Greening Tinker: Tons of recycling opportunities available on base

Published Feb. 16, 2012
By Mike W. Ray
Tinker Public Affairs

TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. -- Tons of metal, cardboard, paper, cans, printer cartridges, glass and plastic from Tinker AFB that would otherwise fill up space in a landfill are instead reprocessed into reusable materials in a self-sustaining environmental program.

For example, the 72nd Force Support Squadron collected almost 290 tons of cardboard from September 2011 through January 2012, an average of 58 tons per month. One-third of the volume was generated by the commissary.

Randy Joiner, Qualified Recycling Program operations director, said QRP personnel collect so much cardboard that it is bundled into bales -- approximately four dozen bales a month. The cardboard is sold to a contractor, who collects the bales twice a month, Mr. Joiner said.

(Cardboard that has a slick finish, such as cereal boxes, cannot be recycled, he added, because it is coated with a special finish that gives it a shiny appearance.)
FSS operates a recycling center in Bldg. 1156 atop the hill on Vanaman Road. The facility is open from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays, but the outdoor hoppers at its drop-off area are accessible around-the-clock seven days a week.

(Susan Craig, chief of Resource Management, said FSS recently ordered four new 1-cubic-yard hoppers and two new 2-cubic-yard hoppers that will replace several aged hoppers at the drop-off site.)

FSS also provides curbside collection in the base family housing area every Thursday morning -- gathering newsprint, glass, plus aluminum and tin cans -- under a contract with Balfour Beatty Communities, which manages base housing.

In addition, Mr. Joiner said two QRP employees fan out every weekday from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. to collect white paper from approximately 300 blue barrels positioned at myriad locations across the base.

QRP collected 52 tons of white "ledger" paper from September through January, according to Sharlene Sherman, operations clerk for the center.

The office paper is sold to a local company, while all other kinds of paper, such as newsprint, magazines and packing paper, are sold to AbitibiBowater, Mr. Joiner said. Abitibi's distinctive green-and-yellow receptacles are stationed at the recycling center on Vanaman Road, at the BX parking lot and the mailroom in Bldg. 23.

Telephone directories -- the bane of recyclers -- are the lone exception. 'Phone books are printed on the lowest form of recycled paper and cannot be broken down for reuse, Mr. Joiner says. He advises returning old or unused 'phone books to the companies that issued them.

FSS collected more than 16,000 pounds of newsprint, glass and aluminum cans in the past six months, records show. Glass is still collected "until we find a buyer or someone who'll take it at no cost to the base," Mr. Joiner said. Meanwhile, about four tons of the stuff is piled up at the recycling center, he said.

Plastics are collected, but only at the drop-off bin outside the recycling center, and only items manufactured from #1 (PET) and #2 (HDPE) polymers are accepted, Mr. Joiner related; plastic bags from the grocery store cannot be recycled, he emphasized.

Also, plastics are accepted only at the drop-off bin outside the recycling center, "but we are evaluating expansion of our recycling program to include collection of plastics from the housing area," Mr. Joiner said. Currently the plastics are donated to a local contractor, he said.

Printer cartridges are collected for recycling, but only HP and Lexmark. The toner cartridges are sold to the highest bidder on the contract, Mr. Joiner said.

The revenue producer, the service that finances recycling at Tinker Air Force Base, is metals recycling, Mr. Joiner said. "It's what keeps us afloat," he declared. "If you have metal, don't throw it away. Bring it to us. We want it, all types of metal."

Previously QRP depended on Environmental Management in the 72nd ABW Civil Engineering to offset its losses: Expenses average about $30,000 a month and include salaries of Mr. Joiner and seven other employees and all operating expenses. Over the last two years, though, metals recycling has enabled the recycling center to be self-sufficient.

Salvageable metals include copper wiring, steel garage doors, steel desks, file cabinets, junk metal, even I-beams from buildings; however, metal from Air Force aircraft is off-limits, Mr. Joiner noted.

The QRP collected 781,000 pounds of metal in the past five months, records reflect.

Sorting is critical to recycling, Mr. Joiner said. "If we have a metal hopper and people put wire, steel and aluminum in it, we have to separate the items" because each item is worth a different amount.

"I wish it was profitable to recycle paper, plastics and other things," Mr. Joiner said. "But so long as we make money from metals, we can afford to recycle those other materials, too."

Any net profit from the recycling program is deposited in the MWR Fund to help finance other activities. However, the program has been profitable for only about a year, Ms. Craig said.

For more information about the QRP, call Mr. Joiner at 739-3610.