kellen kjera / NL UAA’s recycling program depends on volunteers like Sharon McMullan to help collect paper on campus.

Recycling ideas, materials

By Scott Eldridge II
Northern Light

Recycling at the University of Alaska Anchorage exists, but few people know about it, said Amy Volz, recycling director.

Creating a larger program at the university involves finding a way to overcome the biggest hurdles, which are costs and the lack of an in-state recycling industry.

The paper recycling program Volz coordinates relies on nearly 20 volunteers, many working through a UAA community service option. Each Friday the team removes newspaper and office paper from buildings across the main campus. Volz said about 20 percent of the campus uses the program, a number she would like to see rise.

“The demand for the service is there, people want to recycle,” Volz said, “But you have to twist yourself into a pretzel to do something good.”

As a coordinator, Volz works to get volunteers to every department that participates. “They can actually rely upon us being there,” she said.

Volz 10-hour weekly, paid position was created two years ago through the Union of Students.

Student Regent David Parks was serving as USUAA President when the program was created. He said close to 75 percent of students approved of the measure.

Paid by student fees, the recycling program has been going “in fits and starts” since its conception, said Volz. Integrating with UAA waste management would create a more consistent program, but this is not an easy task.

“The challenge is funding of course,” said Trig Trigiano, director of environmental health and safety at UAA. “Paper recycling is a money loser…there’s no revenue in it.”

UAA already recycles precious metals, scrap metals and hazardous materials.

“We do recycle quite a bit,” Trigiano said.

The materials that are recycled contribute more to the greater environmental waste problem than paper products.

“[Paper recycling] is the most noticeable effort but its actually the smallest contributor to the problem,” Trigiano said. “I think it’s the right thing to do…but there is a cost involved with it.”

Approximately 14 years ago, Trigiano coordinated with student volunteers to gather recycling from more than 70 stops on campus. However the number of volunteers would fluctuate and eventually he was doing the collection alone.

“Depending solely on volunteers is probably not the best way to do this,” Trigiano said.

Increasing the recycling coordinator position beyond the 10-hour existing schedule would make a full program more feasible and take the burden off volunteers, Trigiano said. Securing funding for the position is the biggest challenge.

Right now the program has only a limited amount of containers, and does not have bins in public areas. Volz said, with such a small budget she can’t afford to put in the infrastructure for a larger program.

“If we get any more customers we’re going to need another dumpster,” Volz said.

Volz and Parks would both like to see students alleviated of the financial responsibility of the program. Volz is working with administration to look at the options for UAA.

“From here we’re just trying to make it a fully comprehensive program,” said Parks.

Parks wants the program adopted by UAA and funded out of its annual operating budget. There is student support for the program, he said, but student fees should not be the sole financing option.

“It only makes sense, no matter what it costs,” Parks said.

Student representatives and Volz have to convince administrators of either cost savings or cost earnings, Parks said. Convincing the administration to fund the program would allow the recycling program to include more buildings and departments and purchase more materials.

Volz said the program now is “a mild success,” and recycles one trash container worth of paper each week.

She hopes to show the administration that people want to recycle and that money can be saved, and the environment helped through a full program.

“They need to see the need to recycle,” Volz said.