Center 1

Area Recycling Committees

The easiest way to coordinate the implementation of the Complete Program is geographically, by building such as Carruthers Hall or the Law School, or by area such as the Blue Ridge Hospital complex. If large enough, the building or area, may be further subdivided, as with the Unversity Hospital. An Area Recycling Committee (ARC) is formed for every building or area, so that each department can be represented in implementation and recycling efforts.


Formation
The Recycling Office first researches a building or area to determine which departments reside there. Letters are then sent to the department notifying chairpersons and managers of the upcoming committee formation. Department heads are requested to select a representative to serve on the recycling committee and
then attend, the the new reppresentative, the initial committee formation presentation. It is recommended that the department head seek a volunteer to represent their needs, rather than appoint a representative whenever possible, and that at least one department head be an Ex Officio member of the committee.

Structure & Responsibilities

The Recycling Office recommends that the Area Recycling Committee (ARC) meet
weekly using the U.Va. Recycling Program Implementation Plan until the program is up and running. The planning time frame can last from 2 to 4 weeks. Committee structure and responsibilities are as follows:

Election of a Chairperson: The duties of the chairperson consist of calling and chairing meetings, compiling departmental needs information, coordinating the recycling program implementation schedule, compiling a committee phone/info list, and maintaining the program. The phone list should consist of each committee member’s name, department, phone number, and electronic mail address.

Each ARC member notifies and educates their department about the implementation. In the case of large departments, it is advisable to form a supplemental departmental committee. The ARC member would then act as a go-between for the departmental committee and the larger Area Recycling Committee.

The committee also has the responsibility of targeting the reduction and reuse of paper and other products and to make recommendations on environmentally smart products. Examples of these responsibilities include 2 sided copying, on-line report versus hard copy, conversion of yellow legal pad (Mixed Paper) to white legal pad (White Office Paper), the use of shredded paper for packaging (instead
of "polystyrene peanuts"), the reduction of periodicals ordered, and the ordering of plastics of types 1 and 2.

After successfully setting up the recycling program, the committee and the Recycling Office work together in maintaining and improving it.
The Recycling Office strongly recommends that each department have a recycling office staff member visit the department at a staff meeting or an in-service training session to answer questions and provide training.

The Planning Phase

The formation of the Area Recycling Committee includes a full presentation of the recycling program, decisions on departmental representation, and establishment of regularly scheduled committee meetings. The number of necessary meetings before program implementation can range from three to five.
The committee meets and covers the following topics:

White Office VS. Mixed Paper
The Mobile Shelf System (MSS) for paper collection
Number and type of paper recycling boxes
Number and placement of MSS
Use of boxes, MSS, and outdoor containers
Services provided by the Recycling Office
Interaction with Building Services
Education/in-service sessions and meetings with the committee and departmental
staff.
The Implementation Phase
In the Implementation Phase, the Recycling Office installs Mobile Shelf Systems filled with empty boxes at previously designated locations. The Recycling Coordinator visits your building to distribute boxes to each workstation. In the process, he educates individual faculty and staff members about the recycling program and distributes hardcopies of this guide.

After implementation, if minor problems occur, they can be addressed by the Area
Recycling Committee, and the Recycling Office
The Production Phase

In the Production Phase, the program is operating successfully. The Area
Recycling Committee continues to meet as needed. Ongoing education/in-service
presentations are scheduled for staff as needed.
Office Paper Recycling

Paper Recycling Boxes

Boxes are color coded to handle the two grades of recyclable paper. While boxes
with Green labels store White Office Paper only, boxes with Black labels store
Mixed Paper only.

The Recycling Office provides Mobile Shelf Systems (MSS) stocked with empty,
labeled boxes. Additionally, each workstation ordinarily receives a pair of
boxes, White Office and Mixed. When one of your boxes becomes full, you take it
to the nearest MSS, and exchange it for an empty one. Often, similar sets of
boxes are placed at other locations, such as next to copiers, in newspaper
reading areas, and other areas with heavy paper use.

Recycling Office crews empty each MSS regularly and restock it with empty boxes.
If you have any questions, please call 982-5033.

White Office VS. Mixed Paper

These are only general sorting rules for paper. For a complete list of types of
White Office and Mixed paper, refer to Section 1, Drive-By Recycling

If it’s white, not glossy, and has no adhesive on it anywhere, it’s probably
White Office grade.

If it’s not white, is glossy, or has adhesive or glue on it, it’s definitely
Mixed Paper.

Special Cases: fax paper and copier paper ream wrappings are Mixed Paper.
Green-Bar computer paper is White Office Paper in the Health Sciences Center,
but is Mixed Paper in the academic areas.

Why Should I Bother?
Why should you spend time separating paper? It all gets recycled anyway, doesn’t
it? Yes, but high-quality White Office Paper can be recycled into more
high-quality paper, plus there are no chemical bleach by-products when repulping
white paper. Mixed Paper, however, gets recycled into low-grade paper products
like cardboard boxes and fiberboard. If our white paper gets recycled as white
paper, we are then helping to "close the loop" and provide a source for more
office-quality paper. Otherwise trees have to fill in the gap. White paper also
brings in more revenue to help offset hauling costs. So separating paper helps
provide funds for further recycling efforts, and results in more efficient use
of energy and trees.

It’s This Easy
There are two ways to use the paper recycling boxes:

The first way is to have a White Office Paper box on end (Label side up) and
a Mixed Paper box laying flat next to your trash can. It is important to
neatly stack the White Office paper in the boxes so that the recycling crew can
check to make sure it is all white, without looking through possibly
confidential documents.

The
second way involves using just a White Office Paper box for white paper
collection, and putting the box top either on top of the box or across part of
your trash can for Mixed paper. When the White Office Paper box is full, take it
to the nearest Mobile Shelf System and neatly empty the Mixed Paper box top into
a black labeled Mixed Paper recycling box on the shelf. Put the box top on the
green labeled White Office Paper box and then put it on the shelf. Take an empty
green labeled White Office Paper box back, and start all over. You can also vary
these methods to suit your needs.

Does It Matter If a Little Non-White Paper Goes Into a White Office Paper
Box?
Yes! If a load of White Office paper is contaminated with a small amount of
Mixed Paper, the entire multi-ton shipment of paper can be downgraded to Mixed.
That means we’ve just lost all that White Office Paper that might have been
recycled into high-quality paper products and means more trees get cut to fill
in the difference. Plus, the University lost needed revenue from that paper.

Office Cardboard Recycling

Why Do I Have To Stack White Office Paper Vertically?
Our recycling crew must inspect White Office Paper boxes for Mixed Paper
contamination by looking at the edges of the paper. Vertical stacking allows
them to do this quickly and efficiently. An added benefit of stacking White
Office paper this way is that our recy cling crew will not have to look through
any of your possibly confidential paper. For highly sensitive documents, such as
medical records, the Recycling Office and University have established a Policy
on Confidentiality. This policy ensures that the Recycling crew nor anyone else
will ever see your confidential documents.
U.Va. buildings with the Complete Program have desginated areas at which to
leave their cardboard. In most, buildings, these areas are at or near a loading
dock. At University Hospital and the Primary Care Center, however, these areas
are more localized by department or floor. If you are unsure of where to leave
your cardboard contact your Area Recycling Committee member or call 982-5033.
Offices without the Complete Program, should call
982-5033
to make special arrangements to have their cardboard recycled. For a complete
list of what types of cardboard the Recycling Office accepts, refer to the What
Can I Recycle? section. Please flatten all cardboard.
In every implementation, the Recycling Office offers a metal, glass and plastic
recycling program. Indoor recycling containers for aluminum, steel, and tin
cans, glass, and plastic of types 1 and 2 are placed in various areas such as
cafeterias, and snack areas. Please empty all recyclable containers and rinse
whenever possible. Also, please crush aluminum cans and plastic containers to
conserve space.

The only types of plastics accepted at this time are clear types 1 and 2. They
are co-mingled with the metals, and later separated at the processing plant.
Look at the bottom of the plastic container for a recycling symbol, and the type
number will be inside that symbol. We do not recycle plastic bags at this time.

If your office is in a U.Va. building which does not have the recycling program
for these materials, but you are currently collecting them, please refer to The
Basic Method.