Top 10 recycling facts with Mike and Mike

  • Published
  • By Mike Blythe and Mike Jago
  • 14th Civil Engineer Squadron
COLUMBUS AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. --  Many people know recycling is good to do, but do you know why?

The main reasons are for resource conservation and avoiding disposal costs, however there are many more reasons to recycle specific to Columbus Air Force Base.

A list of the top ten reasons to recycle at Columbus AFB are listed below and some may be surprising:

10. Do the math. Over one ton of resources are conserved for every ton recycled. Columbus AFB recycled nine tons of glass over the past year, 68 tons of paper products and 69 tons of metals. We also reuse or repurpose the gravel, concrete and asphault from construction projects, sell used oil, mulch, and other material, saving another 464.44 tons last year alone.

9. Back in the "bad" old days, paper had to be sorted over 16 grades. Office white letter paper and other  white paper were separated, colored paper and magazines were a real problem, and news print and envelopes could not be mixed. Not so anymore. We do separate cardboard from the rest.  But paper is paper and we take it all.

8. It takes nearly 1,000 years for plastic to biodegrade, less if it has sunlight, more if it is in a dry landfill like in Arizona. Considering each one of us uses and throws away about 200 pounds of plastic per year, there will be quite a bit of plastic garbage left for future generations if it is not recycled. Columbus AFB recycles as much plastic as possible, but it is the responsibility of each person to put their used plastics in the recycle bin. Just remember; if you drank from it, recycle it. Look for #1 & #2 plastic recycle symbols on the bottle to see if it is accepted.

7. Recycling toner cartridges conserves aluminum, plastic, and rare earth metals. Toner cartridges should be sent back to the manufacturer or to a recycling company via the base Recycle Center.

6. Over two billion wood pallets are in circulation in the U.S. today, half of which will only be used once. Pallets in good condition are sold to be reused, but damaged pallets stack up. Columbus AFB provides a solution, using the pallet wood for fuel instead of throwing it in the landfill. Wooden pallets should be taken to the recycle center. Damaged pallets are shredded to a product called mulch and sold for boiler fuel to nearby factories.

5. Batteries contribute to high levels of toxicity in the environment, due to the heavy metals that leak from them in landfills. Columbus AFB recycles lead acid, non-aircraft batteries via the recycle center and many other batteries using the Call-to-Recycle boxes. To mimimize the number of alkaline batteries in landfills, purchase and recycle rechargeable batteries, some of which can be recharged 1,000 times.

4. Mercury is essential to compact fluorescent light bulbs' operation. Manufacturers have reduced the amount in the bulbs to as little as .004 grams in the green tip bulbs, but the mercury is still present. Compact CFL bulbs can have as much as 0.1 gram per bulb. Mercury is easily boiled to a gas at 140 degrees Farenheit and helps the conductivity of the gas in the bulb. Each bulb only contains a small amount of the substance, but if disposed of improperly the thousands of drops of  mercury easily bioaccumulate and can affect the immune and  central nervous system of humans, fish and mammals. Last year we recycled over 4,000 bulbs from military buildings. Unfortunately Columbus AFB Recycling Center cannot accept bulbs at this time.

3.  Fuel and oil are expensive, so used oil and contaminated fuel still have some value. Still, thousands of gallons are leaked on the ground, out of boats, dripped from lawn mowers, small equipment, cars and more. Spills from accidents and neglect add millions more gallons of petroleum products into our soil and water. Do your part and take the time to take back used oil to the point of purchase, many of which have used oil collection. Used oil can be taken to the recycing center on Columbus AFB during regular business hours. Please be neat and follow the directions to minimize the chance of drips and spills.

2. Nearly everything can be recycled back to some benificial use. The problem is it is all mixed up with other stuff. Over 70 percent of garbage is single-ingredient items such as  paper, plastic, glass, metal, or organics. By sorting those five categories into piles it suddenly changes from trash to product. The U.S. Air Force's goal is 65 percent recycling by 2020. Columbus has achieved 55 percent last year and we are on track for 46 percent this year, when lots of other bases are still struggling to break 35 percent. Our success is directly attributable to the base community and lots of contractors taking the time to place some of their trash in the right recycle bin.

1. Recycling is easy, the recycle center  does most of the work and all that is required is to remember to place recyclable items in a recycle bin, and it goes to a better place than a landfill. The Air Force's 65 percent goal requires recycling correctly 95 percent of the time. This means everyone, all the time, or it just will not work. Please use the recycle bins.

For more information or questions about what exactly may be recycled, please call the Environmental Element at 434-7353/7974.