Video: Erin Sommer and Destaney Sperry
Environmental-consciousness may bring revenue to the University of Kansas.
A new baler will potentially triple the amount of material KU can recycle and sell for profit. Jeff Severin, former director of the Environmental Stewardship Program, said the baler would allow the KU Recycling Club to recycle materials more efficiently.
“The increase in revenue will come from the fact that we can bale more materials and different materials,” said Severin. The new baler was purchased in the fall of 2006 and will be operational this spring.
Previously, KU used a vertical baler that required the material to be loaded by hand into the machine. The new baler is horizontal and has a conveyer belt, allowing it to bale larger amounts of materials at a faster rate.
According to Dave Lane, regional sales representative for Glen Dehart and Son Inc., the company that sold the baler to KU, a horizontal baler can process nearly three loads of material in an hour, whereas vertical balers take nearly one hour to process a load. “You’re almost tripling the amount of material you can handle, plus you’re cutting labor costs,” said Lane.
How much revenue the University can bring in by baling more material is dependent on several factors. According to Joe Jordan, president of Cook Paper Recycling Corp. in Kansas City, Mo., demand for the material, international markets and currency translations all affect the amount of money given for recycled materials. “Pricing is subject to change based on multiple influences,” said Jordan.
The baler was purchased for about $64,000. Funding for the baler came from a grant given by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE).
According to Kris Hicks, environmental scientist in the Bureau of Waste Management at KDHE, the grant is valid for five years and requires the Environmental Stewardship Program to educate faculty, staff, and outside contractors about recycling. “The public education piece is important to us,” said Hicks.
According to Severin, in the July 2005 – June 2006 fiscal year the Environmental Stewardship Program made a profit of about $25,000 from recycling. The ability to triple the amount of materials baled could drastically increase the revenue coming into the program.
Severin said that he expects the baler to cause a significant increase in revenue, but due to fluctuating market prices, he does not know how much revenue to expect. He said that the revenue would help fund the Environmental Stewardship Program. “All the revenue goes back into operational costs of the program.”
The machine is in place at KU’s recycling warehouse, but is not running yet due to a lack of power. Tom Boxberger, warehouse manager, said that electricians are working on supplying power to the new baler. “They are working on getting power to it,” said Boxberger. “It should be running in the not too distant future.”
Severin, who now directs the KU Center for Sustainability, said that the revenue brought in by the new baler will allow the Environmental Stewardship Program to provide better recycling services on campus. “Probably the biggest impact is that it will make our operations more efficient.”