Recycling Center opens with ribbon cutting ceremony

The Florida A&M University Environmental Health and Safety Department and Sustainability Institute held a ribbon cutting ceremony for the grand opening of the Recycling Center on campus Feb. 5.

During the 2014 football season, students organized to recycle at the games and collected 1,140 aluminum cans and plastic bottles.

As a result, FAMU placed 12th in the Division 1 Football Championship Subdivision for Gas House Production. Overall, FAMU placed 13th in the division for recycling efforts.

Angela Sutton, director of EHS at FAMU, said the Recycling Center will allow them to bale, sort, temporarily store recyclable materials and provide a learning, working opportunity for FAMU students.

The recycling program represented the first step to a zero waste campus. This center served to recycle aluminum cans, cardboard, office paper, plastic bottles and printer cartridges. In the near future, the Recycling Center will expand on what it will recycle and will accept glass, scrap metal and small electronics.

“The success of our recycling program relies heavily on the participation of our students, faculty and staff,” Sutton said. “So we need you to be successful and hope you join us in making the FAMU recycling program a great success.”

There were EHS, facilities staff and FAMU recycling interns who were recognized for their contributions to the recycling center and dedication and making it a success.

The interns will be around campus in the next few weeks to promote the recycling program. They will distribute recycling bins throughout the facility and campus.

Keishon Smith, a first-year electrical engineering student from Daytona Beach, Fla., said he was inspired to come to the Recycling Center to learn about how the campus is improving its environmental programs and to learn how to improve what is on campus.

The RecycleMania Tournament, an eight-week program designed to promote waste reduction and recycling activities between colleges and universities across the United States and Canada, will come to campus.

FAMU President Elmira Mangum believes the university’s community is committed to sustainability.

“It’s fitting that we should be here today and I am excited by Environmental Health and Safety becoming a part of it in us establishing this center,” Mangum said. “It is just the beginning of what we have for our students, as well as for our community.”  

After cutting the ribbon, the Recycling Center was revealed and opened for 20 people to view at a time.

Everyone who attended received a recycling bin and signed a board to commit to recycling.

The ceremony was open to the public and a number of students, faculty, staff and people from the community attended.

The ceremony concluded with a reception to congratulate the success of the Recycling Center at the FAMU Villages.