“Single Stream” recycling is disposing of all recyclables by comingling them at the source into one combined collection. The University pays for all waste, including recycled materials, to be transported off campus. Whether transported to a landfill, incinerator, or material recovery facility (MRF), there is cost for labor, fuel, and vehicles to perform the transport. The advantage of the sending recycled material to the MRF is that the cost of disposal is avoided.
“Dual Stream” recycling is simply separating clean paper from beverage containers such as plastic, glass and cans. Paper is a commodity that is traded; therefore it benefits the University financially to separate and sell it to generate revenue to offset transportation cost and help enhance the UMBC recycling program. If paper were to be combined with the other recyclables (i.e., single stream), the ability to generate this revenue would be lost. Therefore, UMBC has chosen to implement the “Dual Stream” as the most cost effective and environmentally responsible approach.
New standard interior recycling stations will become available to reflect this change in the UMBC recycling program. In the meantime, new nationally-standardized labels will be used on existing recycling cans and waste containers to improve consistency in the campus recycling message. New color coded labels will read “Paper”; Glass, Plastic and Cans”; “Landfill”; and “Compost”. The nationally color coded/standardized labels are courtesy of Recycleacrossamerica.org. For more information about labels and containers please e-mail recycle@umbc.edu.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=4dyLqeUhXdY