Recycling aids community, environment

FORT HOOD, TX, UNITED STATES

08.10.2017

Courtesy Story

Fort Cavazos Public Affairs Office

Environmental services offered at the Recycle Center and Classification Unit are helping the community to make a difference to recycle and repurpose more and waste less. Fort Hood Recycle plays a key role by diverting tons of recyclables and converting them into dollars that benefit Soldiers and their Families. The revenue generated from recycling helps to sponsor an average of $100,000 annually in community events that include fireworks for the 4th of July Independence Day celebration, Music on the Lawn series, UFC fights, Oktoberfest and Month of the Military Child.

Late last year, Fort Hood Recycle streamlined its operations with a single-stream service that makes recycling simple and easy by comingled materials. But single stream does not mean everything. It means acceptable recyclable items like cardboard, paper, plastic, metal cans and glass bottles go into the blue bins for collection. Plastic bags, along with other miscellaneous recyclables like holiday lights, clothes and shoes, bicycles, toner cartridges, scrap metal, pallets, CDs, DVDs and small household appliances cannot be comingled with single-stream materials, but can be recycled at the Recycle Center off Santa Fe Avenue and 72nd Street. With recycle dumpsters in more than 600 locations across the installation, it is easy find one for your recyclable items.

The classification unit, Bldg. 1348 on Ivy Division Road and 37th Street, offers a one-stop shop to recycle personally owned electronics like laptops, computers, printers, monitors and televisions and also recycle household waste such as paints, detergents and cleaners, pesticides and herbicides, non-vehicle batteries, aerosol cans, oil and filters. The collection center’s easy and free service reduces household hazardous waste into the environment and unused leftovers are placed into a storage facility for Department of Defense ID cardholders to pick up for reuse.

Dining facilities are also doing their part to support the installation’s net zero waste goal by composting food waste. The facilities are able to compost many items to include fruits, vegetables, coffee grounds, bones, bread, egg shells, meat and fish. At its end state, when the compost process is complete, the waste becomes beneficial again and can be used as natural fertilizer. Composting provides an opportunity to divert at least 25 percent of the waste going into the Fort Hood landfill. The Directorate of Public Works Environmental Division plans to transition to an on-post compost facility that will accept food waste in the upcoming fiscal year with the long-term goal of expanding the program to housing residents.
Soldiers, Families, civilians and contractors are going green and it’s paying off in more ways than one.

Continue to help support Fort Hood’s goal to recycle and reach net zero waste 2020. Look at what you buy and find a way to recycle or repurpose these items.

• Date Taken: 08.10.2017
• Date Posted: 12.29.2017 13:34
• Story ID: 260769
• Location: FORT HOOD, TX, US