ISU Recycling
Vision Statement
“Our passionate concern for the environment inspires us to
have sustainable reduce, reuse, recycle programs, which
generate an environmentally conscious Iowa State
University community.”
For more information contact ISU Recycling at recycling@iastate.edu or
visit our web site at www.fpm.iastate.edu/recycling/.
August 2009
Recycling at ISU
• Campus recycling started in 1992
• White paper recycling
• Expanded to include: Phone books, Newspaper,
Corrugated cardboard, and Confidential paper.
• We engage local partners
• International Paper
• Iron Mountain
• Ames Area Redemption Center
• Bikes at Work, a local bicycle delivery service.
Paper Product Recycling
• White Paper
• Newspaper
• Cardboard
• Phone Books
• Confidential Document Destruction
White Paper Recycling
• Collect from 106 campus buildings
• Most offices/individuals and many
classrooms/labs are provided with small deskside bin
• Weekly, custodial staff take large bins to a
central collection point and Campus Services
staff collect the paper in a packer truck.
• Paper is delivered to International Paper of
Des Moines
• Average 11 Tons per Month
White Paper Recycling Volumes
Newspaper Recycling
• Collect from 36 campus buildings
• Bikes at Work collects the newspapers,
checking each location several times per
week
• Newspapers collected are recycled by
International Paper out of Des Moines
• USA TODAY provides and empties
newspaper recycling bins in 16 Residence
Halls
• Average 8 Tons per Month
Newspaper Recycling Volumes
Cardboard Recycling
• Collect Cardboard from 50 Campus buildings
• Cardboard is collected by Ames Area
Redemption
• Collection per building is based on volumes
generated
• This free collection service saves ISU nearly
$1,275 per month in refuse disposal expenses
• Our vendor estimates collecting 17 Tons
per month
Phone Book Recycling
• Volunteers (students and staff) collect
phone books from 79 pick-up locations
• Phone Books are recycled by
International Paper out of Des Moines
• This volunteer service saved ISU nearly
$1,200 in refuse disposal expenses
• 16 Tons were collected December 2008
Phone Book Recycling Volumes
Confidential Document Destruction
• Collect from 52 campus buildings
• Iron Mountain collects and delivers
materials to their facility in Des Moines
• Material is shredded, baled and stored
until shipped to a paper mill for recycling
• Average 5 Tons per Month
Document Destruction Volumes
FY09 Recycling Volumes
124.36 Tons White Paper
61.87 Tons Newspaper
210.00 Tons Cardboard
15.49 Tons Phone Books
72.37 Tons Confidential Paper
484.09 Tons Recycled FY09
Resources Conserved in FY09
8,229 Trees
3,388,630 Gallons of Water
29,045 Lbs of Air Pollution
1,984,769 kW Hours of Electricity
1,597 cu yd of Landfill Space
Other ISU
Recycling Programs
Computer Monitor and
Fluorescent Lamp
Recovery/Recycling for 2008
44,610 Fluorescent Lamps
605 Monitors
Recycled 40 tons of
E-Scrap in 2008
ISU Surplus
• Provides an outlet for departmental reuse, resale,
and redistribution of excess equipment and furniture
• Departmental sale every Tuesday from 10 a.m until
noon
• Last year, $250,000 of usable assets were returned
to service in other university departments
• ISU Surplus is located at 1102 Southern Hills Drive
University Compost Facility
• Original compost site opened in 1993
• In 2002, site moved to ISU Dairy Farm on Mortensen Rd
• The University Compost Facility moves to the new Dairy
Facility in 2009
• Divert 605 tons of yard waste
• ISU Farms will provide 21,000 tons of animal waste
• An estimated 600 tons of dining food waste will be
composted in the future
University Compost Facility cont.
• Compost site will produce usable compost within three
months
• Generate approximately 10,500 tons of finished compost
per year
• All compost will be used on campus
• Construction projects will use as a soil amendment to
improve final topsoil quality
• Campus Services will use as a soil amendment, top
dressing, incorporating it into all campus landscaping
projects
Construction Project Recycling
• Towers Demolition
• 98% of the concrete was recycled
• 60,000 tons concrete used at the new Dairy Facility
• 98% non-concrete materials removed and recycled
• Jack Trice Stadium West Concourse Project
• 85% materials from old concession buildings recycled
• Concrete, Steel, Copper, Bathroom Stalls, etc.
Other Recycling Programs on Campus
• Chemical/Brown Bottles
• Chemical Redistribution Program
• Free Wood/Pallet Program
• Ink jet and Toner Cartridges
• Oil Filters, Used Oil, Tires, Batteries
• Power Plant Ash
• Rechargeable Batteries
• Scrap Metal
• Shrink Wrap
•Trees to furniture Program
City of Ames
Arnold O. Chantland
Resource Recovery Plant
What do they do there?
They turn
garbage in to
energy!
How do they do that?
• Garbage from Story County is delivered to the
plant
• Dry/Wet refuse is mixed and pushed onto a
conveyer which transports the garbage to the
shredder room
• Ferrous metal is attracted to the pick-up magnet,
and pulled away from the waste stream
• Abrasive grit and dust is removed and the garbage
moves to the secondary shedder
• The combustible pieces of refuse are blown into a
coal utility boiler
Facts about the
Resource Recovery Plant
• 65% of the waste received is turned into fuel
• Saved over 80 acres of Iowa farmland from
becoming a landfill
• Over a 25-year period, processed enough refuse
to fill Hilton Coliseum more than 453 times
• Processed over a million tons of solid waste since
they opened in 1975
• Recover enough metal to make 1,200 car bodies
each year
• Produce enough refuse-derived fuel to help heat
more than 4,600 homes each year
Questions?
For more information contact
ISU Recycling at
recycling@iastate.edu or
visit our web site at
www.fpm.iastate.edu/recycling/