Photo By 2nd Lt. Dillon Davis | ALTUS AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. – U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Nathan Clark, 97th Air...... read more read more
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Since President Barack Obama enacted the executive order March 19, 2015, Altus AFB has been reducing its amount of waste to meet the goal outlined in the executive order.
“Through the Executive Orders that the President of the United States has issued, we are required to divert 50 percent of our solid waste going to the landfill,” said Mike Reyes, 97th Civil Engineer Squadron solid waste program manager. “The only way to reach that diversion rate is by reducing the amount of trash generated or recycling materials. In response to the executive orders, U.S. Air Force Col. Todd Hohn, 97th Air Mobility Wing commander signed off on a solid waste management plan that changes how we dispose of materials.”
According to the 97th CES environmental flight, the base has successfully reduced its solid waste footprint by 54 percent by redirecting recyclable materials to local and regional recycling centers.
“Recycling plastic has been the biggest environmental issue we have on this base,” said Reyes. “Although the Air Force doesn’t currently have a regulatory document that ensures each installation recycles plastic, there is an executive order that tells us to divert 50 percent of our solid waste and recycling is the most efficient way for this base to achieve that.”
Environmental engineers from Fort Sill and Altus AFB came to an agreement that supports the presidential executive order while fostering partnerships between U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force military communities.
“About a year ago, Altus AFB used to be able to recycle plastic,” said Reyes. “However, a cost-benefit-analysis of the program at that time showed that the plastic recycling was costing the base money to dispose of. Before implementing the plastic recycling program again, we talked with environmental members at Fort Sill, Okla. to see if they could help us with recycling plastics. The people at Fort Sill and our environmental flight here created a memorandum of understanding that allows us to send our plastic recyclables to them to help divert our solid waste weight and volume.”
After reviewing the figures and eventually discontinuing the plastic recycling program, the new executive orders directed Altus AFB environmental personnel take another look into base recycling programs to help reduce the amount of solid waste from base members.
“With this new plastic recycling method, we don’t send plastic to the landfill which helps us with our diversion rate,” said Reyes. “In addition to meeting the solid waste diversion goals, Altus AFB is saving money by recycling plastic. We save the money by not having to pay for as many dumpsters and collection charges.”
Although Altus AFB has met its goal of diverting 50 percent of solid waste, environmental engineers are hoping base members will help continue to recycle as much as possible to provide sustainability for future generations.
| Date Taken: | 08.15.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 08.15.2016 14:23 |
| Story ID: | 207139 |
| Location: | ALTUS AIR FORCE BASE, OK, US |
| Web Views: | 51 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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