CHARLESTON AIR FORCE BASE, S.C. –
Charleston AFB, through the help of its recycling program, has met its goal of a 40 percent diversion rate for the past three years.
The diversion rate is the percent of waste materials diverted from traditional disposal, such as putting waste in a landfill or incinerator, to be recycled.
"It is important to recycle for the reason it will not only reduce the need for landfills and incinerators, but it will help conserve national resources, such as timber, water and minerals, while sustaining the environment for future generations," said Alan Moyer, 437th Civil Engineer Squadron environmental protection specialist. "A bottle can take hundreds of years to decompose."
Many recyclable products have a number with a recycle symbol around it. This number indicates the type of plastic the product is made out of. By understanding this number, consumers can better understand if and how they can recycle the product.
"Currently Charleston AFB recycles only item containers marked with a one or two in the recycle symbol," said Mr. Moyer. "Plastic marked with a No. 1 are made of polyethylene terephthalate, while No. 2 plastics are high-density polyethylene plastics."
Items not able to be recycled on base include Styrofoam and materials made from a combination of plastics.
To collect recyclables, there are designated areas located throughout every building. As for base housing, a local recycling company comes out once a week to pick the recyclables up and take them back to the plant.
"For base housing, recyclable materials include aluminum, glass, mixed plastic, steel cans and mixed paper," said Mr. Moyer. "Within office buildings, recyclables are collected in desk-side containers and Airmen are then responsible for transporting the recyclable material from their work center to centralized collection points within each building."
Charleston AFB does not only help the environment through recycling, but they also receive additional benefits through the recycling of used petroleum products, printers, cartridges and scrap metals.
"Income received from the sale of recyclable materials is first used to reimburse the cost of operations, maintenance and overhead," said Mr. Moyer. "Up to 50 percent of the excess income, if any, may be used to fund pollution prevention, energy conservation, or occupational safety and health projects on base. The remaining balance may be transferred to the installation's Moral, Welfare and Recreation account."
The base routinely provides information on recycling through posters, flyers and articles written in the base newspaper. Other means of information include pollution prevention classes, which are provided to all unit environmental coordinators. The base also invites Charleston area elementary schools to its annual Earth Day celebration. This event is held to teach children how to make the best use of all of earth's natural resources.