Recycling at the NCI-Frederick and Fort Detrick

As of 2003 Apr 17:

Glass. We will continue to use the blue and white VWR broken glass disposal boxes. When the boxes are full, they get sealed and put in the medical waste carts on the west side of 469 (not on the side that faces 430, but the other side of the building). Sharps containers (sealed when 3/4 full) and biohazardous waste containers also go in the medical waste carts.
Cardboard. There is also a dumpster out there where you can put cardboard (thin or corrugated) for recycling.
Aluminum Foil. Aluminum foil should be put in a clear plastic bag, then placed near a blue recycling bin for collection.

Some people forget which bins should be used for regular trash. Here is a sign to put on the bins as a reminder:
this bin is for trash only please.

Date: Wed, 21 Apr 1999 08:46:30 -0400 (EDT)
To: fcrdc-info@mail.ncifcrf.gov
From: Wanda Shook
Subject: FYI: Recycling at the FCRDC and Fort Detrick Update

The following message is being sent out from:

Debbie Vessa, Sr. MTO Building Manager Ext.1450 FAX 6161

I have been in contact with individuals from the Army's Waste Management Plant. First-of-all let me say, they greatly appreciate our efforts to recycle. They would like to remind/inform us of some changes regarding paper recycling.

*Text, catalogs, etc. with glossy pages and/or covers are not recycled.

*Wrappers on reams of copier paper are not recycled.

*Paper from food items is not accepted.

Please help to make the recycling effort a little easier by placing the items listed above in your building trash receptacles. Thank you...

If you are interested in knowing "WHY" these items are not recycled, or would like to know more about the Recycle Program here at Ft. Detrick, please read the following information. (This information has been provided by Mark Dressler, Solid Waste Management Supervisor.):

The problem with any paper that comes in contact with food is the permiation of the liquids from the food into the paper. This is a contaminate to the processors, it can shut down their machinery and cause damage to equipment. For example, Pizza Boxes are the number one cause of this kind of damage, many people who are active in recycling would like to recycle this cardboard container, but the oils from the pizza have soaked into the box and will not break down in the pulping machine, this causes the filters to plug and shut the entire system down while the filters are disassembled and cleaned. So ourrecycling personnel must always be on the lookout for these and other contaminates, if we don't keep them out of our bales then no one will want to do business with us.

Here is a partial list of some of the most problematic contaminates:

Styrofoam - this should be put in a burnable dumpster

Packing Peanuts - this should be put in a burnable dumpster (orrecycled through the mail room)

Plastic film inside of cardboard box - this can be recycled as plastic, put in container with plastic soda bottles

Wood or metal brackets attached to the inside of cardboard boxes- if they cannot be removed then the whole box must be handled as trash

Kleenex - this is unsanitary as well as a contaminate, it should be placed in a trash recepticle that will be emptied in a burnable dumpster

Food or liquids that are placed in a paper recycling bin - if the paper gets "dirty" then it must be thrown out, all food and partially full drink containers should be placed in the proper recepticle

Waxed paper or cardboard coated with wax - this should be put in a burnable dumpster

Paper towels - same as kleenex

All other food containers beside paper or cardboard are recyclable, but we appriciate the effort to prerinse the container before placing it in recepticle for collection.

The issues at hand are not what we want to recycle, but what we can find a market for. The copier paper wrappers are not accepted by the two paper processors we contract to do business with. THEY call them contaminates, so we don't put them in the bales. The glossy magazines are recyclable, but there are no buyers for this material. Currently, processors of this paper grade will accept them for $15 a ton, this means we pay them. Because we must continually justify the existance of the Fort Detrick Recycling Program by displaying our income vs. our expendatures, we do not recycle materials that do not cover at least 50% of the cost to collect and prepare them for market.

Please understand, that the Recycle Program is not a money making operation, last year was our best year in the last three, we recovered 60% of the program cost. I encourage everyone to participate in the recycle program, and am always looking for new markets and ways to improve our current processes that will bring in more income. If you are generating a waste that you feel is recyclable, please contact me, and I will grade it and check the commodities markets to see if there is a demand for it, but we must continue to show the viability of the program by keeping it's gross income as high as possible.

Wanda Shook
Administrative Assistant to the
Director, Contracts & Administration
NCI-FCRDC, SAIC Frederick
P.O. Box B, Bldg. 428
Frederick, MD 21702-1201
shook@mail.ncifcrf.gov
Phone: 301/846-1086
FAX: 301/846-1116

2004 Dec 30: A place for your old computer by Judi Hasson. EPA program for disposing governmental computers.
EPA: "Ecycling" Government Computers Under Recycling Electronics and Asset Disposition Services

2005 Jul 8:
(So recycle anyway!)

2005 Oct 13: DHHS environment:
Joe W. Ellis
Assistant Secretary for Administration and Management
200 Independence Avenue, SW
Room 309F
Washington, DC 20201
joe.ellis@hhs.gov

Schneider Lab
origin: 1999 April 21
updated: 2005 Oct 13