Secretary of Defense William Perry participated today in an environmental
recycling ceremony in which recycling bins were placed outside his office at
the Pentagon.
He was assisted in the ceremony by Deputy Undersecretary of
Defense for Environmental Security Sherri W. Goodman.
"The Pentagon is the largest office building in the world that recycles.
Today, the Secretary of Defense demonstrates his commitment to recycling, to
set an example for others to take the time to recycle.
DoD is a federal leader
in recycling, which has saved DoD hundreds of thousands of dollars since the
program began," said Ms. Goodman.
The recycling efforts in the Department of Defense for 1993 saved over $51,000
in decreased landfill costs.
Recycling also produces income from the sale of
recycled materials.
In 1993, DoD generated $63,000 in income which was used to
offset the costs of labor, materials, equipment and contracts to operate the
program.
In addition, 25 percent of the Pentagon's waste system is recycled,
while the surrounding local office buildings, on the average recycle just 10
percent of their waste streams.
Recycling activity in the Pentagon for 1993:
Total Tons/Year Average Tons/Month
White Ledger Paper 816.7 68.1
Corrugated Cardboard 175.8 14.7
Newspaper 90.5 7.5
Aluminum Cans 14.2 1.1
Glass Containers 4.8 1.2
Plastic Containers 1.2 0.3
The Pentagon's initiative and performance is an example of one installation's
efforts of the Department of Defense.
Today, over 90 percent of DoD
installations have recycling programs.
As a result, they have reduced their
solid waste disposal requirements by up to 40 percent.
These efforts improve
the quality of life of our armed forces by contributing the income from
recycling to morale, welfare and recreation programs.
