For over a decade, Linda McCormick has led the University through trash pickups and segregation of recyclables.
With her retirement at the end of 2013, the recycling manager of UNM will leave a more sustainable, environmentally friendly campus for future generations.
aaaaaAfter spending the majority of her life in California and completing a degree in biochemistry at the University of California, Berkeley, McCormick arrived at UNM in July 2001 as the University’s pollution prevention specialist. From there, she took over the hazardous waste department. She spearheaded the recycling program at the campus in 2003.
The program allows UNM to handle the initial stages of recycling trash onsite. Through the program, the University collects and segregates recyclables, including cardboard, plastic, paper, copper, aluminum and fluorescent lights.
The materials are then delivered to a processing facility at north campus to be organized by hand, baled and set aside for sale or shipment.
McCormick said “99 percent of the material” is kept within the city and state for further processing, keeping in mind the importance of doing business locally. Whatever material that can be sold helps defer the costs of labor and infrastructure that is needed to run UNM’s recycling program.
“The money that I receive from the University covers 70 percent of my staff wages,” she said. “The rest of the operating money I need is made up by what I sell.”
Depending on the time of year, the facility can take in more than 10 tons of material daily, McCormick said. In 2012, the department processed approximately 123,000 tons, a giant step forward from the 40 processed tons when McCormick started the program in 2003.
The department employs eight full-time engineers who, along with McCormick, are responsible for the hard work it takes for the program to function, she said.
“We cover a huge array of materials and we do it well,” McCormick said. “We handle so much material that it’s mainly time and staffing I don’t have enough of.”
Getting to this point was not an easy task, she said.
“When I started in August 2003, I had to develop the existing infrastructure,” she said. “I wanted to have all of the things I needed to be able to operate in the most efficient and safe manner.”
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With the help of the University, lift-gates were added to department trucks to aid the program’s pickup process, McCormick said. She said the University added bins around the campus, and her department purchased a new baling machine to allow swifter bundling.
McCormick, the one-time treasurer of the New Mexico Recycling Coalition, said she sees UNM as a model for sustainability for the city.
“We currently have a 35 percent diversion rate, which is exceptional,” she said. “The national average is about 33 percent. New Mexico is approximately 13 percent, and Albuquerque is around 9 percent.”
McCormick said UNM has been doing a great job increasing the sustainability conditions on campus.
“This is the best job I’ve ever had in my life,” she said. “UNM has become a name in the state for our recycling program and our environmental awareness, and it’s something that the University can be proud of because it is truly a team effort.”
