Page Two
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Friday, May 28, 1971
Community recycling project grows
By JIM IRWIN
Recycling of used glass and
paper has become big business
in the community ever since the
Ecology Center, Inc. opened the
nation's first glass bottle recy-
cling station on Felch Street last
September.
Since that time a new recycling
station has been opened at Ar-.
borland and over 2 million pounds
of glass has been collected by
area residents and school chil-
dren. The volume of glass collect-
ed in the month of April exceed-
ed 13.000 pounds daily -- and has
continued to rise steadily.
Recycling projects in the city
have chiefly centered around
p.m. Sunday through Thursday.
glass collection. The Ecology
They ask that the glass be :ea-
senably clean, removed of all
metal and sorted by color - clear,
green. brown, or blue.
Jar-tops, bottle-caps and atal
rings must be removed, other-
wise the metal will oe melid
down with the old glass anti con-
taminate the new containers.
Paper, however, need not be re-
moved from the glass, andbrok-
en glass is also welcome.
"At the rate of s 'cent per
pound, Owens-Illinois, Inc., a
major packaging manufacturer,
has paid almost $8,000 to individ-
uals and community groups for
old containers brought to col-
lection centers since last Sep-
tember. The glass is hauled to
the Owens-Illinois glass contain-
er plant at Charlotte, Mich.,
melted down and used to make
new bottles and jars.
Though organizers at thi Ecclo-
gy Center say the recycling pro-
ject as it stands is quite small,
they claim it is indicative of
what must be done on a much
larger scale throughout the cun-
try.
Recycling, they say, is a bene-
ficial way to use waste thar oth-
erwise piles up and has no value,
and at the same time is a way to
help conserve the ever-decreas-
ing supply of natural energy and
resources.,-
Russ Linden, director of the
Ecology Center's recycling prfo-
ject, says, "What we need and
hope to have in a few years is a
more advanced technology ic use
for recycling more and differ-
ent kinds of materials. If we have
to incinerate waste, then that
ought to be used as a source of
power."
"Waste disposal is one of our
society's -costliest projects, giv-
ing us almost no return on our
investment," Linden continues.
"You get garbage ot of your
home, but that's a rather nega-
tive benefit. Much of that solid
waste can be turned to positive
benefits-it's valuable material
and recycling it conserves energy
and material resources."
According to Linden, less
energy is required to recycle
glass than to manufacture new
Center has urged residents to
bring their jars and bottles to the
recycling center at Arborland
which is open 10:00 a.m. to 5:30
Jackson, Michigan
SPI KES
FLEA MARKET
Antiques & Collectibles
EVERY SAT. & SUN.
11 A.M. to 7 P.M.
Dealers & Public Invited
4065 PAGE AVE.,
MICHIGAN CENTER
1-94 to S. U.S. 127. Page Exit,
East ' mile
PHONE 517-764-0250
glass. As a result, fuel is con-
served and air pollution is re-
duced.
Recycling paper instead of
burning it conserves valuable for-
ests and lessens the cost for sani-
tation and pollution control.
Although officials at the city
sanitation department say they
are collecting no less trash now
than they did a year ago, the
aim of the project as it now
stands, Linden explains, is rather
"to spread awareness, the idoa
that something better can and
should be done. What we are do-
ing now is not an end goal.
Through one very small project
we are pointing out possibilities."
"Glass collection is a simple,
tangible project that is spread-
ing community awareness and
involvement in ecological is-
sues," he adds.
Bottle drives have been espe-
cially successful with -chool chil-
dren and groups such as Boy
Scouts and Girl Scouts, says Lin-
den, He believes it is highly edu-
cational for young people and
teaches them the importance of
doing something better with solid
waste.
At the Sullivan Special Educa-
tion School, for example, collect-
ing and sorting glass for recycl-
ing has been an important pro-
ject, which, according co special
education teacher Elizabeth Or-
quhart has been a successful
method for teaching retarded
children basic skills with the idea
of "making the earth better."
According to Linden, the chief
alternative to glass recycling is
returnable bottles and jars. A bill
presently in the Michigan House
of Representatives would re-
quire that no stores in Michigan
could sell a glass container for
beverages or beer unless it is re-
turnable and requires a 10 cen
deposit.
Supporters of the returnable-
container approach argue lhs
the 10-cent deposit per glass bot-
tle would be a greater incenti.
to save glass than the approx
mate /o cent per bottle now o-
fered for recycling.
Linden believes, howeve, thai
recycling operated on a larp
enough scale by sanitation de-
partments would prove more
feasible in the long run.
5.
TODAY OPEN 6:45
SHOWS AT
-u*n Sat. & Sun. Open
3020 WASHTENAW . DIAL 434'1782 At 12:45
BETWEEN ANN ARBOR & YPSILANTI Shows At
EAST OF U.S. 23 NEXT TO K-MART , 3, 5, 7, 9 P.M.
U
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The bales of paper with a cer-
tain percentage of raw material
are dumped into a hydro-pulper,
a large vat with water which
spins the material and reduces
it to a fine pulp which looks not
much different from oatmeal,
according to Huff. Ink floats to
the surface of the hydro-pulper
and is taken off there.
After the fine pulp has had ad-
ditional cleaning and dyes have
been added, it is run through a
series of conveyors and rollers
whose high pressure squeezes the
water out and forms bonds, fin-
ally turning the pulp into paper.
The Salvation Army has been
picking up newspapers and mag-
azines for recycling, asking that
they be bundled separately. Lan-
sky's Junk Yard on N. Main has
also been accepting newspapers
and magazines for recycling.
The Ecology Center hopes to
begin a project for recycling cans
this summer.
The Ecology Center is now
pushing for a city-wide recycling
operation in conjunction with the
Ann Arbor Department of Public
Works and hopes to begin a pilot
project this summer. The pro-
ject's chief aim will be to prove
their conviction that a city-wide
recycling program could pay for
itself with the solid waste sold.
Though glass collection cen-
ters in Ann Arbor have not been
self-supporting, Ecology Center
officials believe that the center
at Arborland will soon be able
to run itself with money received
fromOwens-Illinois, Inc. for old
glass,
Admissions
officer dies
Gayle C. Wilson, executive as-
sociate director of admissions at
the University, and a nationally
recognized authority on college
admissions, died suddenly Wed-
nesday night of a heart attack.
He was 18.
Wilson, who joined the Uni-
versity as assitant director of
admissions in 1950, served as
president of the American As-
sociation of Collegiate Registrars
and Admissions Officers in 1968.
He also was president of another
national organization-The Asso-
ciation of College Admissions
Counselors.
Wilson earned a B.A. from In-
diana State Teachers College in
1936 and an M.S. from Indiana
University in 1946.
LEARN NOW ABOUT THE
NEXT CPA EXAM
NOVEMBER 3-5, 1971
THE BECKER
CPA REVIEW COURSE
Detroit (313) 864-0128
k
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*The best time to grow upis
when you're young. The joys
of life are more beautiful any
the sorrows less sad.
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HAL WALLIS PRODUCTION