Case Study Of Penn State's Sustainability Institute

In 2013 Penn State began work on its Sustainability Institute. This institute is dedicated to making Penn State’s main campus a more sustainable community through various programs to help reduce and recycle waste.

The Sustainability Institute's recycling program is something called the “Möbius” program. It was named after the Möbius loop created by August Möbius. A Möbius Loop can be created by taking a strip of paper, giving it a half twist, and taping the ends together, it is a continuous surface with only one face. The goal of the Möbius program is to “close the loop on waste.” In 2014 this program diverted 7,991 out of a total 14,163 tons of waste from landfills, about 56%. This program recycles most common items such as paper, glass,

In Centre county, commercial recycling is mandatory and Penn state’s main campus is no exception. Centre county offers both drop off and curbside pickup for recycling. It is illegal to dispose of certain kinds of electronics into the regular trash, Centre county however has a special facility specifically to take

Could there be downsides to programs that divert so much of their waste from landfills? Well, for one plastics, which are marked based on what type of plastic they are, can not have different types recycled together, sometimes not even two of the same type. A water bottle marked with 1 can not always be recycled with a tray marked 1 and definately can not be recycled with a container marked 3. This often creates expensive problems when it comes to sorting recyclables, many companies will often just throw plastics collected for recycling into landfills because it would be more expensive to sort it than what they would be making from processing it. Companies that do choose to sort their recyclables by hand may create jobs but it could come at a cost to their employees. Many plastics have well known toxins such as bisphenol A, better known as BPA. Not only are these toxins exposed to the people using the plastics, they are also being exposed to the people that work in recycling plants. Even more dangerous chemicals can be encountered in the recycling of electronics. Dangers vary from product to product but can include, mercury, ammonia and lead. Special care can of course be taken against exposure to any of these toxins, but it is still always a present