Recycling and Composting at Lehman College: Executive Order 4
Large NYC/NYS entities are in a position to recycle larger and more varied source-separated recycling streams than that are residential settings. Large NYC/NYS entities generate large quantities of goods and materials that can be either reused whole or as parts/components, or broken down for recycling. Such streams (which go beyond mixed paper and metal/glass/plastic containers) are good candidates for reuse and recycling.
The different types of materials recycled at Lehman College are described in the table below. Some of the materials are recycled through the NYC Department of Sanitation, whose recycling program continues to evolve to include new recycling streams. Lehman College also uses contractors to dispose of certain recycling streams for which no public option exists (yet).
The City University of New York prepares an annual report (compiling data from all CUNY Colleges) to New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (Executive Order No. 4) that quantifies recycling and sustainability activities of CUNY as a whole. The quantities of each recycling/composting stream at Lehman College is given in the table below:
| Waste/recycling category | Unit weight | Number of units generated in one year (4/1/17 – 3/31/18) | Total weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| NYC DOS trash (not recycled) | 9 tons per 30 cubic yard container | 1 pickup every 10 days (average) = 36.5 | 328.5 tons |
| Mixed Paper recycling | 4 x 8 yd3/pickup = 32 yd3 193 lbs/cubic yard |
1 pickup per week = 52 per year | 160.6 tons |
| Shredding events of white paper | Weighed directly by contractor | 2 shredding events | 5.37 tons |
| Mixed glass, plastic and metal container recycling | 0.885 tons per 20 cubic yard container | 12 containers/year | 10.62 tons |
| Un-compacted construction debris | 8 tons per 30 cubic yard container, 2.67 tons per 10 cubic yard container | (15 x 30 yards) plus (3 x 10 yards) |
128 tons |
| Metals recycled through a scrap metal dealer | Weighed directly by recycler | N/A | 40.743 tons (!) |
| Composted Food-prep waste: composted in the Rocket and 5 composting bins (180 gallons capacity each). | 75 lbs/day (avg), plus 1000 lbs annually from LC personnel. | 207 days during the reporting period (cafeteria kitchen procedures changed February 2018) | 8.26 tons |
| Weekly food-scrap collection and composting (NYC Compost Project) | 30 lbs/week (avg) | 52 weeks/year | 0.78 tons |
| Pumpkins from annual Pumpkin Smash (= food scraps for composting) | Pumpkins consumed during event weighed directly by NYC Compost Personnel | 231 pumpkins composted, avg 16 lbs each | 1.84 tons |
| Gardening waste: leaves: composted in either the main compost pile or used as the carbon/”browns” component of food-scrap composting. | Fall leaf cleanup: 10 weeks of picking up leaves, 3-4x per week, using the leaf truck (10.33 yds3), filled up 2-3x per day; 83.3 lbs/yd3 | 904 yd3 Note: leaves are mulched by the shredding action of the leaf collector (= higher unit weight) |
37.65 tons |
Gardening waste: lawn clippings: growing season (May – October, 22 weeks): |
May, June, July: 13 weekly mowings; |
90 yd3 Note: lawn clippings are either composted or mulched onto existing lawns |
12.6 tons (weight of freshly-generated lawn clippings; weight rapidly decreases with time) |
| Gardening waste: wood chips/tree branches (generated by tree contractor) | Wood chips 625 lbs/ yd3 | 5 yd3 | 1.56 tons |
| Used cooking oil for recycling for biodiesel | 7.45 lbs/gallon | 30 gallons/month; 16.7% taken up by food, 83.3% recycled | 1.117 tons |
| Recycled Car and truck tires | Truck tires: 80 lbs each; Car tires: 20 lbs each |
31 truck | 1.24 tons |
| Used motor oil for recycling | 6.68 lbs/gallon | 390 gallons | 1.3 tons |
| Obsolete electronics for reuse | 800 lbs/pallet | 74 pallets | 29.6 tons (!) |
Recycling Links
Lehman College Executive Order 4 Report 2017-2018 on Lehman Connect
