Dover officials say recycling can save base money

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman James Bolinger
  • 436th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. --  There is a saying that, "one man's trash is another man's treasure."

This statement not only works for donations but also for recycling.

It is a Dover Air Force Base policy to recycle anything that can be recycled, and it is an Air Force policy for bases to recycle what is economically feasible.

It's the job of Valerie Payton, 436th Civil Engineer Squadron, environmental management system coordinator, to figure out what stops people on base from recycling.

"It is simple," she said, "In the state of Delaware, it is not mandatory to recycle, so when members come on base they don't think about recycling."

Recycling is a money saver
The cost of recycling for Dover AFB is one of the lowest cost contracts in Air Mobility Command, said Ms. Payton.

"We have what is called a firm-fixed-price contract, which means that the contractor who collects our recycling is paid the same amount every week, regardless of changes in volume," she said. "So whether or not the contractor hauls off 10 tons or 100 tons, they get paid the same."

This is not the same type of contract the base has for its trash disposal, however, said Ms. Payton.

"The base pays the contractor who picks up our refuse by the ton," she said.
The Air Force recently instated a policy that Air Force base recycling programs must be able to pay for themselves.

It is another program being affected by the budget cuts facing the Air Force, said Ms. Payton.

"Currently, our recycling program does not pay for itself, very few bases in the Air Force have programs that do," she said. "Therefore, we must find other ways to save money and one option is to increase what we recycle.

"We did some dumpster diving earlier this year to see if facilities on base were throwing away what they could be recycling," said Ms. Payton. "We found paper, plastics and all kinds of other things that should have been recycled. By recycling more and making use of our firm-fixed-price contract, we could save money."

The idea is easy to understand. If the base produces less trash because it is recycling more, then the amount paid to the contractor who disposes of the base's trash is reduced because they are paid by the ton.

Shred it and recycle it
Recycling goes hand in hand with another important Air Force Program: Operations Security.

"I work with OPSEC people to promote recycling," said Ms. Payton. "Whenever members shred documents, and they should shred everything printed off of a computer, members should put that paper directly into recycling."