Fancy machine aids Lafayette College environment
Students starting the new semester at Lafayette College found an interesting addition waiting for them in the Farinon Student Center last week.
There’s a new vending machine in the main lobby, unlike any they’ve probably seen before. This one doesn’t dispense items. It collects them, aluminum cans and plastic bottles to be recycled.
“Reverse vending machines” are being rolled out on college campuses across the country as institutions of higher learning continue to be leaders in sustainability and environmental protection. The goal is to make recycling fun and even a competition. It’s just one of Lafayette’s latest green initiatives, which hopefully will change behaviors.
“Our students and our faculty and our staff make decisions every day that affect sustainability on campus,” said Samantha Smith, Lafayette’s manager of sustainability outreach and engagement.
The machine, by ATLAS RVM Systems of Long Island, is easy to use. A bottle or can is placed in the opening. That activates a motion sensor and starts a belt to pull the item in.
Cans are crushed and bottles are perforated to reduce their size. The machine can hold 700 to 1,000 cans and bottles, Smith said. The compaction reduces how often the machine must be emptied. Fewer bags of recyclables also means more recycled items can fit into a truckload. Reducing the number of truck trips reduces pollution.
So how is this different from a standard recycling bin, you may wonder?
The machine accepts only bottles and cans. It rejects other items. That eliminates the chance of trash contaminating the recycling stream. And the aluminum and plastic are sorted by the machine to streamline the recycling process.
It’s great to see different things being tried to increase recycling. I believe it’s something young adults are particularly interested in. They seem to be more aware than other generations of the need to take better care of the environment. And that makes colleges the perfect place to try technology like this.
Lafayette intends to offer incentives for students and staff to use the machine, Smith told me Tuesday when I visited the campus in Easton to check it out.
The machine can be programmed to provide receipts for discounts on campus. It also can be programmed to create challenges among clubs, athletic teams and other groups. When recycling an item, users will be prompted to answer questions about whether they belong to a group participating in the challenge. Winners will receive a prize.
The most-successful programs have been on campuses where competitions are launched, even if the prize is merely bragging rights, said Renee Bedford, marketing and sustainability director at ATLAS.
Colleges are the most-common places for ATLAS machines, she told me, but they also are in or soon will be in locations such as zoos, aquariums and airports.
The technology has existed for several decades, she said, with machines being used in states such as New York that charge a deposit with the sale of bottles and cans and then refund it to the buyer when the cans or bottles are returned for recycling.
There now is a movement to try to get the technology to catch on in other states such as Pennsylvania, starting at places with a passionate audience such as colleges.
“We’re testing and learning,” Bedford told me
Smith told me students and alumni have reacted positively to a video of the machine that the college posted on Instagram. It can be viewed at news.lafayette. edu/2022/08/23/lafayette-unveils-new-reverse-vending-machine/.
The machine was paid for by ABARTA Coca-Cola, the college’s distributor. Bon Appetit, the college’s dining services vendor, also is a partner.
It is one of several new initiatives Lafayette is rolling out this school year to expand its already robust investment in sustainability.
Lafayette has pledged to reach carbon neutrality by 2035. Since 2008, it has reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by 30%. Solar panels on the roof of the Kirby Sports Center will offset 9,625 metric tons of carbon dioxide over their life span, the equivalent of taking more than 2,000 vehicles off the road.
The campus composted nearly 15,000 pounds of food waste in 2019 at its LaFarm, which grows produce for the dining halls and for donation to the Easton community.
New additions to the college’s sustainability efforts this year include the creation of “Eco-Reps,” student advocates for recycling and sustainability. The goal is to have one in each student residence on campus. They will answer questions about recycling and plan three activities each semester.
Lafayette also has replaced disposable containers for takeout meals with reusable ones.
And the college is building on its popular “Green Move Out” program, where it sells items that students don’t want to take with them when leaving campus at the end of the year. The items — including furniture, clothing, text books, school supplies, lights, kitchen items and carpets — are collected to prevent them from being dumped in a landfill. They were offered at a public sale in Easton’s West Ward in June.
Unsold items from that event now are being sold at occasional sales on campus, which are open to only the Lafayette community. The first occurred on Aug. 26 as students moved in. The next is scheduled for Sept. 7.
Smith said her office is working on a plan to create a permanent student-run thrift shop on campus.
With classes having just resumed, data isn’t available yet on how often Lafayette’s reverse recycling machine is being used. But anecdotal evidence seems positive.
When I met with Smith on Tuesday, she had to hunt through a few standard recycling bins in the student center to come up with a plastic water bottle to show me how the machine works.
I hope that’s a sign that students, staff and visitors have been using it.