Upon disposing of an old event flyer or an empty plastic bottle, the El Camino College community can now choose to pre-sort its waste from its recyclables.
Black and blue outdoor trash units with separate receptacles for waste and recyclable materials popped up around ECC in mid-October.
Dwight Bradley, assistant director of facilities and operations, said utilizing the 10-12 trash cans was done on his own initiative, and that staff took them out of storage from behind the Bookstore Building.
“We had some additional space for, need for, trash cans in some areas and stuff so we are using them on campus,” he said.
He said they were placed around campus in high traffic areas, including near Marsee Auditorium, the old Art Building, Lot C and the Humanities Building.
Loïc Audusseau, vice president of Administrative Services, said the “new” bins were pre-existing.
“We thought it was aligned with some of the questions we were getting from [the Associated Students Organization] with regard to what the college was doing from a green standpoint,” Audusseau said.
Bradley said he does not know when the separated trash cans were originally acquired by the college.
Zaynah Robb, Associated Students Organization president, said ASO had been advocating for campus recycling for years, and that she brought it to Superintendent and President Brenda Thames’ attention during their first meeting in September.
“They’ve always told us that there was already a system for recycling, so I just thought it was surprising but very exciting that we decided to get these new trash cans in, so we can actually physically see that there’s separation between the trash,” Robb said.
The sorted trash units contrast with the existing beige, concrete bins, which do not have a separation between waste and recyclables.
Bradley said Republic Services sorts the bins’ contents for recyclables off-campus at its processing facility.
Republic Services was unable to provide a statement to The Union before publication.
“Every time we can be a little more greener, we take that opportunity especially when it’s aligned with the ASO student expectations,” Audusseau said.
