With the purchase of 33 new recycling bins and the hiring of two new student workers, Facilities is significantly expanding the recycling program on campus and improving access in high-traffic areas and the dorms.

According to previous Chimes reporting, the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted recycling on campus, pausing the existing recycling program due to the risk of exposure for Facilities staff. Once the pandemic restrictions ended, a number of other factors stalled the reinstatement of recycling as Calvin transitioned between contractors to run the department.

Nick Koppenol, Facilities recycling coordinator, noted that his role has expanded to include recycling over the years since COVID. Once Facilities came back under Calvin in 2024, that “opened the door for me to have almost full control over the recycling program … and with their [Facilities] support, we have … made quite a bit of progress.”

The 33 new bins are the first purchase in a multi-year, staged expansion of the recycling program, according to Koppenol. The purchase of new bins will fit into each year’s budget, allowing Facilities to slowly grow the program and be able to adapt along the way, Koppenol explained.

The new bins were installed in the science building last week, where recycling was already being collected using an older model of bin. Those older bins will be installed in the dorms, where the Calvin Energy Recovery Fund (CERF) interns will be managing the collection of recycling.

Other high-traffic areas that do not currently have consistent recycling, such as the Spoelhof Fieldhouse and Peet’s, will be getting new bins, with the Peet’s bins coming as soon as the process for collection is worked out within Facilities, according to Koppenol.

According to Koppenol, the old recycling bins, some of which are still found around campus, were inadequate. “The bins that we currently have … that you can currently see floating around campus, are remnants of a past recycling system that we don’t utilise anymore … and none of these bins promote that single stream system that we have currently,” said Koppenol. Additionally, the older bins were physically hard to empty as it was hard to pull bags out without ripping them, Koppenol shared.

The new bins are easy to empty and are modular, where signage can be easily swapped out based on demand or capacity, and will allow Facilities the ease of use and flexibility that the previous bins did not.

As for staffing, the addition of two new student workers “really opens the door for the growth of the recycling program,” said Koppenol. In the past, building services workers would make a judgment call if a recycling bin was uncontaminated and could go out as recycling, because “neither building services or myself had time to sort [the recycling],” said Koppenol. The addition of student workers gives Facilities the capacity to sort what comes in and therefore recycle more material.

“In the dorms, CERF is taking responsibility for collection and for tracking data,” said Jack Klop, lead CERF Intern. Recycling collection bins will be placed in dorm lobbies where “CERF will be collecting data on volume, contamination rates and patterns of use. The hope is to use that data both for reporting and to improve education and placement,” said Klop.

For students in the dorms who previously had to carry their own recycling to the collection point at the Van Noord Arena loading dock, this program offers an easier way to continue to recycle.

For new Facilities student worker Jonny Hipple, the new recycling program means a new morning routine. Hipple, now four weeks on the job, picks up garbage and recycling on a route that takes him from building to building for two hours each morning at 6 a.m.

Hipple weighs and sorts all the recycling to collect data for the Facilities team to monitor the progress of the program. According to Koppenol, this data is “going to allow us to see what percentage we’re sending out as recycling versus trash … and how we compare to other institutions.” 

Hipple noted that “it’s just so impressive how committed [they] are to changing and being sustainable … it’s just like the whole of Facilities is working together.”

Hipple encourages students to be more conscious about making sure to rinse out food containers and empty any cups with liquids before they go into the recycling, but above all, Hipple just encourages students to start recycling in the first place.