Recycling's avoided costs add up to savings

  • Published
  • By Frank Carter
  • 82nd Training Wing Public Affairs
SHEPPARD AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --  Recycling is a team effort and the Sheppard recycling managers are asking everyone on base to pitch in as it saves the base money.

"There are recyclables in the dumpster on base on any given day that could be recycled," said Michael Klump, base qualified recycle program manager, 82nd Civil Engineering Squadron. "We are meeting our 40 percent diversion goal, but we could be doing much better."

When an excessive amount of recyclables are found in the trash dumpsters, the facility managers are contacted and urged to be more proactive in their recycling efforts.

"Ever since we let the public know caps could stay on plastic bottles, recycling has doubled," said Josh Brown, recycling specialist.

Sheppard pays their refuse contractor a monthly fee to get rid of its waste. Each time recyclable materials go to the landfill, the cost comes out of the refuse contractor's pocket.

The landfill cost for refuse for the 4th quarter of 2012 was $238,426; profits from recyclables came out to $24,459 and the avoided costs due to recycling was $535,930.

When vendors purchase recyclables, the earnings go into Sheppard's pocket, which by law go to pay for the contractor and in-house costs. Sheppard may not be making a profit yet, but some of the recycling costs get paid and environmentally the base is doing its part. Any remaining balance is used for pollution prevention projects and then MWR (morale, welfare and recreation) functions.

"Before we were paying to put recyclable materials into the landfill, we were not able to divert the weight as recycling," Klump said. "We were paying for disposal and environmentally we were not doing the right thing."

Currently some of the materials being recycled are cardboard, paper, plastic, glass, mattresses, box springs, wood pallets, metals, toner cartridges, batteries, cooking oil, green waste and other materials.

Mattress recycling started at Sheppard last year. Certified vendors pick up the mattresses and strip them down to bare metal and create new mattresses. Sheppard is not paid for the mattresses; however the cost savings comes from not paying the landfill.

"They take the padding off of the outside of the mattress and the plastic part goes to a recycler," said David Scarborough, project manager. "The padding itself is steam cleaned to kill bed bugs, the springs are taken out and sorted, good from bad, and the good items are used in new mattresses. The scrap metal is also recycled."

Wood pallets used to be thrown into the landfill, but now there is a vendor to purchase them.

The dining halls used to have used cooking oil picked up by a vendor, but the base was not being paid for it. With the effort of the recycling management team in October of this year they are now being paid for the oil.

The recycling program has yet to pay for itself, but with the continued effort by base personnel, refuse contractors and innovative recycling programs that keep recyclable materials out of the landfills, this goal can be reached.

Everyone is encouraged to come by or call (940) 676-4600 if they are in need of items like lockers, irons, cardboard boxes and others reusable items. Best of all these items are free.