70 bins cost $190 each, more than $13,000 total
The tiny blue bins that were once posted around the floors of the Thomas Cooper Library have been replaced with hard-to-miss gray receptacles.
The left side of each bin is marked “Recycle” and dictates that paper, plastic bottles and aluminum cans can be disposed there. The right side reads “Landfill” and is meant for all other waste that may accumulate while students are in the library.
“Because we’ve twinned the bins, there’s no extra movement,” said Larry Cook, the recycling coordinator for the Facilities department. “Because all trashcans are now paired with recycling bins, it’s just as easy to recycle items as it is to throw them away.”
The new bins are part of the effort to transition USC to using single-stream recycling, a form of recycling in which all recyclables are placed into one container, as opposed to separating different types of recyclables.
Facilities hopes that this joint bin system will increase recycling while requiring little effort.
“In the most basic sense, they don’t differ at all [from the old recycling bins],” Cook said. “Now, you just have your choice right there. You don’t have to walk any more steps to throw something away.”
For the convenience of users, the walls behind the bins have been marked with stickers that differentiate recyclable items from trash.
However, accessibility isn’t the only thing that’s been upgraded. The new cans are also more aesthetically pleasing, Cook said.
“It gives the facility a uniform look, especially for visitors,” he said. “There’s no question if it’s one thing or the other; it’s uniform throughout the library.”
According to Cook, 70 new bins were installed in the library on April 13th.
But these bins come at a price. At $190 a pop, around $80 more than the former receptacles, costs totaled more than $13,000.
“The list price of the Safco At-Your-Disposal can, which was the most common trash can we replaced in the library, is $110,” he said.
However, in the long run, this single-stream recycling system could potentially save the university money in a variety of ways, Cook said.
“We wanted to do it as a comprehensive, one fell swoop,” he said. “We went ahead and did it on a weekend, so they were in place at the end of the day.”
The library was selected for this recycling experiment due to high waste levels as well as high traffic, with students continuously going in and out.
And the bins have arrived in time for the peak library season: finals week.
“For exams, there will be extra trashcans brought in,” Cook said. “We always do that.”
Because the bins have only been in place for about two weeks, Cook said it is hard to measure the effect just yet, as it is a long-term effort.
“In the first two weeks, we definitely do hope to see a reduction of material being sent to the landfill, but it’s a little early to tell, because it will just be a very small snapshot,” he said. “The preliminary data shows a marked improvement with the installation of the new receptacles in the library. We will continue to monitor the new bins to ensure that we continue to work toward 100 percent diversion of recyclables [from] the landfill.”
Cook said Facilities hopes to see an overall decrease in waste in the coming months, as well as an increase in recycled materials. He said with the new system, it’s easier for everyone.
“It’s all about collection efficiency,” he said. “It’s on both the facility for making it efficient to collect recyclables and the user for making it just as easy to recycle something as it is to throw it away.”