The University of Memphis is recycling only half as much as sister Tennessee Board of Regents institutions, East Tennessee State University and Middle Tennessee State University, according to a recent analysis of each program.
Calvin Strong, U of M's recycling coordinator and director of custodial and landscape services, said U of M's recycling initiative is only moderately successful for several reasons. The Physical Plant and Planning Department is understaffed and does not receive funding to operate the program.
Tennessee produced a mandate in 1990 that all institutions of higher education cut their waste stream by 25 percent, but did not budget money for recycling programs. As a result, all Tennessee colleges and universities had to find ways to incorporate recycling into their campus's without producing extra expenditure.
U of M's recycling effort fell under the responsibility of the Physical Plant and Planning Department at a time when lack of budgeting has forced the department to cut many of its positions. Strong said since 1990, the number of employees in Physical Plant and Planning has decreased from 400 to 300 and custodial services has decreased from 210 to 150. Currently there is only one employee and one truck designated to pick up the recycling on campus.
"Recycling just isn't our top priority," Strong said. "We have to set our priorities on what directly affects the students and recycling doesn't clean the bathrooms or mop the floors."
Strong said Physical Plant and Planning focuses more on litter rather than recycling because they spend too much time picking up paper and cigarette butts. Accordingly, the department's promotional efforts are directed toward littering rather than recycling. About once a year, the department posts signs and flyers in an effort to persuade students to stop littering.
Junior biology major Matt Bagwell said he would recycle more if he knew where there were more recycling bins are.
"It seems to me that recycling at U of M is a mystery," Bagwell said. "I've never really seen any places to put recycling in any of my classes, but offhandedly I see one (a bin) in an office sometimes."
Dr. Merrill Morris, a U of M journalism professor, is also confused about the recycling effort.
"I try to recycle the paper that is produced in this class, but I'm never quite sure if it gets picked up or not," Morris said. "I've pretty much just given up."
Strong said receptacles are placed in office suites and other busy places that can justify a receptacle by generating a full container every 30 days. Otherwise, people who are interested in recycling paper from classrooms can take the initiative to make a container and then empty the contents into the central container of their department. Aluminum bins have been placed near various vending machine and places where a lot of drink cans have been found. There are no recycling bins in the residence halls.
A junior political science major, Adam Comer, who is also a transfer student from MTSU, said MTSU has a higher recycling turnout because their recycling program is more visible and there are many more accessible recycling opportunities.
"There were a lot more recycling bins at MTSU than at U of M," Comer said. "There were bins in every classroom and you always saw people recycling, or the recycling team picking the bins up."
MTSU's recycling program is set up differently than U of M's. It is run solely on student volunteerism.
Patrick Doyle, MTSU recycling coordinator and biology professor, said the recycling program at MTSU's campus is run each year by about four members from the Biology Club, who use the proceeds to fund scholarships.
"We have raised about $400,000 since 1972," Doyle said. "All of that has gone to over 400 scholarships that ranged from $500 to $2,000, which are allotted to biology and chemistry majors. It's quite an incentive to get them to help."
All the proceeds from U of M's recycling program are funneled back into the Physical Plant and Planning Department.
MTSU collects recycling once a week in one of three trucks Doyle was able to get donated to them from local car lots. Doyle attributes much of their success to heavy promotion of the program. Articles appear in the MTSU paper, the club sets out a display table in the commons area during campus events and they do interviews on local TV and radio shows. They also widely e-mail faculty and staff, and visit local church and civic groups.
East Tennessee State University takes yet another approach to recycling. Pete Gree, ETSU's health and safety director, said ETSU's program is self-managing; he just acts as a catalyst to ensure that it continues.
ETSU places a paper-recycling bin in every office and classroom and custodial workers empty them as they also empty the trash. The only extra work is that the workers have an extra container with them on their rounds.
Johnson City picks up the recycling from campus along with the rest of the city's recycling and keeps the proceeds as payment. ETSU depends on their RAs to ensure recycling bins are provided and emptied in the school's residence halls. Every floor of each hall gets its own bin.
"I knew the recycling program wouldn't be funded and that I was going to have to operate it without creating expenditure," Gregg said. "So we came up with a plan to fully integrate it into the normal campus functioning activity."
Strong also said the mentality of both students and faculty on campus is a hindrance to the success of the program.
"We just haven't gotten the commitment from the people, we are only recycling about 25 percent of our potential," Strong said. "Only the most conscientious of students recycle."
