Recycling bins spread across Central Michigan University’s campus to help collect expected 560 tons

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CMU is looking to get plastic bottles and other recyclables, off of its sidewalks and into special maroon and gold recycling bins across campus.

The new bins are strategically placed around campus and are designed to make them hard to ignore, said Director of Facilities Operations Jay Kahn.

“We were trying to find something we could use and that was stackable for events,” Kahn said.

Kahn got in touch with Roger Cargill, director of the Kalamazoo-based Schupan recycling company. Cargill handles about 90 percent of the containers in seven state regions, including grocery store deposits.

There are about 100 bins around campus at a cost of about $100 a piece, Kahn said.

Before Schupan, Cargill used to be the head of recycling for Michigan State University.

“He helped us figure out which containers to use,” Kahn said.

Last football season, Cargill rented the bins to CMU, but now the recycling program has bought their own.

“He deserves a lot of the credit,” Kahn said.

The new bins come in two styles, but serve the same purpose. The bins that are used for sporting events have the “Flying C” logo on them.

“Basically anywhere south of Broomfield Road is where you’ll see these,” Kahn said.

The bins on the rest of campus are marked with the CMU institutional logo. Most of the bins were placed two weeks ago.

The recycling program had studies to determine where the most heavy traffic was and placed the bins at the top spots.

CMU is expected to recycle approximately 560 tons this year, Kahn said.

Kahn said the bins are convenient and are also a form of spreading knowledge of recycling.

Students in the recycling program agree the bins are important.

“In the past, we haven’t had a lot of success with recycling bins and we wanted something more noticeable,” said Flint junior Heather Curtis. “We wanted to get the attention of the students and make them say, ‘Oh maybe I should care.’”

Curtis was involved in the design and placement of the bins.

“My goal is just to improve the recycling program as a whole and forward sustainability for the university,” Curtis said.

So far, the university has not had to empty the bins, but they plan to monitor the bins and empty them when they are almost full.