1

Team MJC Recycling Corp.

ENGL 421
Maximo Kopp
Cody Ring-Rissler
Jin Jang

7/24/2009

White Paper Project

Recycling Efforts at Purdue University
2

Table of Contents

Executive Summary 3
Introduction 4
Recycling at University Villages 4
Boiler Green Initiatives 5
Inventions and Technology 6
Recycling electronic storage devices 7
Green Manufacturing 8
Green Report Card 9
Economy-Numbers and Purdue University 9
Conclusion 12
Annotated Bibliography 13
Work Cited 14
3

Executive Summary:

In this paper, Team MJC Recycling Corp will discuss several topics related to
recycling issues at Purdue University. Purdue has come a long way in becoming a
sustainable green university, by developing many initiatives and imposing many changes.
We will overview some of the current recycling programs and discuss future green
options. The environmental, financial and social benefits of becoming a green university
are also mentioned. There are many clubs and organization at Purdue that are recognized
as being green, they will be stated and a brief mission statement about them is presented.
The specific sections of this report are as follows; recycling at University Villages, Boiler
Green Initiatives, inventions and technology, recycling electronic storage devices, Green
Manufacturing, Green Report Card, and economy-numbers and Purdue University.
One of the best programs created in campus is the recycling program at the
University Villas; they stated the program with the purpose of reducing solid waste. But
what they have now is a recycling program that serves as role model for other residence
halls. They created a brochure that have all the guide lines for recycling and some
educational sections for people that are new to the area.
Boiler Green Initiatives is Purdue student organization that is growing rapidly in
campus. Their main focus is in sustainability. They also have spent a lot of tie in the
creation of new recycling programs and initiatives. The most recent one is the Ross-Ade
Stadium recycling program.
Inventions and Technology presents a great invention from Purdue University
professor Edward Grant. He created a device that may help to save billions of pounds of
plastic. The new device is able to identify and sort plastic automatically; revolutionizing
the recycling process.
Recycling storage devices is a section of the paper that talks about a new program
called “recycling for the future.” The program offers an efficient and reliable process for
the discarding of electronic storage devices containing University data.
Green manufacturing is a system created by Purdue University’s Clean
Manufacturing Technology Institute. The system is trying to help some Indiana
companies to go green. By encouraging them to use more environment friendly
machinery, trying to use energy more efficiently, conserving natural resources and putting
more effort on recycling in manufacturing processes.
The Green Report Card is an evaluation done trough extensive research about
sustainability in many colleges in the United States. The recycling section of the report is
explored in great details.
Economy-numbers and Purdue University section approaches a variety of topics
including a brief explanation of all green students organizations, explanation of recyling
materials prices and how this relates to students in campus and lastly talks about how
Purdue is becoming a sustainable campus.
4

Introduction:

“Today the typical American discards nearly a ton of trash per person per year”
(Brower 2000). The question is: what to do with all this trash? Going through this paper
you are going to find evidence why recycling is the best solution for this problem. We
conducted a very specific research about the recycling program at Purdue University how
simple initiatives and an organized system can save tons of money and the environment.
Purdue University staff members and students are doing a great job in
transforming this campus in a green campus with almost zero waste.
The university came to the conclusion that work has be done now so we can live
better in the future.

Recycling at University Villages:

One thing that Purdue University has to be very proud of is the creation of a
program called PUC Recycling Program of the University Village community. This
program started with the purpose of reducing solid waste by educating the Villages
residents about recycling initiatives that are available.
The program follows the guidelines of the Indiana 1990 General Assembly for
Recycling and Waste Reduction. Leaders from green institutions formed a guide for
colleges that wants to go green and reduce waste in campus. They have a series of rules
and green initiatives that has to be followed, in order to meet their requirements.
If the village’s web site is accessed it is easy to find information about the
recycling program, contact information and a very interesting brochure that includes:

Why to recycle?
• For every ton of waste paper recycled 3.3 cubic yard of landfill space is saved.
• Recycling helps extend the life of existing landfill sites and reduces the need to
create new landfills.
• Every ton of recycled office paper saves 380 gallons of oil.
• The energy saved from recycling one glass bottle will light a 100 watt bulb for
four hours.
• The energy saved from one recycled
• One aluminum can will operate a television set for 3 hours.
• It takes 95% less energy to make
• Aluminum from scrap than from virgin materials.
• Recycling helps to keep collection cost down.
• Reusing material reduces operational cost.

List of recyclable items:

Paper:
• Cardboard (flattened)
• Business Envelopes
• Business Forms
5

• Cereal/Detergent/Shoe Boxes
• Computer/Copy/Fax/Taping
• File Folders
• Junk Mail
• Ledger/Scratch Paper
• Magazine
• Manila Envelopes
• Newspaper
• Sticky Notes
Food Containers:
• Aluminum/Steel/Tin Cans
• Ketchup Bottles
• Soda/Juice/ Pop Bottles
• Narrow-neck Plastic Bottles

Recycling Tips:
• Make double-sided copies
• Make scratch pad from used paper
• Use e-mail or quick phone call
• Return unneeded catalogs, brochures, etc.
• Use spell check and print preview
• Use rags rather than paper products

Boiler Green Initiatives:

It is a Purdue University student organization that focuses on sustainability. The

organization was founded in 2006. At the beginning they had only a few students but
after 4 years of hard they develop a team with 400 members and more than $100,000 in
funding for projects and research.
One of the most interesting projects that they have is related to recycling. They are
developing a recycling system in the Ross Ade Stadium. With a $25,000 grant they are
purchasing recycling bins and developing new ideas to implement in the stadium.
They also started a recycling program in the 2008 Football season. Purdue
University has the tradition of tail gating before game days, people all over campus, park
their cars in the golf course just a few yards away from they football field and enjoy food
and drinks until it is game time. But all this fun leaves lots of waste. Thinking about that
Boiler Green Initiatives created a recycling program. With a grant receive from the
athletic department they purchased recycling bins, bags, and A-frames. They also manage
to find volunteers to participate in the program and keep the places clean with minimum
waste.
6

(http://www.boilergreen.com/page2/page10/Recycling.html)

This graph shows the amount of work put into the recycling program in football game
and how much they were able to recycle during the 2008 season.
Most of the students in campus know the recycle bottle offered by dinning services
and mini markets in campus. This initiative was also created by this student organization.
Seeing tons of plastic glass being wasted daily in the food services in campus they saw a
great opportunity for going green. They develop a bottle that is made of solid plastic and
that can be re-used just by cleaning. They bottle is sold by the price of $10. But it is a
good deal for students because they can get a lot more drink that bottle than the normal
cup offered. So during a certain period of time students manage to get their money back
by getting more drink per serving.

Inventions and Technology:

According to Science Blog a professor in the Chemistry Department at Purdue

University called Edward Grant invented a device that will help to save billions of
pounds of plastics. The new device was named Top 100 most technological and
significant product or process by R&D Magazine.
The device can help to identify and sort different types of plastic giving an
enormous advantage for recyclers. Using a laser device, that hits the plastic and return to
the device in less than a second being able to tell what kind of plastic is it.
With this new technology the recycling process is going to be a lot more efficient
and waste is going to be less and less. According to Science Blog the device can sort
7

plastic at incredible fast rates. “That means it could be used to screen commercial and
post-consumer waste in factories, warehouses, recycling centers and scrap yards.” Grant
says.
This invention is something that Purdue University has to be proud of and thanks
Edward Grant for helping the world recycle more and more.
Companies such as Ford and Environment Protect Agency invested money in the
development of the project. Bill Orr, manager of Ford worldwide vehicle recycle
planning, says: "We at Ford have a strong commitment to developing products that
support recycling."

Recycling electronic storage devices:

Purdue University has developed a new service to University departments for the
safe and secure disposal of electronic storage devices. This new program called
“Recycling for the Future” is a collaborative effort between Materials Management and
Distribution, University Warehouse and Surplus, and ITaP’s Secure Purdue initiative.
This program offers an efficient and reliable process for the discarding of electronic
storage devices containing University data. A high-powered shredder at the University
warehouse and the shredding byproducts will be used to shred these devices in an
environmentally friendly manner. They will be handled by e-waste contractors after the
shredding process. Followings are the items that can be destroyed using the new shredder.

• Hard drives
• Disk arrays
• USB keys
• CDs
• DVDs
• Other electronic storage media

The University has provided the refuse/recycling confidential document

destruction service for paper documents for a number of years, and the destruction of
electronic documents now will be subject to the same security standards. All the hard
drives and other electronic storage devices that have University data will no longer be
offered for sale to the general public at the end of their useful lives. All such devices will
be discarded through the “Recycling for the Future” program.
Additionally, the University-owned shredder will cut down the cost for disposal of
such devices. Purdue University has been paying contractors from outside through the
Radiological and Environmental Management department. Now, such devices will be
shredded routinely inside of the University and cost for those outside contractors will be
saved.
For the PCs that can be resold to the general public at the University warehouse,
the original hard drives will be removed, shredded, and discarded. The computers that are
being sold will be replaced with new 80GB hard drives along with the operating systems.
This new system will not only ensure the security of University data, but also help
the University go green by recycling such electronic devices in an environmentally
friendly manner.
8

Green Manufacturing:

Purdue University’s Clean Manufacturing Technology Institute has developed a

system that helps a number of Indiana companies to encourage pollution prevention by
using materials and energy more efficiently, conserving natural resources, and putting
more efforts on recycling in manufacturing processes.
Followings are several Indiana companies who received the annual Governor’s
Awards for Environmental Excellence by implementing outstanding environmental
strategies in their manufacturing operations using this system

• Subaru (Lafayette)
• Rolls-Royce (Indianapolis)
• Toyota Industrial Equipment Manufacturing(TIEM) (Columbus)

Subaru's Lafayette plant established a “green manufacturing” by reducing the

waste and recycling materials up to 99.8 percent achieving zero-landfill status. Tom
Easterday, senior vice president of Subaru manufacturing plant says, "The average
household in America sends more to a landfill every day than our entire Subaru
manufacturing plant.” In 2007, the plant recycled 13,142 tons of steel, 1,448 tons of
cardboard and paper, 194 tons of plastics, 10 tons of solvent-soaked rags and 4 tons of
light bulbs. Employee break areas at the plant added 20 tons of pop cans and bottles to its
recycling total.

Toyota Industrial Equipment Manufacturing (TIEM) in Columbus is also a good

example of environmentally friendly manufacturing plant in Indiana by implementing the
system. In 2007, TIEM introduced a series of forklifts powered by gasoline and propane
that produce 70 percent less smog-forming emissions than current federal standards. It
also implemented recycling initiatives to make it a zero-landfill facility and has increased
the amount of recycled items by 70 percent during the last 3 years.

Another international company that is making an environmental effort to develop

green manufacturing in Indiana is Rolls-Royce Corp., which has Operations in
Indianapolis. Rolls-Royce implemented an environmental management plan in 2000 and
then reduced electricity consumption by 13 percent, water usage by 44 percent, cold
cleaning solvent usage by 54 percent, and the generation of hazardous waste by 73
percent. The company estimates those reductions have resulted in an annual savings of
over $2 million.

The company also has an aggressive recycling effort that captures more than
8,500 tons of a wide range of materials, including aluminum, coolants, batteries, copper,
glass, paper, plastics, steel, tires, used oil and wood. Obsolete plastic vehicle parts are
sent to another recycler, and poly-propylene wipes are made into plastic pellets so that
they can use to make other vehicle parts, such as wheel well liners.

Green Report Card:

9

The Green Report Card is an evaluation done trough extensive research about
sustainability in many colleges in the United States. According to Green Report Card web
site sustainability means: “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the
ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” This report focus on many areas
and one of the areas is recycling. Purdue University only got a B grade in this section.
Meaning that we are doing a good job in the recycling process but we can still improve a
lot. One of the positives mentioned in the report is the use of all yard waste as topsoil.

Economy-Numbers and Purdue University:

Purdue University has done much to become a green university. Between

recycling programs, sustainability initiatives and waste reduction Purdue has greatly
reduced its impact on the environment. This is in large part due to the students; they have
answered the call and helped tremendously in the efforts of recycling. Following are
some of the many Green student organizations that Purdue has to offer all of these clubs
and organizations are recognized by Purdue University as being a green-focused
organization.

• Boiler Green Initiative: a multi-disciplinary, campus-wide student organization

that focuses on the evaluation and continued enhancement of the sustainability of
Purdue University and its surrounding communities.
• Carbon Neutrality at Purdue Club: Dedicated to addressing environmental issues,
but with a specific focus: reducing the amount of carbon emissions (carbon
footprint) of Purdue University, both on the institutional and community
level.
• Net Impact: Net Impact Purdue focuses its resources on exploring and advocating,
the following areas; corporate social responsibility, social entrepreneurship,
environmental management, socially responsible investing, clean energy,
community development, international development and labor issues.
• Purdue Energy Club: The Purdue Energy Club is a multi-disciplinary team,
research-based club which seeks to solve the world's most complex energy
challenges!
• Roots and Shoots: The Roots & Shoots program is about making positive change
happen—for our communities, for animals and for the environment. With tens of
thousands of young people in almost 100 countries, the Roots & Shoots network
connects youth of all ages who share a desire to create a better world.

There are benefits to recycling for all student organizations and the university.
Old materials such as aluminum, stainless steel, cardboard can be sold and recycled into
new materials once again. The prices of recycled materials fluctuate daily but here are
some recent samples from one of the largest markets in the world the London Metal
Exchange.
10

(http://www.metalprices.com)

• LTL- Less than truck load. This refers to over scale values of miscellaneous
quantities of metals

• TL- Truck Load. Refers to sorted and prepared materials, packaged and ready
for shipment

All of these are common materials found on a college campus, classrooms, dorm
rooms, offices, and construction projects. Many of these items can be collected by
students and staff just by making a short walk to one of the many recycling centers
located in nearly every building on campus. Once these materials are collected and sold it
provides a sizeable source of income for the university to fund more student programs.

Material LTL TL Units Funds

Mixed Paper 25.31 33.75 Ton USD
Mixed Office 92.81 123.75 Ton USD
Paper
Beer Carton 43.12 57.50 Ton USD
Wasted
Box Board 53.44 71.25 Ton USD
11

Baled 86.25 115.00 Ton USD

Corrugated
Cardboard
Repacked 57.00 76.00 Ton USD
News Print
Carrier Stock 210.00 280.00 Ton USD
(http://www.ScrapIndex.com)
With the help of the students and staff Purdue is and will become a more
sustainable institution. The United Nations World Commission on Environment and
Development defined sustainable development in its 1987 report, "Our Common Future,"
as "development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of
future generations to meet their own needs." For any effort to be sustainable, it must
address environmental, social, and economic issues.
The Sustainability Council was formed to identify issues, discuss options, educate
the campus community and make recommendation on the future direction for
sustainability initiatives. The council includes representatives from;

• Buildings and Grounds

• Center for the Environment at Discovery Park
• Clean Manufacturing Technology Institute
• Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences
• Department of Forestry and Natural Resources
• Division of Environmental and Ecological Engineering
• Ecology, Evolution and Population Biology
• Energy Center in Discovery Park
• Environmental Chemistry
• Environmental Health and Public Safety
• Materials Management and Distribution Services
• Office of the Executive Vice President and Treasurer
• Office of the University Architect
• Office of the Vice President for Research
• Physical Facilities Communications
• Procurement Operations and University Contracting Group
• Purdue Agriculture Centers
• Purdue Climate Change Research Center
• Radiological and Environmental Management
• University Residences

Some of the sustainability initiatives include;

• Energy conservation

• Responsible use of land

• Water and other environmental resources

12

• Pollution prevention and waste minimization

• Increasing awareness and acceptance of personal responsibility for Purdue and its
surrounding communities
• "Buying Green"

Conclusion:

In conclusion it has been shown the importance of recycling and its innumerous
benefits at Purdue University campus. Green initiatives affected the community and how
students are becoming more and more conscious about the recycling programs on
campus. We also presented numbers and graphs providing information about cost of
recycling products and process so students can have an idea of how much money they are
saving by recycling. Proving examples of technological invention created on Purdue
campuses that are helping to change the way recycling are done and helping large
companies become green. Proving information about all green students organizations is a
good way to be informed on what is available on campus. The main message is do the
effort now so we can live better in the future.
13

Annotated Bibliography

Gaigos, Susan. “New Device Brightens Recycling Efforts” Science Blog at Purdue
University. Web. 1998. 14 July 2009.

A professor in the Chemistry Department at Purdue University invented a device that will
help to save billions of pounds of plastics that are now being wasted. The device can help
to identify and sort different types of plastic giving an enormous advantage for recyclers.
Using a laser device, that hits the plastic and it is able to tell what kind of plastic is it, and
this process takes less than a second to happen. With this new technology the recycling
process is going to be a lot more efficient and waste is going to be less and less.

“Green Report Card at Purdue University”, College Sustainability Report Card. Web.
2009. 10 July 2009.

The Green Report Card is a evaluation done trough extensive research in many colleges
in the United States. This report focus on many areas and one of the areas is recycling
and Purdue University only got a B grade in this section. Meaning that we are doing a
good job in the recycling process but we can still improve a lot. One of the positives
mentioned in the report is the use of all yard waste as topsoil.

Purdue University Calumet. Purdue University Villages. Web. 14 July 2009

This web page refers to the Purdue University Recycling Program at the University
Villages. This program is doing great so far, they made the community aware of the
importance of recycling. By educating residents trough this web site that offers recycling
tips and a Village brochure with specific and useful information to residents. They are
also following 1990 General Assembly for recycling and waste reduction a high standard
Indiana guideline for recycling.

Brower, Michael and Leon, Warren. The Consumer's Guide to Effective Environmental
Choices. 2000. Print.

In a quote of Brower and Warren’s book: “The typical American discards nearly a ton of
trash per person per year, two to three times as much as the typical Western European
throws away.” As you can see Americans produce a lot of trash and this is a great
opportunity for recycling and going green, so we can live better.
14

"Sustainability at Purdue University". Black, Gold and Green. 7/16/09

<http://www.purdue.edu/sustainability/pages/recycling_programs.html>.

This article is from the Black, Gold and Green initiative from Purdue’s webpage. It lists
recycling statistics for Purdue University in the year 2008. There are also several
programs listed such as the Boiler Green effort at athletic events which gives us an idea
that we can expand on. It also provides a scale on which to judge future projects, and our
ideas for this white paper project.

Schenke, Jim. "Purdue University Residences expands recycling efforts ". Purdue News
Service. 7/16/09 <http://www.purdue.edu/uns/x/2007b/071005FrazeeRecycle.html>.

Recycling can be fiscally beneficial as well. This article from 2007 lists prices for
recycled cardboard and aluminum. These prices have risen in the last two years, and
provide incentive for Purdue to expand on its recycling and reuse ideas. There are many
other materials that can be recycled and sold as scrap again such as; all kinds of metals,
items that are thrown away from dorm rooms like refrigerators and microwaves. These
are only a few ideas of other sources of income for Purdue from recycling.

Work Cited:

Gaigos, Susan. “New Device Brightens Recycling Efforts” Science Blog

at Purdue University.Web. 1998. 14 July 2009.
<http://www.scienceblog.com/community
/older/1998/C/199802567.html>

“Green Report Card at Purdue University”, College Sustainability Report

Card. Web.
2009. 10 July 2009. <http://www.greenreportcard.org/report-card-
2009/schools/purdue- university>

Purdue University Calumet. Purdue University Villages. Web. 14 July

2009.
<http://webs.calumet.purdue.edu/housing/recycle>

Brower, Michael and Leon, Warren. The Consumer's Guide to Effective

Environmental
Choices. 2000. Print.

"Sustainability at Purdue University". Black, Gold and Green. Web. 16

July 2009
<http://www.purdue.edu/sustainability/pages/recycling_programs.ht
ml>
15

Schenke, Jim. "Purdue University Residences expands recycling efforts

". Purdue News
Service. Web. 16
July2009.<http://www.purdue.edu/uns/x/2007b/071005Frazee
Recycle.html>

“Shredding/recycling program to enhance electronic data security".

Purdue Today. Web.29 June 2009. 6 July 2009. <
http://www.purdue.edu/UNS/insidepurdue/2009/090629_
shred.html>

Hromadka, Erik. "Green manufacturing: innovative design, improved

processes and recycling efforts in Indiana". Indiana Business
Magazine. Web. 1 May 2008. 13 July 2009.
<http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-
34572909_ITM>

“Shredding/recycling program to enhance electronic data security".

Purdue Today. Web. 29 June 2009.6July
<http://www.purdue.edu/UNS/insidepurdue/2009/090629
_shred.html>

“Recycling” Boiler Green Initiatives. 2006. 17 July 2009.

<http://www.boilergreen.com/
page2/page10/Recycling.html>