But, our most significant area was convincing the dining service to not get rid of china and silverware. Dave Jensen, head of CDS, has told us that most of the people who eat at dascomb use these products and they are washed in the dining hall. Recyling has been a major problem in Dascomb. Their job is to get the recycling process as easy as possible for the people who work in those dining halls. Dascomb has been a particular challenge because of the renovations and new recycling in the public areas for cardboard pizza boxes and plastic.
Contamination is a major problem.
The corrogated cardboard is usually contaminated by food or paperboard. The plastic carry-out containers were supposed to be recyclable but the line was discontinued. Dave Jensen has been looking into other recyclable options but with little luck. One exciting development is the attempt to use corn starch based utensils that are fully compostible even in a landfill. A company called biocorp has developed such a product.