by Jeremy Hunt
Daily Lobo
It's taken three years for UNM to build up to the top recycling college in the state, said Linda McCormick, manager of UNM's Recycling
Department.
"The state of New Mexico, as a whole, only recycles something like 9 percent, so we at UNM are trailblazing," she said. "We at UNM are kicking butt - kicking recycling butt."
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In 2004 and 2006, UNM won the award for the state's Best Postsecondary Education Institute Recycling Program, which is given out every other year by the New Mexico Recycling Coalition.
UNM recycles 30 percent of all the recyclable material on campus, McCormick said. The department receives about $175,000 per year to manage the costs of recycling. With about $30,000 in additional funding, she said the department could recycle as much as
40 percent.
It isn't practical to salvage all the recyclable materials, said Willie West, manager of the grounds and landscaping division.
"Recycling is very important, but you have to look at it from a cost-effective point of view," he said. "We do a very good job with what allocations we have."
Dean Jojola, recycling coordinator at UNM, said more students are getting involved because they are becoming aware of the opportunity to help the environment.
"They didn't know there was recycling," he said. "More or less, it's the students we need to get involved."
Jojola said UNM recycled 629 tons of material in 2005, including paper and aluminum cans.
"We're probably going to get over that (this year), because more people are doing it," he said.
The department also recycles construction materials and computer parts, such as printer cartridges, CDs and circuit boards, Jojola said. The department goes through buildings that are scheduled for renovation or demolition and takes whatever can be recycled, such as stainless steel and copper wire and tubing, he said.
McCormick said the department recycled more than 92,000 pounds of paper products in October and almost 26,000 pounds of iron-type metal in November.
The department takes the profits from recycling and puts the money toward its operating costs, McCormick said. Last year, it made about $25,000, she said.
The department put 30 bins by the Student Residence Center this semester.
She said the department isn't limited to recycling traditional materials, such as paper and aluminum cans. Last year, the department collected unwanted items from students as they moved out of the dorms and gave them to the Albuquerque Rescue Mission.
"I got about 450 pounds of materials - things like clothing, shoes, some household goods, some food items - and donated them to a local charity," she said.
McCormick said she also wants to collect cardboard boxes and other things that can be recycled or reused when students move into the dorms.
Jojola said it is important for the University to promote recycling to students, especially freshmen. Students who get used to recycling during their time at UNM will continue the habit when they graduate, he said.
The department is working with the Physical Plant to build recycling containers and place them in areas that generate a lot of recyclable material, she said.
West said the containers are going to cost about $2,000 to make, about what a vendor charges.
