OPINION: USC recycling efforts should involve the local community
For such a large, well-funded institution, USC has fallen far behind other universities in upholding sustainability standards. While Stanford University and the University of Washington — both of which have earned distinctions for environmental consciousness — have made distinct landfill, recycling and compost bins the norm in all their waste collection spots, USC only just started to install more recycling bins in select buildings.
With its Sustainability 2020 Plan, the University is seeking to close this gap by diverting its waste from city landfills. To expedite recycling efforts and give back to the community, USC should partner with low income South Los Angeles residents to collect bottles, cans and other recyclables from campus and trade them into recycling centers.
California has offered a rebate program for bringing cans and bottles into recycling centers since 1980, where plastic bottles and aluminum cans can be exchanged for $1.17 and $1.65 per pound, respectively. Through a day of collecting these items, recyclers can earn anywhere between $40 and $100. For many of them, recycling is more than about being environmentally friendly — it is also a key source of income. In an interview with HuffPost, Dalano Scranton, whose sole income comes from recycling at the A1 Electronics Recycling in South L.A., said this money helps him pay for hygiene products, meals and other daily living costs.
Recently, recycling centers across California have shut down, as global recycling market variables have been trending downward over the past few years, according to Mark Oldfield, CalRecycle communications spokesperson. Recyclers have been hit the hardest — many of them now have to travel further for less profit. One of these impacted recyclers is Heshimu Coleman, who explained in an interview with KPCC that he now has to travel five times as far as he used to in order to earn enough income — a daunting task without a car, especially in L.A.’s summer heat.
An easy way for the University to help is by pooling together recyclables for collection by people like Coleman, who rely on recycling to make a living or even involving recyclers in filtering out cans and bottles. Many recyclers are already sifting through trash cans around the city to collect their recyclables, and bringing their services to campus could earn them additional compensation from the University.
Even though FMS sorts campus waste, and USC has provided student organizations with more opportunities to assist in the recycling process, an entire load of recycling can end up being thrown out if it is contaminated by non-recyclable products, such as liquids left in bottles. Instead of throwing these loads away completely, USC can offer them to people who need the recycling money, who can then exchange non-contaminated items for a rebate at recycling centers.
An especially lucrative source of cans and bottles is USC football game days, during which cans and bottles are abundant from tailgates. The University has already implemented a successful program for environmentally friendly waste disposal in the Coliseum, which has won top honors in the Pac-12 Zero Waste Bowl for the last two years. As for the waste generated at tailgates, the USC community has already begun an unofficial partnership with local recyclers, according to USC Sustainability’s waste diversion initiative. It is common to see an abundance of bags at tailgates filled with cans and bottles set out for recyclers to pick up. But both the school and locals who need recycling money would benefit from this partnership, which saves FMS and the recyclers the trouble of sifting through waste bins and ensures that the University properly disposes recyclable products.
By establishing an official partnership that extends beyond game days, recyclers would receive a more stable source of income, and the University would have a reliable way of disposing of waste responsibly across all of campus. In just one month at the A1 recycling center, over 11,000 pounds of recyclables were diverted from landfills. Considering that USC contributed 6,000 tons of waste to landfills last year, the University would benefit greatly from the help of local recyclers, who are already playing a huge role in helping L.A. achieve its environmental goals.
A previous version of this article contained an error. The article stated the CalRecycle stated how much recyclers can earn in a day. CalRecycle has never released an estimation. The article also stated that state reimbursement rates have been dropping. They have not — other factors are causing a downward trend in the recycling market. The Daily Trojan regrets the error.