was to keep new and reusable clothing, furniture and household goods, canned goods, and building materials (bricks, lumber, etc.) out of the waste stream, and to provide materials to groups that help less fortunate people. Our long term goal is to change student attitudes about what “garbage” really is, and what can still be used. The OWR&R and HR&L work together to promote the program which collects materials such as furniture, clothing, food and appliances by placing boxes in all of the residential halls. Students are also reminded to recycle paper, cans, plastic and glass. The Recycling Department collects the materials throughout the last month of the semester and brings it to Salvation Army. Food is given to area food banks.
Since its inception, UNCC students have diverted over 100,000 lbs. of usable goods from the landfill and given them to charitable organizations.
The Office of Waste Reduction and Recycling provides recycling and waste reduction services to the entire UNCC campus. Our recycling team collects recyclables from over 1000 recycling containers daily. Programs on conservation and recycling are provided to staff and student throughout the year. Over 2 million pounds of recyclables were collected in the school year 05-06.
For more information contact Devin Hatley, dlhatley@uncc.edu Environmental Educator-Office of Waste Reduction & Recycling, 704-687-4283
E.A.R.T.H Club wins SGA Award
April 30th, 2007 - UNCC's E.A.R.T.H. Club won the 2006-2007 Student Organization of the year award in June. They were selected among more than 250 other student organizations. CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!!!
Welcome to the UNCC Recycles website. Started by students in 1990, recycling began with a can collection program. Not long afterwards, Witherspoon Hall became the first residence hall to take part. In 15 years we have grown to 14 employees and now recycle over 40 items. We also operate a composting program, an award winning construction and demolition recycling / re-use program, and environmental education on and off campus.