NIU could be forced to recycle seven times more of its dumping waste if a bill requiring universities to recycle 40 percent of their waste is passed.

The pending bill is sponsored by Sen. Patrick Welch, D-Peru, said Student Association Recycling Adviser Dave Broustis.

“This could have a severe effect on the university,” Broustis claims, adding NIU is recycling “probably less than 5 percent” of its waste.

“We would be forced to have a recycling program,” Broustis claims. “If the university would just recycle cardboard, we could probably reach the 40 percent figure.”

“If we had a bailer, we could recycle the cardboard,” Broustis said. The recycling committee has applied for a $6,000 grant to purchase a bailer used to compress cardboard, he said.

The center recycles newspaper, glass, paper and aluminum cans, but it might not be able to recycle newsprint in the future because the price received from newsprint dropped, he said.

Many NIU students don’t realize NIU has a recycling center, Broustis said. “We are trying to get an art director to create a brochure, put out more flyers and make recycling posters,” he said.

The recycling committee also hopes to put recycle reminder stickers on all the garbage cans and put aluminum can bins across campus.

“It’s our goal to get an aluminum can bin by each pop machine,” Broustis said.

The committee will sponsor “Cans Across Campus” again this Spring. “We want to make it bigger this time and go all the way from the residence halls,” he said.

During Fiscal Year 1989, the SA recycling committee recycled 36.98 tons of glass, 38.66 tons of computer paper, 3.24 tons of aluminum cans and 291.77 tons of newspaper

“Everyone should be recycling because you are reducing the amount of things that are going in the landfill,” Broustis said. “You are saving trees and natural resources and now, especially with the whole Iraq thing, you are saving oil too.”