Saving the Environment, One Cardboard Box at a Time

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — In this day and age of pollution and waste, The University of Alabama is doing its part to help protect the environment. A steadily growing recycling program has been in place for three years, and a new cardboard recycling program is in the works.

The UA community has been able to recycle aluminum cans, newspaper, plastic bottles and mixed paper; now it will also be able to recycle cardboard with the help of a new cardboard baler. According to Scott Elliott, UA manager of logistics and property management, the baler will make recycling much easier. “Cardboard is so bulky. You can’t just put a [collection] bin in every office,” Elliott said. “Now we can compact it to save space.”

Just how much space will the new baler save? “A ton of loose cardboard would take up at least this whole room,” Elliott said, gesturing around his office. “A ton of baled cardboard would probably be about the size of this desk.”

The funding for this new baler was donated by the Division of Environmental and Industrial Programs in the UA College of Continuing Studies. Dr. Bill Weems is director of that division and a member of the UA Environmental Management Council. One of his goals is to study the extent to which baling cardboard will increase the revenues earned from cardboard recycling.

“Currently, loose cardboard is selling for $30 per ton,” said Elliott. “The going rate for baled cardboard is about $65-$75 per ton, so right off the bat we’ll be doubling what we were getting.”

The idea for cardboard recycling came from the UA Environmental Management Council, a group dedicated to finding ways that the University can contribute to a better environment, among them recycling and composting. At the moment, UA has three dumpsters set up on campus, at Mary Burke Hall, the Facilities storeroom and the Ferguson Center, where people can drop off unwanted cardboard. Five more dumpsters have been ordered and should arrive within the next six weeks. Tentative locations for the additional dumpsters include the Law School, the Bevill Building, Lloyd Hall (the chemistry building) and the Biology building. Cardboard will be picked up from the dumpsters and brought to the baler, located in the UA Facilities warehouse.

In addition to being more profitable, another benefit of baled cardboard is that it can be stored. “The prices of recycled materials tend to fluctuate,” Elliott said. If the cardboard can be compacted and easily stored, then the University can wait and sell when prices are high.

Elliott said the cardboard recycling program will probably get into full swing this semester. Once the new dumpsters arrive, the facilities department will work with the Environmental Management Council to develop a kick-off campaign to spread the word about recycling.

Since the recycling program was implemented three years ago, it has grown quickly; 120 tons of recycled materials were collected in 2002-2003, compared to just 56 tons in 2000-2001. UA sells collected materials to companies that use the recycled material to produce new products. There are not huge profits to be made in the recycling field; however, there are intangible benefits. “The program still works in the red,” Elliott said, “but this is a good thing to do. It helps the environment.”