Having the components is one thing. Getting them to work together is the trick.

By Kelly Anne Schmandt

Since 1991 the United States Department of Defense (DoD) mandates its military bases to recycle and conserve its waste. Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, located 36 mi. north of San Diego, CA, has done much more than that, diverting 65% of its waste, in part a result of its strong recycling programs that give back to the community. Camp Pendleton instituted its "Camp Pendleton Recycles for a Better Tomorrow" program on Memorial Day 2001 and has since seen a dramatic increase in cooperation in its recycling efforts.

Camp Pendleton is the home to the corps' West Coast amphibious assault-training center. It rests on 125,000 ac. on the southern California coast and boasts a daytime population in excess of 100,000. Its land and population present unusual predicaments and attributes. The more than 17.5 mi. of prime coastland offers its residents one of the most beautiful beaches and the largest undeveloped coast in southern California. The large population offers a unique challenge to its two landfills. Charles Bradshaw, Camp Pendleton's recycling program manager, recognizes the highs and lows that accompany an effort such as this in a military base, pointing out, "On the upside, it is easier to direct a person, but on the downside, military recycling programs do not change the collection costs for activities or families that reside abroad the base. We try to remain self-supporting." It is this desire to be self-supporting that distinguishes Camp Pendleton from other military bases and civilian society as an innovator in recycling and waste diversion. Despite the DoD's Measurements of Merits, which requires military bases to divert 40% of its disposable waste by 2004, the Marine base has recognized the growing problem of plastics and other beverage containers in the wastestream and has taken upon itself to be a leader in waste management and diversion.

The innovation takes form through the comprehensive wastestream analysis process that identifies waste for recycling. Of the two Camp Pendleton landfills, one is dedicated solely to asphalt and concrete. The base is responsible for recycling and diverting more than 5 million lb. of cardboard and 55,000 tons of asphalt/concrete and saving up to 94,875 yd.³ of landfill. The plastic recycling effort alone has diverted 266 yd.³ of landfill area. Other recycling efforts include the diversion of fibers (old corrugated cardboard; old newsprint; and paper of various grades, including mixed), broken and used wooden pallets, ferrous and nonferrous metals, and glass and metal food containers. This, combined with programs such as Camp Pendleton Recycles for a Better Tomorrow, has helped push the Marine base to the forefront of recycling and waste diversion efforts, diverting up to 65% of its waste.

Wheelchairs for Waste

The all-terrain wheelchair's extra-wide rubber tires allow for travel on any ground.

Even before the program started, Camp Pendleton already had a successful recycling program, but the base recognized the growing stream of recyclable materials and the stress they put on the landfills.

Former Base Commanding General Lt. Gen. Edward Halon first recognized the need for the all-terrain wheelchairs when Colonels MaryAnn Krusa-Dossin and David John approached Bradshaw with a proposition, and he realized that the proposal presented the opportunity to further increase the success of the recycling program. Bradshaw continued to develop the program to use money obtained from the sale of scrap beverage containers for the purchase of all-terrain wheelchairs.

One goal behind the Camp Pendleton Recycles for a Better Tomorrow program was to bring a human side to recycling. Camp Pendleton acknowledged the limited amount of space in its landfills and wanted to create a program that would bolster acceptance and increase involvement in the program. The money made from the recycling of the plastics, PET, HDPE (clear and color), shrink-wrap, and plastic grocery bags, was used to purchase four Landeez All-Terrain wheelchairs produced by Natural Access of Santa Monica, CA. These go-anywhere wheelchairs provided just the community aspect the base was looking for. The Camp Pendleton Recycles for a Better Tomorrow program allows those who are wheelchair-bound to go anywhere and not be limited to ramps and the traditional paved sidewalks and roads normal wheelchairs can travel. Instead, the all-terrain wheelchairs are equipped with extra-wide rubber tires that allow the user to travel on any ground. Normal wheelchairs sink into the sand, but the all-terrain wheelchairs permit its users access to miles of beach along the camp's coastline. The Landeez chairs have been widely successful and have given those who have used them a chance to go to the beach.

The success of the program was due in part to the ingenuity of its creators but was also helped by advertisements. Advertisements, such as flyers and posters, posted in base fitness centers and around base activities, spread the word about the program. The local base newspaper, The Scout, also fostered support behind the program by running an article as well as weekly briefs in the community section.

Winners and Winners

For one woman, the wheelchairs gave her father a last chance to visit the beach. The woman approached Ernest Espinosa, the man in charge of community/base relations, and recalled her father's experience with the all-terrain wheelchairs. The father was not a resident of the base but was gravely ill and came to visit his daughter at the base in his final days. The posters around the base alerted the daughter to the advantage of the wheelchairs and took her father to the beach. "He apparently loved it very much and didn't want to leave, but there is a time limit on how long one can use the chairs. He later returned when there was no one waiting and went to the beach again," recalls Espinosa. Those days on the beach were some of the man's last days, but the daughter stated that those times on the beach made his last days very pleasant and memorable. The all-terrain wheelchairs provided by the recycling funds have achieved the goal of reaching out to the community in a very special way.

The program has been very successful in both aspects of the program's design. The response to the wheelchairs has been very good, as has the cooperation in the recycling efforts. Since the program started, Camp Pendleton achieved a 20% increase in plastics diversion in the first four weeks and a 30% increase by the end of the year. Over the next eight months the program was responsible for diverting 300,000 lb. of plastic, aluminum, and glass beverage containers. While currently there are no plans to create similar programs that reach out to the community with other recyclables, Camp Pendleton continues to look to capitalize on its success, and–as Bradshaw explains–"recycling and reducing disposed waste remain the focus of Camp Pendleton's recycling program."

It is this dedication to creating new and better ways of recycling that allow Camp Pendleton to emerge at the forefront of waste management. "The community of Camp Pendleton takes pride in being innovative and in being a good student in the field waste management," Bradshaw maintains. "We developed a comprehensive program that incorporates the methods of other military and civilian communities, tailoring it to fit our needs." The base has been recognized as a leader in this field by the military, receiving the Secretary of Navy Recycling Award in 1995 and 1997. Camp Pendleton continues to set an example for other military bases as well as civilian society.

A public policy major at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN, Kelly Anne Schmandt is an intern with MSW Management.

MSW - July/August 2002