Air Force environmental conservation efforts progressing at AEDC

  • Published
  • By Raquel March
  • AEDC/PA
ARNOLD AIR FORCE BASE, TENN. --  As the nation celebrates the 45th annual Earth Day this April 22, the Air Force is re-emphasizing its standing commitment to environmental stewardship and encouraging its military and civilian workforce to promote recycling both at home and on the job, and asking them to leverage available opportunities to "Conserve Today - Secure Tomorrow."

Col. James Krajewski, AEDC Test Support Division director, relates an Air Force core value to the importance of recycling.

"One of our core Air Force values is 'Service before self,'" he said. "Recycling is one of those ways we put others before ourselves, because it allows us to ensure a healthy environment for our children and their children.

"At home, we should each separate the recyclables out of our trash and, if our county doesn't recycle for us, bring it in and put it in the Arnold recycle bins. If everyone across the AEDC did their part, we could remove over 550 pounds of trash per person per year from the landfill. That is over 1.2 million pounds of trash every year, which becomes a savings of over $110,000 in landfill costs. Bottom line, recycling is a huge win/win for everyone on Arnold."

Installations across the enterprise are taking action to meet the Department of Defense's strategic sustainability performance plan goal of diverting 55 percent of non-hazardous solid waste, and 100 percent of electronics waste, this fiscal year and beyond.

"This is the highest diversion goal in the history of Air Force diversion efforts," said Nancy Carper, subject matter expert on integrated solid waste management at the Air Force Civil Engineer Center.

Meeting these goals requires diligence and participation from everyone, from the recycling center manager looking for new ways to expand services, to office workers taking advantage of all available opportunities to recycle and not throwing out items like paper, plastic, aluminum cans and cardboard, Carper said.

Under the AEDC Services Recycling Program, recycle containers for mixed paper, cardboard, aluminum cans, and certain plastics are provided in convenient locations at most facilities on base. Collection and processing of recycled materials is handled by the "Green Team," managed by Robbie Evans and supported by team members Doug Richards and Jennifer Garner.

AEDC has a limit on the amount of garbage that goes into landfills and is penalized $210 per ton for disposal of trash collected in dumpsters above that limit. Recycling keeps the Complex within limits. On average, the team collects and recycles 280 tons of cardboard, 175 tons of paper, eight tons of plastics, and two tons of aluminum. There are two multi-purpose recycling locations at AEDC - one behind the Administrative and Engineering Building (A&E, building 100) and the other is at the Arnold Village, near the ball field and Services Marketing/HRO, building 3055, Westover Road. Glass may also be brought to the bins outside the Recycle Center, building 1426.

In an age of growing technology, the need for effective electronics recycling has garnered national attention.

While all Air Force-owned electronic equipment is required to be recycled through Defense Logistics Agency Disposition Services, the Air Force is encouraging its workforce to take proactive steps to keep home electronics out of the waste stream and is encouraging individuals to take advantage of the U.S. Postal Service's Blue Earth Federal Recycling Program. Established in 2013, the program makes it easier for individuals to recycle personally owned ink cartridges and unwanted electronic devices free of charge using the postal network.

Personnel can send eligible electronics items through the mail to a certified recycler at no cost. Upon receipt, data is wiped from the devices to ensure privacy and information protection.

The Complex excess property office recycles electronic waste including computer equipment and monitors.

AEDC also recycles hazardous waste through the Defense Logistics Agency Disposition Services, including items such as batteries to mercury-contaminated lamps.

"During calendar year 2014 AEDC shipped 79,117 pounds of hazardous waste," said James Hicks, with the ATA Safety, Health and Environmental Branch. "Of this total, 46,951 pounds went to designated facilities to recover solvents by distillation, metals by smelting, and waste fuels by blending the recoverable petroleum fractions."

New to the AEDC recycling efforts is the Compost at AEDC program which began in February. Funded by an Air Force Innovation Grant, the natural decomposition compost program helps AEDC personnel reduce the amount of compostable items delivered to the landfill from AEDC, as well as tipping fee costs.

The idea was proposed by Annie Clements, a systems analyst and developer with the ATA Information Technology and Systems Department.

The program includes 75 Earth Machine compost bins and they will be placed at up to 47 buildings at the Complex as more Green Team captains volunteer for the program.

The bins, which measure 33 inches in diameter and 33 inches in height, can hold 80 gallons of compost. The resulting nutrient-rich compost is available to employees participating in the program for gardening and landscaping.

Clements included in the grant proposal an exchange of knowledge with surrounding counties to extend the composting program. The City of Tullahoma recently announced a composting program and offers a limited supply of free composting bins to the city's residents.

Clements said, "Included in this grant are plans to contact Franklin, Coffee, Moore, Wilson, Cannon and Bedford County municipalities in order to encourage our surrounding government entities who house most of our AEDC team to encourage and introduce composting to compliment and extend the impact of the Compost at AEDC program."

This year, the Air Force is once again asking Airmen and their families to logon to the "Blue Acts of Green" Facebook page at www.facebook.com/blueactsofgreen to share recycling and other environmentally-friendly practices they commit to perform everyday as well as learn what other families are doing across the country to protect one of Earth's most precious natural resources.

For more information on the Air Force's Earth Day efforts, visit http://www.afcec.af.mil/news/earthday.