Melany Varela and Anyelin Lemos | Contributing writers
FIU’s recycling program presents itself as a step toward sustainability, but conflicting observations by PantherNOW staff of trash and recyclables being mixed together raise concerns about its effectiveness.
After surveying FIU students, PantherNOW found that many are unaware of FIU’s recycling program, highlighting a lack of education on campus.
Interviews with staff and students below reveal that a significant number do not know how to recycle.
According to the survey of 28 students conducted by PantherNOW, 75% of students are unfamiliar with FIU’s recycling program.
“A non-existent program,” said Layla Rodriguez, an architecture student in a PantherNOW interview. “[I] would like easy access to recycling in the dorms and other places around campus.”
So what is the reality behind the seemingly ineffective recycling at FIU?
During an interview with PantherNOW, Marie-Flor Meneus, the Assistant Director of the Physical Plant, the department responsible for managing the operation and maintenance of FIU facilities, confirmed that there is a current Recycling Program on campus.
FIU’s Facilities Department operates a single-stream recycling program where all collected materials are disposed into one container, picked up by the contractor Great Waste, and delivered to either the Waste Management Reuter Facility or Waste Connections for processing.
The program is executed by the Custodial Services Department, which manages waste in all the academic, administrative, and public spaces on campus.
“Currently we have six full-time recyclers between MMC and BBC that are dedicated to collecting recycling materials on both campuses,” said Meneus
“The biggest challenge we are facing with recycling is contamination of recycling materials. It’s hard to keep food and liquid waste out of recyclable materials,” said Meneus.
This significantly reduces the amount of recyclable materials, leading to the contents of both trash binds ending in the same place.
“This is in part to our second biggest challenge, which is education,” said Meneus.
Lack of education makes the recycling process difficult for Custodial Services because there is a lack of understanding of what materials can and cannot be recycled, and where each should be disposed of.
The Office of University Sustainability is responsible for educating students and faculty members on recycling educational programs and initiatives.
PantherNOW reached out to them for an in-depth discussion of their programs, but there was no response.
“I believe that they should do more to make sure students and staff are educated on the importance of recycling, and making the recycling program more well known on campus,” said Anna Wallace, an Elementary Education student in a PantherNOW interview. “It shouldn’t be assumed that everyone is highly educated on the importance of recycling or even how best to do it.”
“There are factors beyond our control that can impact the collection rate. Our goal is to do better than the year before,” said Meneus.
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