Congratulations to Michigan State University!
East Lansing, MI – Being green has a double meaning for students and staff at Michigan State University. The Spartans’ pride of their green school colors can now add environmentally green to their identity thanks to the construction of a new surplus store and recycling center.
Having been in the planning phases since 2007, construction on the 73,000 square foot building began in the spring of 2008 with its grand opening prior to the 2009/2010 academic year.
This innovative center for end-of-life materials management combines many functions within the University that handle “stuff” that is ready to be either reused, remanufactured or recycled. The Surplus Store and Recycling Center is home to the recycling and surplus management offices, a surplus store open to the public, a comprehensive education center, both short and long term storage services, and a materials recovery facility (MRF) designed with the flexibility to either sort and bale material on site or compact and transfer to other locations.
The facility is a centerpiece of the University’s sustainability initiative both in function as well as design – featuring an energy recovery ventilator system, recycled glass in concrete surfaces, photovoltaic panels, daylighting, ceiling fans, porous asphalt, water efficient fixtures, a rain garden, and enviroglas countertops. Application for Silver LEED certification is pending.
A part of this facility is a new 24/7 public drop off station to serve students, faculty and the wider University community. The University has received much praise and publicity for its innovative environmental stewardship initiatives including an article in the February, 2010 Recycling Today.
Resource Recycling Systems (RRS) has provided technical assistance to MSU throughout much of its twenty year history, and began working more intensively with the University and its design contractor during the planning and design stages of the facility. RRS played critical roles in matching the joint interests of different operations in the University that could benefit from the project, documenting current and potential material flows within the entire campus, preparing capital and operating projections including surplus sales forecasts in order to document the business case for the University’s investment. RRS served as the MRF equipment “owner’s engineer” for the University during construction and trained University personnel in MRF operations.
RRS Principal and CEO, Jim Frey, who worked closely with MSU says “We are proud of Michigan State University’s accomplishment in creating this surplus and recycling centerpiece for campus sustainability. We congratulate them on their success and for the example they have set for other Universities and communities”.