General Article
June 19, 2003
Is it recyclable? Yes!
Fred Hutchinson goes from no program at all to keeping nearly everything it disposes out of area landfills
Restituto Delovino shreds pipette-tip boxes and other used plastic lab supplies to prepare them for recycling into new products, such as coat hangers and flowerpots. Photo by Todd Mcnaught.
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By BRAD BROBERG
If something is recyclable, chances are Mike Shelhamer and his crew have found someone — besides the trash collector — who will take it.
Starting from scratch in 1992, Fred Hutchinson has developed one of the most comprehensive recycling programs anywhere.
“For years and years, we had no recycling program,” said Shelhamer, Fred Hutchinson’s environmental coordinator. “Now, we recycle everything, not just paper.”
Every year, Fred Hutchinson’s recycling and waste-reduction practices prevent more than 500 pieces of furniture, 500 pieces of computer equipment, 4 million pieces of glassware, 2 million glass pipettes, 3.8 tons of plastic and an untold amount of paper from entering the waste stream.
In large part, the program has evolved in response to requests from faculty and staff to recycle as much material as possible, Shelhamer said.
“People at the center seem to be really committed to recycling,” he said. “I get phone calls constantly from people asking what we can recycle and what we can’t.”
Thanks to environmental services, the list of “cans” keeps growing while the list of “can’ts” keeps shrinking. Even so, it’s not always easy finding takers for used goods and materials. Shelhamer said he spent a year looking for a plastic recycler.
Plastics, pipette boxes...
With some materials, such as plastic and glass, Fred Hutchinson even has to pay for pickup. And that’s not the only challenge.
“One of the biggest problems, especially at the center, is space,” Shelhamer said. “All of this stuff has to be stored while it’s waiting to be picked up.”
But Shelhamer isn’t complaining. He’s proud that the recycling program diverts tons of materials from landfills every year. And he’s always ready to consider requests to add new materials to the program.
With the advent of the federal HIPAA regulations and the potential for increased shredding of confidential information, questions have popped up about whether shredded paper is recyclable. The answer is yes, Shelhamer said.
The center contracts with Sea-Dru-Nar, a nonprofit agency, to haul away cardboard, paper, aluminum and glass for recycling. Faculty and staff can place shredded paper in the same recycling bins as unshredded paper, Shelhamer said. The only difference, he said, is that recycled paper made from shredded paper is of lesser quality because the paper fibers have been cut.
In addition to recycling annually 180 tons of cardboard, aluminum, glass and paper, Fred Hutchinson has significantly increased its recycling of hard-to-recycle lab materials, Shelhamer said.
After buying a grinder to process pipette-tip boxes, the center’s glassware department found a taker for the ground plastic. Denton Plastics turns the ground plastic into pellets, which eventually become other products such as coat hangers and flowerpots.
...and 136 tons of concrete
Likewise, the center found a company named Waste Management Inc. to take polyethylene tetrahalate (PET) media bottles. The plastic bottles are slightly thicker than pop bottles and can be recycled into clothing and carpet as well as other bottles.
For sheer tonnage, however, nothing beats Fred Hutchinson’s efforts to recycle construction, demolition and land-clearing materials generated by new construction. With support from Turner Construction and EcoPlan, 136 tons of concrete were recycled in Yale Building and Seattle Cancer Care Alliance clinic projects.
The center’s used furniture and equipment, including computers, also does not go to waste. If other on-campus uses can’t be found, the furniture and equipment is sold for reuse through Best Use. When steel furniture is no longer salvageable, it is recycled.
Recently, five tons of computer equipment was kept out of the landfill by donating the equipment to the state-run Computers for Kids program and a local computer refurbisher and recycler, RE-PC. The company repairs what can be reused again, then disassembles and recovers various materials, including metals, computer chips and glass.
The Shared Resources Department also makes a big contribution to waste-reduction eforts at the center. The department washes all glassware to reduce the use of disposable beakers and pipettes. It washes 4 million pieces of glassware and 2 million pipettes a year, preventing 2 million pounds from entering the waste stream.
If you have quetions about the center’s recycling programs, contact Shelhamer at 206-667-2766 or mshelham@fhcrc.org.
