From trash to treasure

"Our recycling program is a good thing because we are not putting recyclable items into landfills. It also allows the base to get some money back from the program. The money comes back to us to improve MWR programs for Sailors. It's not a lot of money. The reason we are able to get some money back is because we run the center with Sailors," said MWR Facilities Maintenance Manager Mark Craig. "The overall income last year was approximately $54,000 and then when you take out the overhead to run the center, we probably made about $24,000. This money can be used to upgrade our facilities, buy landscaping, new sports equipment, and things of that nature."

The recycling center is run by three permanent employees and Sailors from the Transient Personnel Unit who are assigned here on a temporary basis. "Every morning we start our day by picking up recyclable items from around the base. We have two trucks and hit about 50 buildings here each week. Once that task is completed, we come back to the center, unload the trucks and sort through everything," explained Recycling Supervisor BU2(SCW) Chad Josi, who has been running the center for the past year. "We also clean out the drop-off bins that people use to leave their recyclables. Everything has to be sorted, including white paper, newspaper, aluminum cans, cardboard, glass, metal and plastics."

White paper is separated from other colored paper because it brings a higher price on the market when sorted. All cardboard is baled through a special machine that compresses it from a half a truckload size to the size of a refrigerator. Shredded paper and plastics are also baled. Glass is sorted by color and metals are separated.

OS2(SW/AW) Kenneth Spencer, who is temporarily assigned to the recycling center, collects paper into trash bags for recycling.

"I think our biggest business comes from the naval hospital and Naval Aviation Depot Jax. Each week, we have a truck trailer full of cardboard from the hospital warehouse. We also pick up a truckload each day from the depot. The Navy Exchange also has a lot of cardboard to recycle," said Josi. "We definitely stay busy here. This center could easily run 24 hours because it's a non-stop operation. Whatever down time we do have, we go out and check dumpsters for recyclables because people throw away a lot of stuff that we can use."

In the past, outside recycling centers paid for and picked up truckloads of items from the base. "So far this year, we are ahead of the profit we made last year because we've changed the way we do business. Before, we used to have outside companies pick up our recyclables, now we deliver them to the appropriate facilities out in town. This has almost doubled our profits here," said Craig.

Colored plastics are also sorted so they can be recycled.

"We've processed 300 tons of recyclables since October and made almost $26,000 so far this fiscal year," stated Josi.

"But we can always do better and make more money if we get more material. There's a lot of material on this base that is just going into the dumpsters. A lot of this is because people just are not being educated and some of it is because we don't have the ability to collect everything. We just can't go everywhere," added Craig. "Of course more material means we need more people to operate the center, but that would be a good problem to have."

Recycling is an all-hands effort. "Our customers can help us by separating their items and not throw trash in with recyclable material," said Josi. "Also, please remember that we do not take certain items such as wood and hazardous material such as oil and oil containers. These can be taken to the Auto Hobby Shop next door. We do accept lead acid batteries."

All colored glass is sorted for recycling.

The center is located on Birmingham Road adjacent to the MWR Auto Hobby Shop. Special windows are located in the front of the center for drop-off items 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Each window is specifically labeled for cardboard, plastic, glass, paper and aluminum.

This drop off point does not however accept newspapers. There is a collection area located across the street that takes newspapers. These receptables are not trashcans or equipped to handle hazardous materials. When non-recyclable items are deposited in the bins or dropped off at the recycling center, it costs the center money to dispose of them, reducing the profits that go into the MWR programs that benefit you.

The NAS Jacksonville Recycling Center is open from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday, except holidays. For recycling information, call 542-3113.

A customer participates by recycling her own household materials into the convenient windows located outside the recycling center.