'Rock' engineers turn trash into cash Published June 11, 2010 By Staff Sgt. Robert Sizelove 386th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs SOUTHWEST ASIA -- The 386th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron's Environmental Flight is helping to turn trash into cash through the base's recycling program. Although the money is a great incentive, recycling is also good for the environment as it diverts tons of waste that would have otherwise ended up in a landfill. Mr. Kwaku Siriboe, the base contracted environmental program manager, is diligently working to make recycling on 'The Rock' easier for everyone and thus more profitable. "This was the first Air Force base in the [U.S. Air Forces Central Command area of responsibility] that was recycling and now others are copying what we are doing over here," said the Austin, Texas native. "I implemented the recycling program as it is now. Before that, everything was going into the trash and the Air Force was paying for collection and disposal. Now we're getting reimbursed and are saving the Air Force a lot of money." Mr. Siriboe, who has worked for the Air Force for 13 years, is in the process of making recycling more convenient by transitioning away from large central collection points and placing recycling bins at each facility. "Hopefully by the end of this month, we'll get away from using the 20-foot dumpsters," he said. "We intend to use one-cubic meter bins around the whole base, placing at least two at every building." After two and a half years as the environmental program manager here, Mr. Siriboe sees first-hand how the recycling program benefits the base as the money it generates greatly improves the quality of life here through free wireless internet and various base programs and events such as the semi-annual "Rock Fest". "Recycling is the right thing to do and everyone should know that we get paid for everything we recycle," Mr. Siriboe said. "All the good stuff servicemembers enjoy here on base comes from recycling money." People should pay close attention to what they are throwing away, ensuring they sort their recyclables. "Any time a plastic bottle is thrown in the trash, money is going down the drain," said Mr. Siriboe. A little-known fact about the recycling program is that everything thrown into a recycling bin is inspected and sorted by hand before it leaves the base. Therefore, it is very important that personnel throw their recyclables (plastic bottles, aluminum cans and cardboard) into their respective bins and only those items; as throwing trash in the bins creates more work, and more work means less money for the base. Airmen assigned to the 386th ECES Force Protection Flight ensure that nothing prohibited such as uniform items and other sensitive materials are in the recycle bins. These Airmen also make sure the third country nationals who handle the recyclables get their job done safely and efficiently. "We keep track of all the TCNs," said Senior Airman James Michael, a Texarkana, Ark. native deployed from Shaw Air Force Base, S.C. "The recycling program produces funds for the [free wireless] internet to help people keep in touch with loved ones back home and provides funds for other things going on around base." For those who have a recycling bin in their work center, Mr. Siriboe asks that they do their part to help the environment and make sure it only has items in it that are supposed to be in there. "Since its inception, the recycling program has diverted over 250,000 tons of waste from local landfills and earned the base more than $200,000," he said. In addition to plastic bottles, aluminum cans and cardboard, the 386th ECES Environmental Flight also collects and recycles batteries, scrap metal, waste oil, antifreeze, toner cartridges, wooden pallets and fluorescent light bulbs. For more information, contact the environmental flight at DSN 442-7408.