MEGAN NEELEY
COPY EDITOR
11/21/2022
An exciting new partnership has made its way to the Alma College campus and community. Alma College has partnered with Granger Waste Services in order to enact a formal recycling program on campus.
An email sent out to the campus community from Raymond Barclay, Alma College’s Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, on Nov. 8 included this new recycling program is expected to begin in Feb. of 2023.
“This partnership will go a ways toward fulfilling one of our commitments as stated in the Evergreen strategic plan, to build a more sustainable campus now and benefit the future,” said Barclay in the email.
For context, the Evergreen strategic plan is considered a “dynamic plan for Alma College” in which Alma College strives to reach five different themes with accountability measures. More on this plan can be found at alma.edu.
A letter was also sent from Granger Waste Services to the Alma College students. The letter starts with the exciting news that “Alma College has made a significant commitment to a sustainable future by partnering with Granger Waste Services to provide on-campus recycling services.”
The letter includes that the recycling services will entail single-stream recycling. This reduces the amount of sorting that is often associated with recycling procedures while also increasing the efficiency of said recycling.
The single-stream recycling will also make the program more affordable in order to “ensure it will be sustainable for years to come,” said the letter from Granger.
More information regarding what will be counted as an accepted, recyclable material through the new program can be found in the Recycling Guidelines flier attached to the email sent to the campus community.
“I am so happy to see a recycling program come to the campus. I think it will be very beneficial seeing as there is a lot of waste produced by students here. I’m sure this program can help in a big way,” said Cole Pearson (‘25).
There seems to be an abundance of positivity coming from students regarding the new recycling partnership.
“I am excited to see the new recycling program come to campus. I am glad to see Alma College put in the extra effort to help with the environment,” said Kylie Demarets (‘25).
“I did not previously know much about Alma College’s Evergreen plan or recycling system, but I am so happy to hear that we are a part of an institution that is striving for good goals. I definitely think this [recycling] partnership will be valuable,” said Sofia Floros (‘26).
It can be seen that most students are positively reacting to this new partnership between Alma College and Granger Waste Services; however, there is some questioning about how this program changes anything for students.
“I am a little confused about how this program is going to be any different or more effective than what we already have. I see recycling bins scattered around campus, so I am assuming the campus already has a recycling system in place. I am looking forward to seeing [the new program] in action, though,” said Pearson.
While Alma College does not currently have a recycling partnership, there is a recycling and waste management department under the college’s Facilities and Service Management umbrella. As previously noted, this new partnership will further enhance the college’s recycling system.
Seeing as this recycling initiative is not set to take action until the winter of 2023, the college asks that students and the community “please be patient with the grounds team as they do their best to bridge the gap in the meantime,” said Barclay in the email sent to the campus community.
“We look forward to providing more information to you when this program kicks off next year… Thank you for your collaboration with us on this important project,” Barclay said in the email.
