Big Efforts at Fort Hood Pay Off: Recycling Program Leads to Revenue

The US Army announced that, thanks in part to a recent $3.5 million upgrade to its recycling facility and the hard work of the Fort Hood Qualified Recycle Program team, the post is chipping away at its disposed waste amounts, as it works toward its goal of eliminating landfill waste by 2020. Since the implementation of the Net Zero Waste program, solid waste disposed of decreased from 46.8 million pounds in 2010 to 36.3 million pounds in 2017 - but that leaves quite a ways to go. Still, the Qualified Recycle Program (QRP) is among the best in the Department of Defense for the volume of material recycled and diverted, and the QRP team has developed several successful programs to reach its goals - and to increase revenue - the Army says.

Projects Lead to Earnings

Some of the projects that have led to revenue include:

• The largest recycle facility in the army: the recent $3.5 million upgrade more than doubled the center's processing capacity, reducing the time to process 8,000 pounds of recyclables from two days to four hours. By reducing material sent to the landfill, the Army saves costs, extends the life of the landfill, and leads to profits that can then be invested in program costs, capital improvements, pollution prevention projects, and more. In 2017, the Army was able to invest  $89,000 of recycle proceeds into sponsoring Family and Soldier events, collecting an average of 33 pounds of recyclables per month per household, and collecting and recycling nearly 5,000 pounds of styrofoam.
• Smart placement of mixed-material containers: the QRP team has placed 1,7001 containers throughout the installation. The containers allow for materials like cardboard, plastic, metal, paper, and glass to be commingled, making it easier for people to use them.
• Promotions and events within Fort Hood: one event, for example, encouraged units to clear serviceable and unserviceable items from their CONEX containers. The event resulted in more than a million pounds of excess equipment - including approximately half a million pounds of scrap metal that generated $22,583 in recycle revenue.

The 27.2 million pounds of recyclables collected through the team’s efforts generated $2.74 million in 2017.

Training Matters

With a post population of more than 61,000, getting the word out about the efforts and encouraging participation is an important element of the success of the QRP team’s efforts. By training soldiers, civilians and contractors as what Fort Hood calls “Environmental Compliance Officers,” the team can expand its efforts. The compliance officers then oversee training of their personnel on recycling regulations.

It’s Not Just about Recycling... 

Fort Hood and the Army as a whole engage in other efforts to reduce costs and increase the Army’s environmental responsibilities. For example, in 2016, the Army signed its biggest renewable energy deal: a power purchase agreement with Apex Clean Energy called for 65 MW of solar and wind power for Fort Hood. The 30-year deal is expected to yield a $168 million savings compared to traditional sources.

Last fall, a project to install solar panels on 368 military family homes on Edwards Air Force Base in California was begun. The collaboration between the 412th Civil Engineer Group and Corvias, a development, construction and property management firm that manages the homes at the base, is part of a larger effort to meet Department of Defense goals around grid resiliency, according to the 412th Test Wing Public Affairs office.

Vendors Mentioned Above

Apex Clean Energy

Corvias