Q:  I have a question about candy wrappers, potato chip packages, and other such materials.  Do they go into the “plastic bottles and film,” “miscellaneous plastics,” or trash containers?  The webpage says there is a container for food wrappers in the 126 Breakroom, however there is presently only a compost container in this location.

Thanks for any info you can pass on.

A:  Typically, if there is not a specific container for them, they should go in the trash.  Penn State cannot recycle cellophane or the quasi-foil wrappers that many candy bars and chips come in.  In addition, TerraCycle no longer has a candy wrapper brigade.  However, there are still brigades for snack bags and energy/granola bar wrappers.

If you are at University Park, these items can be collected and sent to the HUB Green Team.  See the TerraCycle web page on the Sustainability Institute’s web pages for more information and where to send these hard to recycle items.  If you are at a campus, and are aware of Terracycle brigades collecting these items, let us know.  We’ll get our web page updated soon.

Correction:  The HUB Green Team is not currently accepting snack bags.  They are on the waiting list for TerraCycle’s new snack bag brigade and will resume collecting these items if/when they get on the new brigade.  They are still accepting energy bar wrappers.

Q:  There are some noxious weeds ending up in the State College Borough’s compost bins, along with general yard waste from the big Spring Clean-ups going on.

I’m leery about purchasing compost from the Borough because of this.

So my question is:

Is the temperature compost pile reaches high enough to kill these noxious weed seeds? or will they just end up getting planted along with the compost?

— Anonymous

A:  The temperature in the compost piles reaches high enough to kill off any weed seeds which are in the pile but not high enough to kill any beneficial microbes.

Answer submitted by Ryan McCaughey, Manager, Grounds & Equipment, Office of Physical Plant; and UL GreenCommittee member

Sincerely,

the UL Green Committee