Familiar blue barrels toted on dollys by members of the UO Zero Waste program can be seen throughout the halls of buildings on campus. These barrels will be conspicuously absent from the Erb Memorial Union moving forward, though their recycling campaign is moving ahead full steam.
Mixed messages about pre-conceived plans and reports that waste left behind by the Zero Waste bins contributed to the change.
“It was a combination of both,” Dustin Jackson EMU custodial services manager said. “We were constantly cleaning up after the barrels they collect the recycling in. That’s been going on for years and years.”
Recycling efforts took on a new face in the EMU as a new relationship between the UO Zero Waste program and the EMU took effect last week.
The new standard operating procedure has moved some of the recycling bins in the EMU to “common areas” in order simplify the cleaning crew’s job. That crew is tasked with taking the waste bins inside, to the loading dock behind the EMU for Zero Waste to collect.
“One of the things that was negotiated early on between the EMU and Zero Waste was that once the newly renovated building opened up, the crews that maintained the floors would take over recycling and collection,” said Donny Addison, Zero Waste operations manager. “The EMU laid out Zero Waste stations [and] the EMU staff, cleaning and maintenance are now managing all inside collection.”
While Zero Waste has said that this new partnership was agreed upon early on, the timing of the change is questionable. The new EMU has been open since May but this plan has only been executed recently.
Recycling is a messy business but no other buildings on campus have had any complaints about Zero Waste’s procedures.
“Pretty much everywhere else we send crews in on foot with barrels and dollys,” Addison said, “That’s been the way we’ve done it in the EMU and everyone else on campus up until this point.”
Despite the complaints, the change is being welcomed by both Zero Waste and the EMU which insists that both sides are benefiting.
“My number one priority is keeping this building clean,” Jackson said, I have to back up my custodial staff. This is a compromise, we still recycle; it’s just that they will pick up recycling at the loading dock. The easier it is, the more effective the program will be for everyone.”
One factor that sets the EMU apart from other buildings on campus is the food vendors that have arrived with the renovation. The to-go containers and drink cups from most of the vendors are not recyclable or compostable, rendering Zero Waste’s services unneeded. This significant change to the type and amount of waste flowing out of the EMU changes the role that Zero Waste plays.
Barred from collecting waste themselves, they are taking on an educational role. The next item on the agenda is to move all of the vendors onto a program which includes a range of recyclable and compostable items.