For students living on campus, recycling is as easy as walking downstairs. Students living in apartment complexes take multiple steps to reach a sustainable goal.
On-site recycling is not provided at many large apartment complexes, Catherine DeShambo, environmental services administrator for East Lansing, said. The city can collect recycling from small buildings of 20 units or less, but they are not equipped for multi-family complexes.
DeShambo is on the Waste Reduction Subcommittee for the city, a group working on solving on-site recycling issues.
Last October, The State News reported about 12,643 East Lansing residents are without on-site recycling. DeShambo said statistics have not substantially changed since.
After ordinance changes last fall, the subcommittee has been researching and recommending possible changes to ordinances.
“Those larger complexes with more than 20 units are what we’re really looking at and trying to focus on,” DeShambo said.
The committee has been looking nationally at research and actions from other cities, as well as working with property managers and haulers to come up with a solution, DeShambo said.
Currently, East Lansing residents can drop off their recycling at two different locations off campus: the Department of Public Works and Patriarche Park.
DeShambo said the facilities are used frequently by residents of multi-family housing complexes.
For some students, recycling is an important factor in choosing off-campus housing.
Interior design junior Alyssa Alvarez, president of U.S. Green Building Council students MSU, said on-site recycling has been a topic the group has focused on in the past.
“Recycling on campus is something that has been growing every year, and I think we’re at the point where it’s filtering into off-campus housing,” Alvarez said. “I know something that students are asking more and more from landlords is, ‘Do you provide recycling containers for me?’”
Alvarez said a popular alternative to on-site housing is returning recyclables to the MSU Surplus and Recycling Center.
For substantial changes to be made, DeShambo said there might have to be city council involvement.
“It’s been awhile since the ordinance has been touched,” she said. “If we’re really going to be in there and we’re really looking to solve this problem, we need to find some language that can be a solution and can work for everyone.”
DTN Management implemented two apartment buildings with free recycling for any DTN resident after students requested them, area director Emilie Wohlscheid said.
The complexes are Glenwood Apartments on Hagadorn Road and Burnt Tree Apartments on Lake Lansing Road.
Wohlscheid said DTN is meeting with the city and Granger Recycling Center to expand their recycling options.
“We’re working at least to get something within in each zone location, but that’s going to take some coordination between Granger and the city to try to make that work,” she said.
Difficulties with setting up on-site recycling at every complex still remain. Wohlscheid said finding space for on-site recycling is an issue for apartments near campus in addition to improper use.
“What we have found with our current recycling bins is that they’re not necessarily respected,” she said. “All the trash is getting dumped in there, nothing is being sorted. That is always a challenge.”
