LANDFILL (TRASH) Bin LocationGrey bins in the kitchen or grey or
black bins at your desk and in the copy roomsWhat Must go to the
Landfill? Plastic Bags Plastic Cups Plastic Utensils Plastic Food
Wrappers
Styrofoam Plastic Coffee Cups Plastic Straws Saran Wrap
The January 2007 Safety Topic is Reduce, Reuse, RecycleOne area
we should discuss is how to reduce the spread of colds and flu here
at work and at home. To prevent picking up viruses which can lead
to colds, you should frequently wash your hands for at least 20
seconds, preferably with an antibacterial soap. Hand washing is
important prior to eating, after handling body secretions, and
before you rub your eyes or touch your face.
If you have to cough or sneeze, never do it into your hands
because you can spread your cold when you touch objects with your
contaminated hands. If you need to cough or sneeze and you do not
have a tissue, sneeze into your sleeve. Doctors and nurses are
preaching this practice. Just place your left hand on your right
shoulder, and sneeze into your sleeve at the bend of your elbow.You
should make it a habit to carry disposable tissues to wipe or blow
you nose. Every day you should place disposable facial tissues into
you pocket or purse. This should become a regular health care
habit.
Why is hand washing so important to reduce the spread of colds
and flu? More illnesses are actually transmitted by viruses on the
hands rather than airborne droplets created from a coughing or a
sneeze. When a person coughs or sneezes, the viruses are released
into the air and settle on surfaces such as desks, computers,
telephones, etc. These viruses can survive on surfaces up to
several days. If you touch these surfaces, the viruses will get
onto your hands and when you touch your eyes, nose, or mouth, they
will enter your body.
To prevent contaminating objects around you, make it a practice
not to cough or sneeze into you hands.The next topic we will
discuss is electronic waste, or whats commonly known as e-waste.
First well focus on computers, computer monitors, and television
screens. These electronic devices contain heavy metals, such as
lead, cadmium, copper, nickel, tin, and cobalt. If these electronic
items are disposed into the landfill, the heavy metals would leech
out of the electronic devices and contaminate the landfill and
eventually seep into the ground and contaminate the
groundwater.
Because of this potential environmental health impact, the
Environmental Protection Agency has classified computers, computer
monitors, and televisions as universal hazardous waste which cannot
be thrown into the regular trash.
At UCOP, all UC-owned computers, monitors, and peripherals
designated for disposal are placed in the excess salvage bin,
located in the loading dock at 1111 Franklin Street. The excess
salvage bin is picked up once a week by UC Berkeley Overstock &
Surplus, where the electronic items are first put up for sale
(reuse). If the item does not sell, they would be sent to a e-waste
recycler where they are either refurbished or dismantled to salvage
the parts.To manage e-waste in the State of California, the State
Legislature passed the Electronic Waste Collection and Recycling
Act in 2003. One of the major components of the bill is a funding
mechanism for collection and recycling of certain types of e-waste.
At purchase, a surcharge is added for certain types e-waste. The
fee goes into a state fund which would in turn pay e-waste
recyclers for each eligible item they receive. The fee would then
be used by the recycler for the proper management of the e-waste
item (such as recycling the item or dismantling the item).As part
of UCOPs Environmental Stewardship Program, arrangements have been
made with UC Berkeleys Overstock and Surplus Program to sponsor a
collection day for all UCOP employees personal computers and
televisions. The event will take place on Wednesday, January 24,
2007 between 10 AM and 2 PM. An e-waste recycler will be on the
11th Street side of the 1111 Franklin Street building to accept and
collect UCOP employees personal laptops, computers, computer
monitors, keyboards, mice, and televisions. There will be no charge
for UCOP employees who bring these items in for recycling. UCOP has
reserved the yellow zone and the four metered spots on 11th Street.
This will allow UCOP employees to drive their vehicles up to a
collection location and drop off their computers, monitors, and
televisions. Each participant will be asked to complete a form
which lists their address for state recordkeeping purposes. A free
software is available at dban.sourceforge.net to clear your hard
drive of personal data. If you have any additional questions,
please contact Pat Cheney, UCOP Strategic Sourcing, at
510-987-0474.
If you have other types of electronic waste, such as printers,
fax machines, microwave ovens, telephones, etc., you can go to the
erecycle.org webpage and enter you county, and list the item you
wish to recycle. The webpage will give you the address and phone
number of several e-waste recyclers you can contact. Depending on
what the e-waste is, the recycler may charge a fee for certain
types of e-waste. The City of Oakland has a goal of 75% waste
reduction by the year 2010 and zero waste by the year 2020. UCOP is
helping Oakland achieve its goal by education its employees on
their buildings recycling program. Over half the waste created in
the city of Oakland is from businesses.What items are recyclable
and can go into the blue recycling bins? 3rd floor Only white paper
is to be put into the small blue bins at your desks. All other
recyclables go into the large blue bins in the common areas. 4th
Floor The blue recycling bins can be located at your desks, in the
kitchen, in conference rooms, and in the copy rooms.Paper items:
all paper, cardboard, envelopes, phone books, post-it notes,
magazines, and newspapers. Containers which can be recycled: all
cans and glass bottles. Only the following plastic items can be
recycled Empty plastic bottles (#1 thru #7) where the neck is
smaller then its base, (i.e.: soda, shampoo, catsup, detergent).
Plastic tubs and lids (#2, #4 and #5). Examples include yogurt,
margarine and sour cream. Why cant all plastic carrying the recycle
symbol and a number be recycled, such as plastic cups, plastic
to-go containers and Styrofoam? There area number of different
plastics, each with a different chemical composition and set of
properties. To helpdifferentiate them, manufacturers stamp a
Plastics Identification Code on their products. This code is a
number inside a triangle of chasing arrows. These codes only
identify the product and do not actually indicate that the product
can be recycled. In theory, most plastics can be recycled. However,
due to expense, it is only currently economically viable to recycle
a small amount of plastic packaging. Therefore the chasing arrow
symbol does not actually mean that the items are recyclable. This
is true for Alameda, Berkeley, San Francisco and Contra Costa
County. If you are unsure what plastic items are accepted by your
home garbage collection service, give them a call or look them up
on the internet. Most of the companies list online what items are
and are not acceptable for recycling. Why can't I recycle plastic
bags in a commingled recycling program? Plastic bags get caught in
the recycling processing equipment and can cause the recycling sort
line to break down. You can however, recycle your plastic bags at
most grocery stores, In most cases, they also accept your dry
cleaning bags and other similar plastic bags (if you can push your
thumb through it, it's probably acceptable).Paper towels are not
recyclable. Items like paper towels and napkins are made from very
low quality paper, which cannot be made into more paper.All items
which cannot be recycled or composted or are thrown in the trash
can end up in our landfills. Actual trash items which must go to
the landfill should be placed in the grey bins in the kitchens or
black bins at your desk or in the copy rooms. The landfill/trash
items are non recyclable plastic items (bags, cups, utensils, food
wrap, straw, coffee cups, plastic food wrappers) and Styrofoam
materials
