Photo Illustration by Brianna Campbell / The Collegian

More than 60 recycling bins removed from campus exterior

Due to a lack of funding, Fresno State has removed outdoor recycling bins from campus.

In recent years, Fresno State has moved toward improving campus sustainability by installing solar panels on parking structures and placing recycling bins throughout the campus.

This year, the external recycling bins will not be available to the campus.

David Moll, the assistant vice president of risk management and sustainability, said recycling has changed on campus this year.

“There are very sound business reasons for changing the recycling bin scene,â€Â Moll said. “We have zero budget for sustainability.â€Â

Moll said that without proper funding, he has been forced to remove more than 60 recycling bins that were on campus last year.

“We are forced to go back to the old ways of sorting, taking the recyclables from the garbage, rather than having recycle bins located throughout campus,â€Â Moll said.

Without the bins around campus, students must now throw their recyclables into a normal trash bin where it will be sorted later.

Moll said that while this method is adequate, it is not the most effective way to ensure that all materials are recycled properly.

According to Moll, only 85 percent of recyclables are removed using this technique. However, if the bins were still located throughout the campus, there would be two ways to recycle – sorting and pre-sorting.

Nathan Uebelhart, geography major, believes that the lack of recycling will hurt the campus and the surrounding environment.

“There is [nothing positive about] the lack of funding and consequent lack of recycling,â€Â Uebelhart said. “The environment will be affected in a negative way and so will the campus.â€Â

Uebelhart also said he believed that the change in recycling this year may impact litter on campus.

“I feel like I’ve seen more cans and bottles on the ground this year,â€Â Uebelhart said. “Is there a direct correlation between that and the removal of the bins? I’m not sure.â€Â

According to Moll, a new recycling policy has been approved for the near future, but the plan cannot be set in motion until his department receives proper funding.

“We have a new design for recycling on campus, but we need money to put the plan in place,â€Â Moll said.

Moll said there is no official policy or guideline currently in place regarding the recycling bins, and that he made the decision to remove them in conjunction with the vice president for administration and chief financial officer, Cynthia Teniente-Matson. He also said that every decision made is discussed with a sustainability sub-committee.

In addition to the lack of funds, Moll pointed to the misuse of recycling bins by students and vandalism or theft of the bins as part of the reasoning behind their removal. Some of these issues were addressed in an article that ran in The Collegian last spring.

Compared to other universities in California, Fresno State falls short not only in recycling, but in the means to recycle properly.

UC Santa Barbara, a school with roughly as many students as Fresno State, has approximately 50 environmental hazard employees. Fresno State, due to a lack of funding and budget cuts, has only three environmental hazard employees. Therein lies a huge part of the problem, Moll said.

“The bottom line is we can’t do what we need to do, we can’t get the work done that needs to get done. We just do not have any money,â€Â Moll said. “Things will eventually get better, I just can’t say when that will happen.â€Â

Lisa Kao, the manager of the department of risk management and sustainability, believes the changes will happen sooner rather than later.

Kao said in an e-mail interview with The Collegian that the initial changes should be made within months.

Jakob Smith contributed to this report