UNO-Versity

by Eileen Weber

There's a new kid in town at Fairfield University and he's green. Not too long after the school year began, new recycling machines were installed in the on-campus town houses. This year, staff, students and faculty alike can recycle with ease using the UNO reverse vending machines manufactured by a U.S. subsidiary of TOMRA Systems ASA.

The UNOs can handle a combination of plastic, glass, and cans. The receptacles can hold up to approximately 500 containers with containers redeemable for five cents each. Students get a credit on their “Stag” card, or school debit card, that can be used toward other campus expenses like the cafeteria and the school’s bookstore.

“I do know the students really like them,” said Meg McCaffrey, Director of Media Relations. “I had seen [some of] the students with three garbage bags full of bottles.”

Both staff and students have had nothing but positive things to say about the program. In previous years, the on-campus recycling waste was piling up. Having four recycling machines installed near the laundry room made cleaning up that much easier.

“The machines also take water bottles and there’s a ton of water bottles on this campus,” said Joe Bouchard, Director of Fire Safety Services, the department that handles the recycling program.

Bouchard said that the university started recycling back in 1989. Since then, they have tried all kinds of different containers, from front-load to dog house. Nothing really seemed to do the trick. Even curbside pick-up, which brought a 30-40% recycling rate, still had its disadvantages.

"Since beverage containers can often account for up to 50% of a trash bin's volume, UNOs can significantly help reduce the need to empty trash bins and limit littering," said David Frassinelli, assistant VP and Director of Facilities Management, in a TOMRA press release dated October 4th. "Curbside recycling was becoming too costly, and the UNO machine is a clean, simple and effective way of collecting the thousands of bottles that students dispose of on campus each month."

Bouchard said it was more than just the cost that was problematic about curbside pick-up. “The townhouses are like condos,” said Bouchard. “With the curbside pick-up, there was the issue of contamination, rodents, and trash on the side of the road.”

Bouchard said with earlier recycling programs there was usually a two-month learning curve for the students. It would take them at least that long to figure out which day was pick-up day and what materials could be accepted. With the UNO machines, it’s just like going to the supermarket. And like a visit to the grocery store, you get cash back for recycling.

Bouchard said that, for the students, the money is welcome. “While many of the students come from affluent backgrounds,” he said, “many of them are here because of loans, grants, or scholarships and they need the money.”

Meg McCaffrey, Director of Media Relations, agreed with Bouchard. In this economy, she said it is nice for the students to have a little extra pocket cash. With a monetary incentive to recycle, there has been positive feedback in using the machines.

“The nickels add up and put some much needed money into students’ pockets,” said McCaffrey, “a very helpful thing these days.”
 
Headquartered in the U.S. in Shelton, Conn. and founded in Asker, Norway, TOMRA is renowned for its recycling solutions. According to their web site, TOMRA was the first company in the world in 1972 to produce a machine that could automatically identify returned empty bottles and print out a deposit refund receipt. They also provide the alarming statistic that 800 billion beverage bottles and cans alone are manufactured and sold each year. So why not produce a more efficient way to recycle them?

Sacred Heart University already has. They were the first Connecticut university to work with TOMRA on a recycling program. But Fairfield University was the first to use their UNO machines. The UNO machines are much better for a smaller space with a smaller volume. As opposed to supermarket reverse vending machines that have an average volume of 100,000 returns per month, the UNOs at Fairfield University have a return rate of only 10,000 per month.

Fairfield University plans to install more UNO machines in the near future. But according to Bouchard, they’d prefer to take a wait-and-see approach. “This is just a soft start,” he said. “Let it run for a year and see where we are in May.”

Other college and universities nationwide have expressed an interest in TOMRA’s recycling program for their own campuses. They have already signed on SUNY Purchase with a number of other contracts with universities still pending. But they are not the only venues TOMRA would like to see expand. The UNO machines work well in convenience stores, sports arenas, and even state parks.

“This is definitely a national program, but it’s still in its infancy,” said Amy Esposito, Director of Marketing at TOMRA’s Shelton headquarters. “But there is enormous potential for growth here.”

And when it comes to recycling, growth is what we need.

Photos courtesy of Fairfield University.