The Catawba College's Office of Waste Reduction and Recycling, established within the Facilities Department just a year ago, has spearheaded recycling efforts on campus throughout the recently completed academic year. Led by David Najarian, a 1997 Catawba alumnus who serves as waste reduction and recycling coordinator, the new office tracks its successes by the ton.

Najarian reports that 95 tons of materials from the campus were recycled during the 2007-2008 year. That total includes 40 tons of paper, 12 tons of metal cans and glass, and 43 tons of aluminum, plastics and scrap metals. Even several thousand dollars of income were generated from simply selling the recyclables rather than dumping them.

The 95 tons now stands as a goal for Najarian's office to exceed during the upcoming academic year, and in doing so, he hopes to advocate recycling, the use of sustainable, green, and recycled products, and to encourage campus-wide conservation and waste reduction.

While Catawba has had sporadic recycling and waste reduction efforts in place on campus for two decades, creation of Najarian's Office of Waste Reduction and Recycling, give those efforts some staying power and momentum to build on. Najarian's role will continue to provide continuity for student efforts, as well as initiatives begun by the College's Center for the Environment and other departments on campus. In the near future, an on-campus composting program is planned and Catawba will participate in an EPA Peer Audit which will point out areas or practices on campus where improvement is needed and also areas or best practices where Catawba is in a leadership position.

For more details, visit Catawba's Office of Waste Reduction and Recycling website.

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• Office of Waste Reduction & Recycling (OWR&R)
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• What You Can Recycle at Catawba
• What Happens to the Waste?
• Community Based Instruction
• Presidents Climate Commitment