Phila. residents recycle trash

For students living in campus residences recycling is easy. There are receptacles for paper and aluminum cans located throughout each dormitory. In addition, recycling bins can be found in buildings and on walkways all over campus. In September of 1990, the state put into effect a law requiring educational institutions to recycle high grade office paper, aluminum cans, corrugated paper and leaf waste. The law also requires apartment buildings with seven units or more to provide recycling programs for its tenants. And last year the city instituted curbside recycling programs in West Philadelphia making recycling easier for students living off campus. Residents can now recycle metal cans, aluminum cans, glass jars and bottles and newspapers outside their own homes. The city distributed blue recycling buckets to West Philadelphia residents to facilitate participation in the program. The recycling takes place on the work day before each residence's trash day, every other week. Trucks stop at each residence and empty any blue buckets sitting out front. Tom Klein, director of education and promotion for the city's recycling office, said that many, if not all, households are participating in the program. He added that the city has collected as much as 20 tons on their busiest days. And he said regardless of the tonage and how many participate, the recycling program will save the city money. "It's cost-effective," he said last December. "It costs $123 to collect a ton [of recycling] as opposed to $143 to collect and dispose of a ton of trash," he said. The program has doubled the recycling tonage in Philadelphia since the curbside pick-ups began, the Mayor's Solid Waste Advisory Committee was told at a meeting at the end of last year. But the trucks' routes and schedules were adjusted for the first few weeks causing the trucks to miss some blocks. In general, residents say they have been pleased with the curbside recycling and University students continue to be program participants.