The University of South Carolina’s Facilities department officially opened a new site for its recycling collections facility Thursday (May 29) after years at temporary spots around campus.
“It’s been a long time coming for us to have a space to do what we do,” said Norm Stewart, assistant director for landscaping and waste & recycling services.
The ribbon-cutting ceremony for the facility at 350 Wayne St. included past and present leadership from several university offices, including Facilities Services, Environmental Health and Safety, Carolina Food Co. and the Office of Sustainability, as well Laura Pergolizzi — the first person to spearhead recycling on campus.
Also in attendance were representatives from Keep the Midlands Beautiful, Redwood Materials, Sonoco Recycling, American Fiber Services, the South Carolina Department of Environmental Services, the city of Columbia and Lexington County.
The new site will help the 14-person team more efficiently sort the tons of recyclable material that comes through campus. USC boasts a 30 percent diversion rate from local landfills, and the addition of the university’s first mechanized sorter should help increase that diversion rate.
“We are very proud of our waste reduction and recycling team,” said Jason Lambert, associate vice president for facilities services. “They are one of our cornerstone efforts to be good stewards of the environment and good neighbors within the Columbia community.”
USC began sorting recycling at facilities across campus in 2015. Last year, the university recycled 1,110 tons of material, from electronics and wood pallets to more traditional recyclable materials like paper, cardboard, aluminum cans, and glass and plastic bottles.
“This new facility provides a level of confidence to our campus community that the items that they correctly place in recycling bins on campus will actually be used as raw materials for new products,” says Larry Cook, director for the Office of Sustainability.
The centralized sorting center will allow USC to build on its already strong recycling efforts. The department has been recognized for its sustainability efforts by organizations like Carolina Recycling Association, Keep the Midlands Beautiful and other campus partners.
Along with sorting recyclable materials, USC has made other efforts to make its facilities department more environmentally friendly and sustainable:
- Facilities started the Garnet and Green Initiative with the goal of reducing energy usage in five of USC’s highest energy consumption buildings on campus. Efforts included changes to lighting, insulation, HVAC and temperature control systems in buildings like the Thomas Cooper Library, Close-Hipp, 1600 Hampton and others.
- Facilities also started a green cleaning program, optimized the use of fertilizers and herbicides across campus, designed construction to meet LEED Silver standards, started the transition to electric grounds equipment and invested in AI-based technology to assist facilities workers with building controls.