USDA Headquarters Recycle Center
The recycle center in the USDA Headquarters Complex is located in Court 4. The USDA Headquarters Recycle Crew collects and sorts hundreds of tons of material each year. Enough resources are recovered to require a truck pick up every workday. Our goal is to collect and recycle 40% of the waste in the facility.
A lot of cardboard comes into the USDA Headquarters Complex. Cardboard is collected and baled in a large hydraulic baler. The Headquarters Recycle Crew typical processes a 600 pound bale every workday.
Paper sorting area: Paper is sorted into white office paper, mixed paper (magazines, books, catalogues, etc.) and newspapers.
The USDA Headquarters Complex uses a lot of paper. Everyday paper (white office paper, magazines, newspapers, books, blueprints, etc.) are collected from offices and the printing plant. The paper is sort by type (white, mixed, newspaper.) During a typical month, the Recycle Crew collects and sorts over 30 tons of paper. Recycling one ton of paper saves 17 trees, 380 gallons of oil, 3 cubic yards of landfill space, 4,000 kilowatt-hours of energy, and 7,000 gallons of water.
Thousands of pounds of soda cans, water & soda bottles, and steel food
cans are collected and recycled every month. Recycling one aluminum can saves
enough energy to run a TV for three hours. Recycling a ton of Aluminum
saves 37 barrels of oil.
Toner cartridge collection barrels are distributed all over the complex. Over a thousand pounds of cartridges are collected and recycled every month.
The USDA Headquarters Food Operations supports the Headquarters recycle efforts. Food trimmings from the kitchen preparation areas are collected in totes everyday. The compostable food trays collected in the cafeterias are mixed in with the trimmings which are collected twice a week. The recovered organic materials are sent to the ARS Compost Research Facility in Beltsville Maryland were it is composted in closed vessels. Over a thousand pounds of food trimmings and trays are collected each week.
In addition to food trimmings, the used vegetable cooking oil from our food operations is collected and converted into biodiesel by a fuel contractor.
Scrap metal from the facility is collected and sorted out for recycling.
USDA Headquarters requires tens of thousands of fluorescent lamps to keep
it lit. Each year thousands of the lamps will burn out. Thousands
of pounds of burnt out lamps are collected each year and sent to a recycler
who not only recovers recyclable materials, but also ensures that none of
the hazardous materials such as mercury goes into the landfills.
USDA Headquarters requires tens of thousands of fluorescent lamps to keep it lit. Each year thousands of the lamps will burn out. Thousands of pounds of burnt out lamps are collected each year and sent to a recycler who not only recovers recyclable materials, but also ensures that none of the hazardous materials such as mercury goes into the landfills.
.gif){kind=spacer}
|