Napkins end up trashed, not recycled

Although Dining Service asks students to throw paper napkins into separate bins when they bus their trays, the napkins still end up in the trash with everything else. Dining Service cannot recycle these napkins because students throw food and other items into the bins along with the napkins, according to Al Pallanti, who supervises recycling for the University. Last year the plant that handles recycling for the University began refusing bags of napkins from Dining Service, Pallanti said. "The recycling company had a quality control," he said. "They could not accept [the napkins with] all of that food. The quality aspect always comes into play." Dining Service requests that students separate out their napkins, but there are still problems with other items being mixed in. "[The napkins] should be recycled," said Tom Modic, the student supervisor at Hill House Dining. "Students throw everything in there. They throw food, plastic, newspapers, everything." "A lot of people throw other stuff in there," Wharton freshman Mausumi Shah said. "I threw hot chocolate cups in there because I thought they would be recycled." Many of the napkins that are thrown away have not been used by students. Signs have on occasion been placed above napkin containers asking students only to take what they know they will need. So far no permanent program has been put into effect to deal with this problem. "Some students complain that they are being monitored, while others students feel that it is their right to waste napkins," said 1920 Commons Manager John Henkel. Several students were surprised and disappointed that dining service does not recycle. "That sucks," College sophomore Kim Siegal said. "I told people at home that our school recycles all of their napkins and they thought that it was great." "It's misleading," College junior Dorcas Casey said. "At Hill they have the bins and on top of them it says 'recycling.'"

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