The first person to to answer correctly will win an OSU stainless steel mug like this one!

Submit your answer here (“Leave a Reply,” below) or on our Facebook page. Only one guess per person, please.

Question of the Week:

Our recently posted Repair Fair video clip (below) gives an overview of what this twice-per-term event is all about. What are the first and last names of the three people in the video who had items fixed at the fair?

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Answer

Nicole Elliott, Alex Pederson and Uli Bartels. Watch the clip above to see what they had repaired.

• Styrofoam blocks (no food containers)
• Packing peanuts

How it is processed:

Packing peanuts, most often made of Styrofoam or a corn-based plastic, are not recycled, but instead reused by Surplus Property for shipping purposes.  As a result, Surplus rarely has to buy new packing peanuts.

Styrofoam blocks are collected in 1,000 gallon bags and sent to Total Reclaim in Portland.  Once there, the Styrofoam is put into a densifying machine.  This compacts the Styrofoam into a compact stackable block. Click play on the video below to see this process in action.

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A 53-foot trailer full of Styrofoam fits into a gaylord box (a 3.3′ x 4′ x 3.4′ box that holds about 1.7 cubic-yards) once it is compacted. Next, Total Reclaim ships the blocks to a company in California where the plastic is melted down.  It is sold as low-grade plastic to manufacturers in the U.S. and in China.

Recycled products:

The low-grade plastic can be made into things like toothbrush handles and picture frames.

Click to view larger.

Learn more about how to recycle this material from our Tip of the Week on special recyclables.

This post is part of our “Behind the Scenes” blog series, which details what happens to OSU’s recycling after you place it in a recycle bin. Tune in every week to learn more.

Volunteer Phil Harding repairs the bow of broken ship. Click to view larger.

If you are new to the recycling scene, the Repair Fair is an event offered twice a term at the Recycling Warehouse where participants from all around the Corvallis community may bring in broken or damaged items. Our volunteers will not only help fix the broken item, but will also impart the knowledge necessary to make similar repairs in the future.

Waste Watcher Annie Kersting provides useful tips in her demonstration, “3 Common Sewing Fixes”. Click to view larger.

Demonstrations were also held at the event: Water Resources Specialist Mark Taratoot guided the audience through the necessary components for water conservation within their own home, Waste Watcher Annie Kersting gave some quick sewing tips, and volunteer Kevin Grant held a presentation about the basics of bike repair.

Want to see more? Check out the April Repair Fair photos on Facebook.

We would like to thank everyone who attended for helping make the event the experience that it was. We will have one additional Repair Fair this term, which is slated to be held towards the end of May.

If you have any feedback about how we might improve this event, or comments on how it went, email us at Student.Recycling@oregonstate.edu.

Repair Fair Video

Want more? View the video below, which was filmed at the February Repair Fair:

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Enacted in 1971, the Oregon Bottle Bill was the nation’s first legislated container deposit system. It created a five cent refundable deposit on containers, and was aimed at reducing litter and increasing recycling.

What is accepted under the bill: 

Metal, plastic, or glass containers that are 3 liters or less in size, including these types of beverages:

• Beer/malt beverage
• Carbonated mineral water/ soda water
• Carbonated soft drink
• Water and flavored water
• Some carbonated sports drinks and juices

How it is processed:

Campus Recycling employees separate redeemable cans and bottles from other containers on a sorting line at the Motor Pool (see how in the video below).  Redeemable metal cans and plastic bottles are placed into different bags.  Redeemable glass bottles are not sorted out for redemption (see what happens to them in our post about glass).  The bags of redeemables are picked up by and taken to one of Oregon Beverage Recycling Cooperative’s (OBRC) five recycling plants for processing.

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Once at the facility, the containers are placed onto automatic sorting lines or mechanized counting devices depending on type.  The aluminum containers are crushed, baled, and prepared for transportation to aluminum recycling smelters to be made into new beverage cans.  The plastic bottles are perforated, crushed, baled, and transported to recyclers who make polyester fiber for carpet, filler and clothing.  Some of the plastic goes to a bottle-to-bottle facility to be made into new plastic bottles.

Recycled products:

• New aluminum beverage cans
• New plastic bottles
• Polyester carpet fiber
• Filler for insulated clothing and bedding
• Clothing

Click to view larger.

Learn more about how to recycle these materials by reading our Tips of the Week on Metal and Plastic Recycling.

This post is part of our “Behind the Scenes” blog series, which details what happens to OSU’s recycling after you place it in a recycle bin. Tune in every week to learn more.

What is accepted:

• Glass bottles, any color – iced tea, iced coffee, toiletries, alcoholic beverages, etc.
• Glass jars – salsa, condiments, canned food, nut butter, etc.
• Note: Please remove metal lids and recycle them in the same bin

How it is processed:

Glass is sorted out from other recyclable containers by Campus Recycling employees using a sort line at the Motor Pool (see video clip below).

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Glass is placed in 90-gallon roll carts at our Motor Pool site, and those carts are picked up by Republic Services of Corvallis’s glass truck.  The glass is stockpiled at Coffin Butte Landfill and then ground up.  It is used as a substitute for aggregate material in the landfill’s roadbeds.

Recycled products:

Glass is currently reused as aggregate roadbed material (the base layer over the ground and beneath the pavement) at Coffin Butte Landfill. This reduces the need to mine rock from quarries for this purpose.

Learn more about how to recycle this material by reading our Tip of the Week on Glass Recycling.

This post is part of our “Behind the Scenes” blog series, which details what happens to OSU’s recycling after you place it in a recycle bin. Tune in every week to learn more.

• Location, size and required number of tabs
• Weight of your mailer
• Paper thickness
• Fold orientation
• Staple inclusion

Here is a link to a great video that helps to explain things:
WATCH VIDEO HERE

If you have any questions about these new regulations, or how they may apply to your upcoming mailing projects, please call our mailing specialists at 541-737-4941. They are more than happy to help you.

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Thank you to Waste Watcher Jodie Davaz for making this video!

About the group

Waste Watchers is a joint group between Campus Recycling and the Student Sustainability Initiative that works on events and other outreach related to waste reduction on campus. You can become a Waste Watcher too by volunteering with us! Visit our website for more info.

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This post is part of our Wisdom of the Week series, furthering your knowledge about waste reduction every Wednesday during summer 2012.

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Get more detailed information in our online recycle guide.

Happy recycling!

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Check out the many more events that RecycleMania 2012 has to offer.