How much of recyclable materials are we throwing into the trash at the University of South Carolina Beaufort?

Methods

Summary

The logistics pertaining to collecting the recycled materials is the primary protocol that we will follow.  Briefly, on a given campus, 95-gallon recycling bins will be positioned in common areas within a building, such as the library, the administration building, etc.  Once the bins are full, they will be taken to a receiving yard and dumped into a larger storage unit.  The 95-gallon recycling bins will be immediately returned back to their original positions.  At the receiving yard, the recycling company's collection truck will make a pickup once a month.

Challenges

After recycling at the university's campuses is initiated, there is a concern for incorrect recycling.  Incorrect recycling refers to a person that tries to recycle a material in the wrong bin or tries to recycle a material that was not properly prepared for recycling.  In either case, this type of action causes the recycle stream to become contaminated.  A bag containing properly recycled plastic bottles, for example, does not have a bad smell, it's dry, and it has a relatively light weight.  When plastic bottles or containers having liquids or food left in them are thrown into the recycling stream, the whole bag becomes contaminated and can not be processed at the recycling plant.

The Environmental Club at USCB is prepared to circumvent this problem by reinforcing education at the university.  Such educational outreach can be demonstrated by placing signs by the recycling bins where contamination occurred.  It's important to determine where problematic areas are originating from on the campuses.  Our team will also be making brochures on the proper way to recycle.

Pre Analysis Plan

The local recycling company will provide recycling weight reports on how much was recycled from our locations.  These metrics will be received and recorded by our team.