FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. -- Fort Campbell Schools' employee Thomas Frasier delivered a truckload of used pre-school and teachers' chairs to the installation's Defense Logistics Agency Disposition Services -- Campbell office Monday afternoon.
The load of furniture from Lincoln Elementary School is being replaced with new, Frasier said as he lifted a chair and placed it next to the storage building wall. He anticipated several more deliveries from the schools to the site.
"Due to the fact that we can no longer use them, we want to see who else can use them within the Fort Campbell arena or within the school system," he said. "We conferred with our CDCs to see if they could use any of it. We distributed what they wanted and the remainder, we brought it down here."
Schools, military units, offices and directorates on the installation may take furniture to DLA at 5212 Eighth St. and Oregon Avenue to be recycled or reused by someone else.
"It's available to anybody that works on Fort Campbell to come and get it and use," said Deb White, DLA site supervisor. "If it doesn't move after a while, we'll scrap it and throw it in the dumpster. I hate throwing that stuff away because there's so much of it and it's really filling up the landfill."
Defense Logistics Agency -- Campbell
DLA Disposition Services -- Campbell is one of three locations on post that collect recyclable items. They accept lead-acid batteries from the military, concertina wire, military property, usable wood and plastic pallets and military tires from military units, offices and departments on post only.
"We take anything and everything turned in on Fort Campbell from printers to helicopter parts to MRAPs," White said. "If they want to get rid of it the right way, they have to come here."
Although her office is open for turn-ins four days a week, White said some units shy away from "doing the right thing" because they have to fill out a DD 1348-1A form.
When military units turn in property the first step is to go through their Supply Support Activity.
"If they don't know how to turn it in, call us -- we'll help them," she said, noting that the phone number is (270) 798-3295. "We'll help them fill out the 1348 [form]. Don't let the 1348 scare you."
DLA -- Campbell is a cross-dock site, meaning that most of the usable property turned in will be loaded onto a truck and shipped to Columbus, Ohio, for processing.
The only usable items that DLA -- Campbell keeps here for reutilization are vehicles and bulk items. They are posted on DLA's Reutilization Transfer Donation website www.dispositionservices.dla.mil making it available to anyone in the military or other agencies.
DLA -- Campbell partners with several non-profits or "greening partners" to recycle and reuse items like wooden ammunition boxes, canvas, books, shrink wrap, wood, tires and wood furniture.
"A greening partner is someone that is a nonprofit organization that will come here and get the furniture [or other items] and use it," she said.
Proceeds from items sold through DLA -- Campbell flows into Fort Campbell's Qualified Recycle Program. QRP funds are used to fund on-post projects and programs for Soldiers, Families and the community, also safety and pollution prevention projects.
The most profitable recyclable at DLA -- Campbell is scrap metals, including brass from ammunition casings from the ranges, scrap aluminum and copper.
In the months of February, March and April this year, more than 345,480 pounds of scrap metal was recycled on post. That resulted in more than $393,800 for the QRP.
"A lot depends on how much training they are doing on Fort Campbell," White said. "The brass is worth the most per pound."
Pollution Prevention Operation Center
Non-lead acid batteries and other hazardous materials from military units, offices, schools and directorates should be taken to Fort Campbell's Pollution Prevention Operations Center. The PPOC is located at 5132 Second St. and Wickham Avenue. Open from 7 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, the PPOC accepts antifreeze, from the military, fuel (kerosene, etc.), military hazardous material, parts washer solvent and spill response materials.
Soldiers, civilians or contractors who want to learn more about the proper disposal of hazardous waste, may consider taking the Environmental Quality Officers' Course.
Sharon Sanford, a senior environmental specialist with the Directorate of Public Works Environmental Solid Waste Recycle Program, said classes are offered the second week of each month. Interested individuals may call (270) 798-9771.
"We will come out to the units and give them a special class," said Sanford. "We're available for anybody to help educate them."
Convenience Center
"If we ever deplete our natural resources in the United States, we're in trouble," said Bernie Kumiyama, recycle specialist at the post's Recycling Convenience Center. "… when people do the wrong thing it adds to the workload. It will impact the environment. It's so important [to recycle.]"
Fort Campbell requires military units, offices and departments to recycle newspapers and white paper, as well as cardboard, according to an installation recycle policy established in 2003. In FY 2013, more than 1,890 tons of cardboard and 423 tons of paper have been recycled on post.
Blue bins and specially marked dumpsters are located across Fort Campbell to collect paper and cardboard. The Recycling Convenience Center, located at 6802 Airborne St. and A Shau Valley Road, also accepts these items.
Kumiyama said the Convenience Center has about 600-800 customers each month. He and co-worker, Chris Foster, promote recycling and its benefits to the installation community.
"Fort Campbell will reap the benefits of [recycling]," Kumiyama said.
Money generated from the sale of recyclables is deposited into Fort Campbell's QRP funds.
"With the new contract, which went into effect Oct. 1, [the installation is] now getting 100 percent [of the] proceeds back … on the amount of sold products," Sanford said.
By not recycling, "it's costing the installation money."
The installation as a whole diverts about 40 percent of its waste from the landfill, Sanford said. By FY 2015, the goal of the Department of the Army is for installations to reach a 50-percent diversion rate.
"We encourage everybody to get on board and recycle what is recyclable and keep it out of the landfill," Sanford said. "We need those diversion rates to come up."
The Convenience Center accepts more than 20 different recyclable materials from all civilians, contractors and installation personnel. Glass, plastic and even Christmas trees, are among these items.
Although recyclables are accepted from off post, trash is not, Sanford said.
"It is against the law in both Tennessee and Kentucky to bring off-post trash onto the installation for disposal in refuse containers, or any illegal dumping in the rear areas," she said.
Any individual caught disposing of household garbage brought onto the installation can receive up to $5,000 fine, along with one year imprisonment, she said.
Additionally, military personnel and units are prohibited from disposing of demilitarization items, hazardous waste and recyclable items into refuse containers, Sanford said. Improper disposal may result in fines and penalties being assessed to the installation.
In addition to fines and penalties, improper disposal of recyclable materials may result in an entire bin being discarded as trash, Sanford said.
"If it's mixed paper, it goes in the mixed paper bin. If it's cardboard, it goes in the cardboard bin. If it's solid waste as refuge, it goes in the refuge," she said. "Recyclables shouldn't go in the refuge."
Sanford noted that, when recycling, individuals should make sure the lids are closed securely to prevent small animals and water from getting into the bins.
"When you don't close a lid on a refuge or cardboard container, water gets inside and that adds to the weight," she said. "That extra weight that we're paying for adds up. That's $26 a ton [in tipping fees]."
Sanford said she and her office will continue to educate the public about the importance of being an active participant in preserving the environment.
"'Reduce. Reuse. Recycle.' It's all about the three Rs," Sanford said. "You are recreating by reusing it. Cardboard is being shredded. It runs through a process where it's compounded into cardboard again. The same thing with paper … It saves a tree. You are reusing it. The main thing is reuse when you recycle. You are saving it by keeping it out of the landfill."
Editor's note: This is the second article in a series on recycling at Fort Campbell.
RECYCLING Locations
Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) Disposition Services
5212 Eighth St. and Oregon Avenue
• Serves only installation military units, offices and directorates
• Hours for turn in: Monday through Thursday, 7 a.m. until 2 p.m. Closed from noon until 12:30 p.m. for lunch; Fridays, closed.
• (270) 798-3295; www.dispositionservices.dla.mil/
• Accepts: lead-acid batteries from the military, concertina wire, military property, usable wood and plastic pallets, military tires
Pollution Prevention Operation Center
5132 Second St. and Wickham Avenue
• Serves only installation military units, offices and directorates
• Hours: 7 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.
• Accepts: antifreeze, non-lead acid batteries from the military, fuel (kerosene, etc.), military hazardous material, parts washer solvent, spill response materials
Convenience Center
6802 Airborne St. and A Shau Valley Road
• Serves Fort Campbell community (on and off post)
• Hours: Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m.; Saturday, 8 a.m. until 4 p.m.; Sunday, noon until 4 p.m. DONSA and holiday hours: 8 a.m. until 4 p.m. Closed New Year's Day, July 4, Thanksgiving and Christmas.
• (270) 798-5695; www.campbell.army.mil/campbell/directorates/DPW/envdiv/Pages/RecyclingandSolidWaste.aspx
• Accepts: Aluminum/tin cans, antifreeze, non-military appliances, POV batteries, cardboard, cooking oil, e-waste (TVs, computers, cell phones, etc.), fuel such as kerosene, field trash, glass, household hazardous waste (cleaners, paint thinners, etc.), unused MRE heaters, broken pallets, useable wood and plastic pallets, paper, plastic #1 and #2, POV fluids, printer cartridges, non-military steel, POV tires without rims, military tires, wood, yard waste and leaves
Related Links:
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