Though more people recycle than ever before, recyclable materials are unnecessarily heading off to landfills every week.

Most of the excess volume in landfills is recyclable paper, which is easily reused.

“We’ve been to landfills where you could find a newspaper buried 20 years ago and still read it,” said Philip Carpenter, geology and environmental sciences professor.

While plastic and plastic foam compress in landfills, paper doesn’t. Because of that, paper is a big problem, Carpenter said.

The DeKalb County landfill is currently estimated to have about eight more years left in it. After that landfill is closed, all the garbage left in DeKalb will have to be taken somewhere else.

“We are looking at what the various options may be for our county trash,” said Chritel Springmire, DeKalb County Health Department solid waste coordinator.

A landfill in Hillside started the closing process on June 15, with the goal of ridding the surrounding area of the garbage’s smell. That landfill will be officially closed in spring 2008.

A Batavia landfill closed a few months ago. Trash that previously went to that landfill now goes to a number of different landfills, including the one in Cortland.

If a load of recycling is contaminated with trash – if an open container of soda is thrown in with a load of paper, for example – that load may be taken to the landfill instead of getting recycled.

This is to avoid attracting animals or bugs between when an object is put into a recycling bin and when it is actually recycled.

The recycling often mingles before it is separated, sold and sent to separate recycling facilities for paper, aluminum, plastic and glass to be recycled.

“All it takes is one person to mess up a load,” said Mary Drain, NIU Physical Plant energy specialist.

For that reason, recycling bins have been taken off some dorm floors, she said.

A dorm floor can work with the dorm management to take responsibility to reduce waste. To recycle again, students can request bins as long they commit to conservation.

It is harder to recycle when there isn’t someone coming to your place every week to pick up your recycling, especially for students who don’t have a car and don’t have pick-up.

There’s also a railroad car-sized green bin on Stadium Drive, near the water tower. Paper, aluminum cans and plastics 1-5 can be recycled there.

The next time you stand before the multicolored bins, consider the positive impact you can have with one easy choice.

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