EAST LANSING, Mich. — Michigan State University will break ground at the site of its future Surplus Store and Recycling Center Wednesday, June 11.
MSU officials, students and guests will attend the 11 a.m. ceremony at the future site on Auxiliary Road southeast of the MSU Power Plant.
As part of the university’s commitment to environmental stewardship and support of community members’ efforts to help MSU become a greener campus, the MSU Board of Trustees approved plans for a new recycling facility on campus at its meeting in January 2008.
“We are committed to significantly reducing MSU’s environmental footprint by developing new techniques of managing this complex ecosystem of agriculture, research, office and living environments that constitute our campus community,” said Lou Anna K. Simon, president of MSU.
The new facility will accommodate three times the amount of materials of the current recycling facility. A new comprehensive recycling program, coupled with the facility, will allow the university to expand recycling collection in 549 buildings on campus.
The Office of Recycling reports that 14 percent of the white and mixed office paper, newspaper, cardboard and plastics are diverted from trash landfills in Lansing through the current recycling program. The capture rate of these five key materials is projected to double by 2010.
MSU Surplus Store will move from its current facility on Harrison Road to the new center. Current storage facilities on Harrison Road will remain at its existing location and an additional 23,000 square feet of storage space will be available once the facility is completed.
The architectural firm for the new facility is Fishbeck, Thompson, Carr and Huber Inc., which is headquartered in Grand Rapids. The project, which is expected to be completed during the summer of 2009, is estimated to cost approximately $13.3 million.
MSU faculty, staff and students researched some of the pressing environmental challenges on a global level, but also work to re-educate colleagues and peers on campus.
“The recycling facility and surplus provide us a greater opportunity to re-use and recycle the enormous amount of materials we bring to this campus,” said Kathy Lindahl, assistant vice president for finance and operations. “Part of environmental stewardship is changing the MSU community culture, and each person has to contribute in order to makes the changes we need.”
In 2006, an environmental systems team with faculty, staff and student members, researched methods to improve environmental stewardship on campus. In January 2008, team members announced 26 initiatives in six focus areas to make MSU a greener community.
“The new MSU Surplus Store and Recycling Center will open doors to new and more efficient processing procedures, which in turn, will generate a greater return on our reusable and recyclable materials,” said Ruth Daoust, manager of the Surplus and Recycling Center.
Members and friends of the MSU community are encouraged to follow the “Rs" – reduce, re-use and recycle, research and re-educate, re-design and re-think.
To learn more about MSU’s recycling initiatives and programs, visit the Web at www.bespartangreen.msu.edu.
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Michigan State University has been advancing knowledge and transforming lives through innovative teaching, research and outreach for more than 150 years. MSU is known internationally as a major public university with global reach and extraordinary impact. Its 17 degree-granting colleges attract scholars worldwide who are interested in combining education with practical problem solving.