Recycle more today, save money tomorrow

  • Published
  • By Col. Bruce McClintock
  • Commander, 96th Air Base Wing
EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- --  The decision you make with an empty soda can be a big boost to Eglin's operational costs. I'll tell you how.

Nov. 15 is America Recycles Day. In celebration of that day, please give the following some thought. We have an opportunity to save the taxpayers more than a half million dollars annually if we make a stronger effort to recycle.

Our pollution prevention managers in the 96th Civil Engineering Group have analyzed what we throw away. Through statistical analysis, they've determined that 33 percent of Eglin's annual waste stream total of 6,000 tons is recyclable materials. These recyclable materials include white office paper, cardboard, scrap metal, aluminum cans and many others that are simply being thrown away and hauled off to landfills to be buried instead of being recycled.

It costs Eglin $100 per ton to dispose of our trash. Conversely, Eglin gets paid an average of $184 for every ton we recycle. Simple math shows us if we are throwing away 2,000 tons of recyclable materials each year, Eglin is paying $200,000 a year for disposal of items that could be recycled. That same 2,000 tons, when recycled, can generate $368,000 in revenue for the recycling program. When you combine the $200,000 cost avoidance and the $368,000 in revenue we get a $568,000 boost to our operating budget. That's a big improvement for a simple effort.

We do have a federal law that mandates we recycle, however with the potential budget boost we just talked about it's the right thing for Eglin. It's so easy to do. All facilities should have recycling squares near workcenters for the most common items like office paper, cans and mixed paper. The Eglin Recycling Center staff can provide any assistance that's needed.

Eglin's recycling program generates about $350,000 in revenue each year, but that amount isn't enough to pay all of the program's expenses. Air Force Materiel Command provides funds to pay any outstanding expenses. The opportunity to increase our recycling revenue to the point where our program is completely self sustained and be able to use any surplus towards other Eglin projects is there, but we've got to change our culture. That starts with each of us individually.

I've been inspired to recycle more by the work of a group of five year olds in Room 9 of the Eglin Child Development Center, who created a six-foot robot completely out of recyclable materials with minimal oversight from their teachers. Her name is Ruby the Recycling Robot and some of you may have seen her on display recently at the Eglin commissary or in the CDC lobby.

So you see, if young children can take the time to construct a robot to illustrate the importance of recycling, each one of us can take the time to get out of our seat and take that soda can or stack of reports we no longer need down the hall to the recycling squares that have been provided.

We need everyone to contribute. Commanders, supervisors and facility managers, encourage your people to recycle more today!