University Custodial Services, Recycling & Solid Waste Management 

RECYCLING PROGRAM OUTLINE:

NOTE: THE FACILITIES MANAGEMENT DEPARTMENT’S RECYCLING PROGRAM IS EXECUTED BY THE CUSTODIAL SERVICES DEPARTMENT FOR ALL E&G AREAS. IN ADDITION THERE ARE MANY OTHER UNITS THAT PLAY A ROLE IN THE UNIVERSITIES RECYCLING AND WASTE REDUCTION STRATEGIES. THOUGH NOT ALL WILL BE LISTED HERE A FEW EXAMPLES ARE: THE UTILITIES DEPARTMENT THAT PLAYS A CRITICAL ROLL IN ENERGY REDUCTION, THE PLUMBING DEPARTMENT THAT PLAYS A CRITICAL ROLE IN WATER CONSUMPTION REDUCTION, THE PURCHASING SERVICES DEPARTMENT THAT PLAYS A CRITICAL ROLE IN PURCHASING RECYCLED MATERIALS FOR THE UNIVERSITY, AND THE ADMINISTRATION WHICH PLAYS A CRITICAL ROLE FOR SIGNING ON TO THE LEED PROGRAM WHICH WILL CAUSE ALL FUTURE CONSTRUCTION TO BE GREEN CONSTRUCTION. AGAIN, THESE ARE ONLY A FEW EXAMPLES OF THE MANY CONTRIBUTING UNITS.

The University’s recycling efforts are governed by the State of Florida under Florida Statute 403.714 and The Florida Solid Waste Management Act of 1988. In addition Governor Christ signed an important Energy Bill (HB-7135) on May 01, 2008 which will require State Agencies to recycle 75% of their entire waste stream by 2020. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection has been assigned by the Governor to develop an implementation program. The University has a well established recycling program that by far exceeds the minimum standards as required by abovementioned statute.

 

Following is a list of items currently being recycled at FIU at varying degrees:

Paper: We are currently recycling all kinds of paper, so not just high grade office paper, but all kinds including but not limited to office paper, computer paper, fax and copier paper, catalogs, brochures, envelopes, advertisements, posters, time cards, wrappers from reams of paper, newspapers, adding machine tape paper, scratch and message pads paper, accounting ledgers, magazines, books, so basically any type of paper that is clean, dry and free of food. This is by far our most successful program at this moment, and we are averaging over 60 tons per month of recyclable paper collected in 2009 as compared to 40 tons of paper per month in 2007. This is higher than any other School, College, and/or University within Dade and Broward Counties including both private and public institutions. The University has an agreement with a recycling vendor which picks up all collected paper at our recycling compound that has been collected around campus by our staff. Paper is collected inside all buildings that have offices. Inside the buildings it is collected by the custodial staff and brought to the loading zones of each building. Recycling bins are located in each office, by copy room areas, and the loading zones. From the loading zones it is collected by our recycling crew, which consists of two full-time employees and a 29 feet truck. They pick up all the paper at the loading zones and bring it to our recycling compound. This program has been expanded to the BBC campus and includes all BBC buildings as well. Please note that paper can be placed in single stream recycling bins as well. See further details below.

Aluminum, plastics, and glass: This program has been replaced by our single stream recycling program (See details later in this section).

Light bulbs / Ballasts: All light bulbs as well as electrical ballasts being replaced on the UP, BBC, and EC campuses are being crushed into one of our five "bulb eaters" located in our recycling compound. These crushed materials are then picked up by a local recycling company, currently AERC, and taken to a recycling plant in Palm Beach County.

The University is absorbing the entire cost for recycling these items which averages about $ 600.00 a month.

Corrugated paper (cardboard): Currently we have twelve 8-yard containers and one compactor for the collection of folded cardboard located throughout both UP and BBC. (PC, CP/OE, HLS I, HLS II, RB, GC, two at EC, two at CSC, CBC, GL, and a compactor at BBC). All cardboard containers/compactors are being serviced by a vendor under a recycling bid contract.

The University is absorbing the entire cost for recycling these items which averages about $ 800.00 a month.

Wood pallets: All wood pallets are collected from the different loading zones and taken to our recycling compound. From here the reusable ones are separated from the broken ones. The reusable ones are then recycled in the sense that they are given to our vendors

  for reuse rather than being thrown into the trash, providing that they pick them up at our compound themselves. This has been very successful and has played a good role in our “reduce and reuse” strategy. Again the University does absorb the

labor cost for the man hours and equipment to collect the pallets around campus.

Batteries: Custodial Services recycles all batteries collected such as lithium batteries, 6-V batteries, 12-V batteries, alkaline batteries, cell phone batteries, etc. For example all batteries used in our automatic key lock doors are being recycled. All emergency exit sign batteries are being recycled. All batteries from battery operated hand tools are being recycled. There is a drop of location for students, faculty and staff located at the Campus Support Complex building room 110. These materials are being recycled and picked up for recycling by a local company, currently AERC. The University absorbs the entire cost for recycling

these items.

Cartridges: Printer toner cartridges are being recycled and there are various drop-off locations throughout all the main buildings. In addition there is a drop-off location at the Campus Support Complex building room 110.

Car batteries used oil, oil rags and used tires: These items are recycled through Motor Vehicle Services. The University absorbs the entire cost for recycling these

items.

Trees: All tree trimmings (including most trees damaged during hurricanes) are being converted into mulch that is reused around campus when possible.

 

SINGLE STREAM RECYCLING PROGRAM (AS OF JUNE 2009): What is single stream recycling? FIU has implemented a single stream recycling program which will greatly enhance our recycling program by not only allowing more items to be recycled, but by being able to place them all in one single bin as well! Last year Miami-Dade County implemented a single stream residential recycling program in where residents were provided a single bin instead of the three separate bins they had before and allowing them to place all recyclables into that one bin. This program was possible with the launch of a single stream recycling plant in South Florida operated by Waste Management Corporation. Shortly after the county launched its program Facilities Management started evaluating the possibility to implement a similar program on campus. A Request For Information (RFI) was administered by Purchasing Services followed by a Request For Proposal (RFP). From the RFP the new single stream program was awarded to World Waste Services. World Waste Services is one of three companies that is currently doing this program with the county and therefore have already gained the necessary experience to help FIU build a successful single stream recycling program as well. The program commenced in June and we are currently in the process of distributing single stream recycling bins of various sizes throughout the campuses. What has changed? The major change is that you are now able to place most recyclables into one single bin and that more items are accepted Labels are being placed on all bins indicating which items are acceptable and which are not for placement into the recycling containers. (See the sample label below).

 

As of September 2009 we have over 2,500 recycling bins spread out around the campuses. There are too many bins to be marked on a single map and we have bins inside and outside of buildings. The common rule of where bins are located is as follows: a) Small recycling bins inside all offices b) Medium size recycling bins by all copy room areas c) Medium size recycling bins near vending areas d) Medium size recycling bins near elevators (in some buildings) e) Medium size recycling bins in hallways where classrooms are located (still in process but completed so far are PC, DM, GL, HLS-1, HLS-2, CP, OE) f) Large recycling bins located at all loading zones of all the buildings g) Large recycling bins located at all Athletics facilities (Football, Baseball, Arena) h) 30 large recycling bins located at UP and BBC campuses (On the exterior placed strategically  throughout the housing complex)   

All bins used to collect recyclables around the campuses contain recycled content themselves. Depending on the bin type this ranges from 20% to 90% recycled content. Here are some sample pictures of some of the recycling bins used on campus:

 

Custodial Services Green Cleaning Paper Goods: All paper supplies (toilet tissue, paper roll towel, junior jumbo toilet tissue, and toilet seat covers) in all rest rooms on all campuses are Green Seal Certified. This means that these products are not only 100% recycled material but had a minimal impact on the environment during manufacturing, and that the manufacturing procedures used to produce these recycled materials are environmentally friendly oriented processes as well.

Trash Bags: All trash bags used by our unit are 100% biodegradable!

Cleaning Chemicals: Most cleaning chemicals to clean our campus facilities bought by the Custodial Services Department are environmentally friendly even though they are of commercial grade. Great effort has been spend to remove harsh and harmful chemicals, and in some cases the manufacturer has been instructed by us to remove certain ingredients from products sold to the department in order to make them more environmentally friendly. In addition, most cleaning chemicals currently used to clean our facilities either carry the EPA “Design for the Environment” certification or the Green Seal™ certification. As a clarification Green Seal is an independent organization that certifies products as green and awards the Green Seal to qualified products. The EPA is the governmental agency that certifies chemicals as green or environmentally friendly and awards a “Design for the Environment” certification for qualified products. All cleaning chemicals used by the Custodial Services Department are correctly blended by the use of chemical blend centers. This eliminates immediate contact with the chemicals and ensures proper dilution of the products and prevents over dilution as so often happens when people manually “eyeball” dilution ratios. This is extremely important as even “Green” products can be harmful if not properly used and properly diluted to the correct ratio for its intended use.

Cleaning Equipment: Most cleaning equipment used by the custodial services unit was purchased with the environment in mind. This means for example that all vacuum cleaners have HEPA filtration and carry the CRI Green Label (Carpet and Rug Institute) certification; all carpet extraction equipment uses 50% less water than previous models and have dual operating modes (low moisture modes) for further reduction in energy and water usage: all floor scrubbers use 50% less water than previous models (Considering that we have a little over 2 million cleanable square feet of carpeted areas this means a significant reduction in water usage); hard floor burnishers have HEPA filtration: and last but not least HOT water is no longer used in our cleaning process which is an additional reduction in energy use.

  For further information visit our website: http://facilities.fiu.edu and click on the recycling logo.

Contact:

University Custodial Services, Recycling & Solid Waste Department University Park Campus Support Complex 110 Miami, Florida 33199 Phone: (305) 348-4630 Email: [email protected]

We would like to hear from you! Please send us your comments and suggestions to: [email protected]

FIU/FMD/CUSTODIAL/RECYCLING PROGRAM UPDATE 09/29/09