The Iowa State Recycling Committee is starting a pilot program to collect cardboard that will eventually be turned into new cardboard, said Gloria Ericson, program assistant in charge of recycling for ISU.

“The program will soon be up and running when all the logistics are worked out,” she said.

Cardboard will be taken from the University Book Store at the Memorial Union, Central Stores at the Physical Plant, Printing Services, the Molecular Biology building, Administrative Data Processing in Pearson Hall and the Computation Center in Durham Center.

A spot program will be set up to handle individual events, such as moving furniture into the new Student Heath Center and then taking away the cartons from that.

Cardboard will be collected and taken to the Ames Area Recycling Center to be baled by machines.

No money will be collected from the cardboard during the pilot project.

Ericson said the cost of collecting and other recycling efforts will be looked at so feasibility can be assessed. If the amounts turn out to be worthy, the university might invest in a baler, he said.

Ericson said loose cardboard is worth less than baled cardboard.

Weyerhauser operates the Cedar River paper mill in the Cedar Rapids area. It is used to make used cardboard into new cardboard. The market demand in the Midwest for cardboard is increasing, he said.

Another concern for many on campus is the lack of newspaper recycling.

“The market for newsprint is soft,” said Barry Stouwie, an employee of Ames Area Recycling Center. This means there is an increasing supply of recycled newsprint, but not enough markets to sell it.

Stouwie said about half the newsprint becomes animal bedding at Garden City. Some of the newsprint is made into blown-in insulation at Mason City, and the rest goes to Weyerhauser in Des Moines. Weyerhauser sends most of this paper to Wisconsin.

Stouwie said about two years ago they received between $30 and $40 per ton for the newspaper, now they receive $10 per ton.

On April 8, a recycling conference will be held at 12:30 p.m. in the Gallery of the Memorial Union in conjunction with ISU’s Byproducts and Waste Services as part of the Central Iowa Recycling and Reuse Seminar.