Office of Recycling and Solid Waste Management
1991: The Aluminum Cans for Burned Children Program started. Volunteers
were assigned specific boxes to take care of. All money collected from this recycling
program pays for non-medical items essential to the recovery of pediatric burn patients at
MUSC. ACBC funds have also been used to build mobile firesafety houses for fire and burn
prevention education.
1992: The
recycling committee was formed and had it's first meeting on April 7th. The committee
tackled questions like what to recycle, how to recycle, and where to take the commodities
collected. Once these questions were answered the committee bought recycling bins for
offices, set a training schedule, and set a date for the kick-off party.
1993:
The kick-off party was set for
January 15th. The MUSC logo was created in a contest and Dr. Recycle made
his debut. Aluminum and scrap metal recycling was joined by cardboard, phone
books, and office paper. University housekeeping and hospital environmental services
collected paper from desk side bins and put it in 30 yard containers donated by Wal Mart.
A baler for cardboard was brought online in the hospital. MUSC went from recycling 4 tons
in three months to recycling 20 tons in three months. Recycling rate is 1.4%.
1994:
Some ACBC volunteers left the university and cans bins were being neglected. The paper
recycling program ceased to progress and took on a status quo effect. There were still
some very good recyclers out there who managed to recycle over 110 tons for the 93-94
fiscal year. Recycling rate is 2.0%.
1995: In
March, MUSC hired the first full time recycling coordinator. In June, the first Recycling
Assistant was hired. By the end of the year, we were recycling in 18 buildings on
campus. Yardwaste, paint, newspaper, books, magazines, six-pack rings, ni-cad
batteries, lead-acid batteries, plastic, glass, and steel were all added to the list of
recyclables. MUSC recycled over 175 tons for 94-95 fiscal year. Recycling rate is
4.1%.
1996: The
recycling office teamed with the legal office to achieve a refund of $28,700 on the user
fee bill for 1994 and we saved $34,250 on the 1995 bill due to better record keeping by
the recycling program. Scrap metal was added to the list of recyclables. By
the end of the year, we were recycling in 29 buildings on campus. We were awarded
the Best Collegiate Recycling Award from the South Carolina Clean and Beautiful
Organization. Recycling rate is 10.8%.
1997: A
$25,580 grant was received from the Department of Health and Environmental Control
Division of Solid Waste Management. The state negotiated with the county to reduce
the user fee bill by 25% for a savings of $49,198. The second recycling assistant
was hired in March and the third assistant in May. By the end of the year, we were
recycling in 47 buildings on campus. We were awarded the Best Collegiate Recycling
Award from the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control.
Recycling rate is 10.3%.
1998: A
$20,000 grant was received from the Department of Health and Environmental Control
Division of Solid Waste Management. The state received another 25% reduction in the
user fee bill for a savings of $56,614. By the end of the year, we were recycling in
64 buildings on campus. We added pallets and paint to our recyclables list. We
were awarded the Spotlight Award for Excellence in Waste Reduction and Recycling from the
Carolina Recycling Association. Recycling rate is 12.4%.
1999:
We received a $15,000 grant from the Department of Health and Environmental Control
Division of Solid Waste Management, a $7,000 demonstration contract from the State Energy
Office, and a grant of $15,000 from the Sustainable Universities Initiative to start a new
waste reduction program which employs worms. Please visit the vermicompost page for more
information. We added 4 new buildings to our collection schedule and
a new cardboard baler at the Harper Student Center. Recycling rate is 13.6%.
2000:
We started this year with a press release on the vermicomposting
program. We were featured in an article in the Post and Courier,
The State Paper, The Sun News, and the Charlotte Observer. The
program has also been featured in the State Energy Office Newsletter
The Energy Connection, the Department of Health and Environmental
Control Division of Solid Waste Management South Carolina Recycles
Magazine, The Medical University of South Carolina's annual report,
the Prudential Charleston Region Newsletter, and the Medical University
of South Carolina Division of Finance and Administration Newsletter.
We received a $10,000 grant from the Department of Health and Environmental
Control Division of Solid Waste Management to purchase a chipper/shredder
and 90 gallon cart dumper. The grounds crew will use the chipper/shredder
to mulch limbs and leaves for the campus. We put out over 100
new recycling bins and added 7 new buildings to our collection schedule.
Recycling rate is 16%.
2001:
In December 2000, we reduced our staff from 4 and a half
to three and a half. Instead of dumping all our office paper into dumpsters
we set up 4 stations to house our full 90 gallon carts. A contractor
would empty these carts at these locations. This move cut our expenses
dramatically. We then added a plastic, glass and steel recycling program
to our list of recycling duties. Charleston County Recycling placed
a container on campus for storage and transportation of these recyclables.
The duty of making sure the non-hazardous waste oil was recycled was
also added to our repertoire. In August, we added a new program to collect
nickel cadmium, lithium ion, and nickel metal hydride batteries.
We received a $10,000 grant from the Department of Health and Environmental
Control Division of Solid Waste Management to purchase 8-8 yard
cardboard recycling containers like the ones you see at fast food
restaurants with the slit in them, and more recycling bins to help us
help you recycle. Recycling rate is 20%. Catalyst
article
2002:
We started the year with a 3.7% cut in State funding. The Recycling Coordinator received the Quest for Excellence First
Mate Award from the MUSC Division of Finance and Administration for the
fourth quarter of 2001. A fair amount of time was spent on rewriting and
bidding the solid waste contract which was awarded to a new company in April and
24 dumpsters on campus were switched out. We started the year with low
cardboard prices. The price of cardboard really hurt our recycling
efforts. Toward the end of the year we found market options more
favorable, prices and the amount of cardboard recycled were on the rise.
The 8 yard containers for cardboard were purchased and Charleston County started
to service them on June 8. This will free up 8 man hours and we will
increase our plastic, glass, and steel collection service.
MUSC
recycled Quad C and D Buildings, Catalyst
Article,
CRA Article. MUSC was featured in an EPA
Best Practices for Healthcare Facilities Guide on Reuseable Totes, Blue Wrap and
Composting. In April, the State cut funding again by 2.52%. Our staff was reduced to two full-time and two part-time employees in the fall
of 2002. Recycling rate is 21%.
2003:
In May, we started transporting all of our office paper to the warehouse on Arco
Lane. Once the paper is there it is emptied from 90 gallon carts into
gaylord boxes and stored. Twice a month the Department of Corrections
sends an 18 wheel trailer to pick up the boxes. All of the paper is then
shredded and baled for recycling by DOC.
The Hospital Authority started recycling
disposable single use medical devises. The grounds crew started corral
composting in January.
MUSC Recycling was very busy with publishing
information to help other Colleges and Universities learn from our success or
from the success of others. Recycling
and Beyond: A College Campus Primer written by MUSC Recycling Coordinator,
Christine von Kolnitz and University of Oregon Recycling Coordinator, Karyn
Kaplan was published on the internet. MUSC was featured in an EPA web page
"EPA Colleges and Universities Integrated Strategy"
http://www.epa.gov/NE/assistance/univ/index.html.
Recycling rate is 26%.
2004:
MUSC helped put together the H2E
10 Step Guide to Composting in Healthcare Facilities. The Aluminum
Cans for Burned Children received a $620 donation from Alcoa see Catalyst
Article. MUSC was sighted for information in a National Wildlife
Federation Campus Ecology Vermicomposting
Program at Clemson.
2005:
The MUSC recycling department received recognition in the form of an article in
the Charleston
Regional Business Journal. The grounds crew
took over the daily operation of the worm bin in November. MUSC wins EPA
Waste Wise Award for Rookie Reporting and an honorable mention in the
Collegiate Category. The CRA Fall R Word announces MUSC EPA
Waste Wise Award. The MUSC Catalyst announces EPA
Waste Wise Award. Office paper recycling has gone confidential this
year. Office paper is now being handled securely and is being shredded.
Click here to see our progress.
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