For the past five years, the University's Purchasing Office and Consolidated Services have been finding new ways to get rid of unwanted property without trucking it to the landfill.

"Generating revenue was not our primary aim--we just wanted to get rid of the material without putting it in a landfill," said Scott Reynolds, USC's director of purchasing "With this process, the University rids itself of material which the state of South Carolina has determined is junk, and USC gets money back from the recycling vendor."

The amount of revenue is small--$0.0175/lb for scrap electronics and $0.009/lb. for other scrap materials, including steel--but the recycling vendors for both types of material remove the material in a timely fashion. Obsolete computer equipment is picked up by a recycling company that strips usable material--including platinum from the circuit boards--and recycles the plastic.

"Computer and TV monitors are considered hazardous material because of the mercury in the cathode ray tube," Reynolds said. "Eventually, we might have to pay a fee to the manufacturer when the items are purchased to cover the cost of future disposal, but for now we're able to let a private recycler pick it up and we get a little revenue, too."

In the past year, the University has recycled 122 tons of scrap metal, 69 tons of scrap electronics, and 1,669 mercury lamps. The University is now purchasing Eco-Lamps, which last longer and are suitable for landfill disposal but still are recycled.

Since 1996, more than 850 tons of junk material from USC campuses have been recycled. Items that are determined to have some value are kept in a 90-day inventory at Consolidated Services, and University units often select items such as furniture for further use. In the past year, more than 1,600 items have been transferred to State Surplus.

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