Liberty Promotes Environmental Stewardship Through Recycling Program

Liberty’s recycling program draws inspiration from Genesis 2:15: “The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.”

The recycling program aims to carry out this mission of environmental stewardship by equipping staff, faculty and students with the knowledge and resources they need to recycle properly, according to Kelli Maturano, Liberty’s recycling coordinator. The program’s goal is to increase Liberty’s recycling rate from 29% to 40% by 2022.

In this effort, the program has been moving away from single-stream recycling due to high contamination levels. Instead, it now uses a source separation process, allowing the consumer to sort the recyclable items during disposal. Recyclables can be separated into paper, plastic and cans. 

Recycling collection methods also underwent a major overhaul, including the introduction of new collecting bins. These containers utilize color-coded sections and shape-specific openings to help guide students.

“Standardization is key, so our students don’t have to relearn the system every time they go to a new building on campus,” Maturano said. 

Maturano noted that plastic is the trickiest material to recycle and most confusing to consumers. To recycle a plastic drink cup, for example, the cup must first be emptied and the straw removed. After being placed into a plastics recycling bin, the Liberty recycling trucks collect the plastic and dump it into a Sonoco Recycling dumpster. 

Sonoco bales, compresses and sells the plastic to another company. This company melts the plastic down in a factory and molds it into small pellets, which are sold back to manufacturers to make new plastic items.

Students can participate in the recycling program, whether that be in their dorms, homes or offices. 

“Pay attention to the labels and pause a minute before throwing something away,” Maturano said. “Really think, ‘What’s going to happen to this when I throw it in the bin?’” 

To make recycling at home a habit, Maturano recommended placing reusable bags next to the trash can to separate paper, plastic, cans and cardboard. 

Students living on campus can then take their items to bins located inside or outside of their residence halls. Maturano said she prefers that off-campus students bring their recycling to one of the five drop-off centers provided by the city of Lynchburg. These locations accept cardboard, cans, paper and plastic containers, according to the city’s recycling webpage. 

Maturano encouraged students to advocate for expansions they want to see made to the recycling program. Maturano also oversees the Recycling Champions program, which offers CSER opportunities. Participants learn about recycling and then promote it to other students by tabling on campus. They also help Maturano with recycling-related projects. 

Liberty’s recycling program will partner with Sodexo to host an event on Earth Day, April 22, on the Montview lawn. The recycling team will pass out Goodwill bags for students to collect gently used clothing, books and school supplies on campus.

To stay updated on Liberty’s recycling program, follow them on Instagram.

Renee Farmer is a Feature Reporter. Follow her on Twitter at @reneefarmerr.

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