Wednesday, March 11, 1998
UCLA should implement better recycling program
RESPONSIBLITY: School should restructure system to meet state
standards while helping environment
By Elizabeth Rogers, Brian Rudiger and Ben Gertner
The main obstacles keeping UCLA from developing a better
recycling program are the very people whose job it is to implement
recycling. These administrators state that a major reason not to
recycle at UCLA is that separate bins are not aesthetically
pleasing. This university spends $500,000 a year contracting a
waste disposal company, when it would cost considerably less to
implement our own comprehensive recycling program. What do these
administrators have against recycling?
Most would think that as an institution of higher learning, UCLA
would place a great value on being a responsible member of the
community. But when it comes to its recycling program, this is far
from true.
Assembly bill 939, passed in 1989, requires that, through
recycling and waste reduction, the campus reduce waste sent to
landfills over 1990 levels by 25 percent by 1995 and by 50 percent
by 2000. To avoid violating this law, UCLA needs to rededicate
itself to the process of developing a first-rate, comprehensive
recycling program.
At a time when over 90 percent of the original forests in the
United States have been destroyed, and California has lost over 99
percent of its grasslands and over 85 percent of its redwoods, the
need for a comprehensive recycling program has never been greater.
Yet, if UCLA continues its current abysmal recycling program, the
university will be in violation of the law in less than two
years.
Despite the tremendous need for increased recycling, UCLA
currently recycles less than 18 percent of its total waste stream.
More than half of the total waste is incinerated, and the remaining
30 percent of the waste is sent to landfills. Instead of setting up
separate bins around campus for various recyclables, UCLA claims to
sort through trash cans and pull out recyclables. Unfortunately,
this system means that many recyclables are "contaminated" by food
and other trash, and the amount of waste actually recycled drops
dramatically. In addition, by having only one trash can, UCLA is
doing nothing to help to help educate and involve students in the
process of recycling.
Under budget restrictions,
ASUCLA recently abolished much of its recycling program. Minimal
recycling happens in ASUCLA offices and food service locations.
Despite having bins located in some of the dormitories, very little
of the waste is actually recycled. The majority of waste both
from
ASUCLA and from on-campus housing is incinerated.
By shipping the majority of UCLA’s waste away from the Westside
to the predominantly Latino, low-income area of Southeast Los
Angeles, where it is disposed of in potentially hazardous ways,
UCLA’s methods of waste disposal have also contributed to the
phenomenon of "toxic racism." Toxic or environmental racism refers
to the disproportionate impact of toxic pollution on communities
whose residents are primarily people of color.
Incinerators are the biggest known source of dioxin, one of the
most toxic chemicals, responsible for countless cases of cancer and
birth defects. Dioxin finds its way through the food chain and
concentrates in breast milk. Babies are exposed to 50 to 100 times
more dioxin than adults, and one in 10 U.S. residents suffers from
some level of developmental neurotoxicity, resulting in slower
learning skills.
Despite what some in the UCLA administration will say,
developing an effective recycling program at UCLA can be done.
Universities and other institutions around the country have proven
that comprehensive, productive recycling programs can be developed.
Indeed, right here in Los Angeles, Loyola Marymount University’s
program recycles close to 50 percent of its waste and expects to
reach 60 percent by 2000. Furthermore, Loyola’s recycling program
has cut the university’s waste disposal costs dramatically, and by
selling the materials they recycle, the program pays entirely for
itself. LMU employs five students to manage its recycling program
with well-paying part-time jobs. As a much larger school, UCLA
would be able to offer more student jobs.
The need for recycling has never been greater. It is also
essential that UCLA’s waste is not disposed of in ways which
contribute to environmental injustice. The UCLA Environmental
Coalition is leading a campaign to encourage UCLA to improve the
recycling program through a variety of means including:
Setting up separate bins around campus in which students can
recycles cans and bottles.
Increasing efforts to collect and recycle paper in all
university buildings.
Beginning to recycle in ASUCLA food service establishments, both
pre- and post-consumer.
Using reusable materials instead of disposables wherever
possible.
Selling more recycled products in the student store and using
high post-consumer-content recycled paper in all offices and
computer labs.
UCLA can best accomplish this goal by starting its own
comprehensive recycling program. Other universities around the
nation have proven that this is the best way to develop and
implement a recycling program that both recycles a large percentage
of waste and reduces costs to the university. We are confident that
UCLA will be a leader in the field of recycling, but we need
student support to get things going. Join the Environmental
Coalition and help gather signatures for our "UCLA, Don’t Throw It
All Away" petition. Look for us on Bruin Walk and come to our
meetings on Mondays at 5 p.m. in Kerckhoff 301.