Solid waste management center to open soon at Atterbury

Photo By Michael Maddox | Contractors work on laying the foundation for the Solid Waste Management Center, to be located next to the current Solid Waste Yard on Durbin Street at Camp Atterbury April 13. The new facility, which will help streamline the installation's recycling efforts, is scheduled to open mid-summer.  

CAMP ATTERBURY, IN, UNITED STATES

04.13.2011

Story by Michael Maddox 

Camp Atterbury Indiana

CAMP ATTERBURY JOINT MANEUVER CENTER, Ind. – In an effort to streamline the post’s recycling efforts and promote the military “Green” initiatives, a Solid Waste Management and Recycling Center is being added to the current refuse collection site on the east side of Durbin Street. Besides being the place where customers drop off trash (solid waste), the new facility will allow for some of that trash to be recycled.

The new center, which is planned to be completed this summer, will benefit the installation in several ways, said Walt Anderson, Environmental Manager for the Environmental Branch.

One of the first benefits will come from reducing the amount of trash currently being removed from Camp Atterbury, said Anderson.

“Last year we spent about $500,000 throwing our trash out. We don’t pay by weight; we pay by volume to have trash disposed of,” he explained. Anderson added, managing what is in that trash is key.

“We can take commodities that are otherwise thrown away and sell them. That also helps us with reducing how much we throw away,” Anderson said. “The less we throw away, the less we spend on getting this stuff disposed of, so there’s a lot of cost savings, not just revenue generated from recycling.”

Anderson said there is currently a Department of the Army requirement to divert 50 percent of non‐hazardous solid waste from disposal in landfills by 2020. The facility will reduce the installation’s waste disposal by a projected three percent, and is planned to break into double digits by next year.

He added there are many items in typical trash that can be recycled at the new Solid Waste Management Center.

“Solid waste is basically anything you want to discard -- office stuff, cans, aluminum, plastics, steel cans; we collect those types of things. There are also other durable things like pallets, appliances and furniture -- we don’t throw those away, we process and sell those. Corrugated cardboard can also be baled in the new facility,” Anderson said.

He said the funds generated by the sales of recycled materials go to a suspense account managed by the United States Property & Fiscal Office for Indiana. The proceeds are then used to support recycling programs as well as other programs like Energy Conservation, Safety and MWR.

There are plans to have the facility staffed to provide guidance to those dropping off solid waste materials.

“If there is somebody there, they have somebody to ask questions of because what usually happens is the Soldier or customer has a need and they see a dumpster – that’s the answer. The dumpsters don’t provide a whole lot of guidance ‘besides when you don’t want something, this is where it goes’,” Anderson said.

Mitchell Cox, the architect/engineer who planned the construction of the Solid Waste Management Facility for the Department of Public Works, said a lot of planning and consideration had to be taken into account while working on the facility.

“The area in front of the existing collection point and bounded by the service drives is very limited, containing less than three-quarters of an acre in which to provide an operational facility,” he said.

Cox said the acreage and location proved for special challenges as considerations were made for placement of the building where a loading dock would be attached, while still providing the best approach options for semi-trailers. He added the site will provide the best customer service possible as a result.

“We anticipate that the arrangement is user friendly for those that will take the time to utilize this much needed facility,” said Cox.

Anderson said, he sees the finished facility playing an important role in Camp Atterbury’s trash footprint when it’s complete.

“We want to make sure we put a dent in the solid waste bill, stay in compliance, and generate some income where we can,” he said. “If we have both facilities centrally located and manned, it will be kind of like one-stop shopping for our customers – solid waste, recycling and hazardous waste.”

The Solid Waste Management Center is scheduled to be complete by mid-summer. In the meantime recycling bins have been placed across Camp Atterbury to provide a way for installation employees to get a head start on recycling. Recycling containers are also available through the Environmental Branch for those who would like to start an office recycling program.

For more information about recycling or the Solid Waste Management and Recycling Center, call the Environmental Branch at [phone].

• Date Taken: 04.13.2011
• Date Posted: 04.13.2011 16:34
• Story ID: 68697
• Location: CAMP ATTERBURY, IN, US