All around the West Texas A&M University campus there’s garbage. The materials such as aluminum, paper, number one, number two, and mix plastic bottles are repurposed by KB Recycling in Amarillo, TX in green bins scattered around campus. 

Materials used by students, staff and visitors can be recycled on the campus instead of going to “trash mountain”,as some Canyon locals refer, on the north-west side of Canyon.

“Scrap papers and materials, [I] make sure to get [the materials] into the recycling bin. Little scraps and things that could go in the trash, but it’s better to recycle so that they can be used again,” said Sarah Olson, theatre education major.  

These services provided by KB Recycling and the university were attempted in the past, however, as students graduated the efforts were abandoned and left unfinished. 

As I was getting some footage, Adam Schaer,  general manager for KB Recycling, spoke to me about the services provided to WTAMU and the community. Schaer mentioned that “[they] hand sort everything, nothing gets wasted except for glass,” Schaer said. 

The services provided are privately owned and contracted with the city of Amarillo and Canyon, The majority of their services cover WTAMU’s main campus as well as the WT Enterprise Center, but you can see the green dumpsters all over Canyon and Amarillo. 

Kayla Arnold, theater design and technology major, was letting me know that they love the services KB recycling offers. “I think that’d be really cool for anyone who has glass items, certainly other things that we don’t currently recycle,” Arnold said. 

Glass repurposing back to sand is expensive, but both KB Recycling and some WTAMU students wish that there were more services offered on campus to help save our planet. 

Regardless of the amount of services, KB Recycling helps keep our campus clean and presentable. The people that pick up trash and recycled materials help keep this campus running. 

Even though Schaer says “Sometimes it gets gross,” he loves his job as a caretaker of campus. 

The work that our service workers do is essential to keeping this campus running. If these people were not here, we would be seeing the waste we use all around us. On a more personal note, I am grateful for the work that our service workers do for us.

Adam Schaer collects mixed plastics for transport to Amarillo facility. Photo by Marcus Rogers.

The work that our service workers do is essential to keeping this campus running. If these people were not here, we would be seeing the waste we use all around us. On a more personal note, I am grateful for the work that our service workers do for us.