UNIVERSITY PARK — With Penn State football season here, the Centre County Recycling and Refuse Authority is reminding those attending games at Beaver Stadium to take advantage of the blue recycling bags located in parking lots around the stadium.
During the Aug. 29 Centre County Board of Commissioners meeting, Joanne Shafer, deputy executive director and recycling coordinator for the CCRRA, spoke about the efforts.
“This coming weekend, we will be collecting recyclables at Beaver Stadium as we have done since 1993,” Shafer said.
She reminded those attending the season opener with West Virginia on Sept. 2 to place bottles and cans in blue bags. Trash goes into clear plastic bags. Both types of bags are available free of charge.
In general, there will be no trash or recycling changes at the stadium. Fans are simply asked to bag up trash and recyclables and leave the items in the lots.
Shafer said cans inside the stadium should be left under seats for recycling.
“One of the things that we did encounter last year rather unexpectedly was the sale of adult beverages within the bowl of the stadium,” Shafer said. “We are going to have crews coming through the following morning and making sure that the cans and the bottles are separate from the trash.”
With that in mind, Shafer asks that those attending the game empty the containers before placing them under seats.
“Let them sit under the seats and they will be retrieved the following morning and recycled,” Shafer said.
With the first game of the season being a night game (7:30 p.m.), Shafer said she expects many more recyclables at the stadium.
“That is a safe assumption, absolutely. Because the stadium opens at about the same time, people tailgate longer and they do imbibe a little bit longer. The tonnage is up probably about 25% (for) a night game over a day game,” Shafer said.
Shafer said that the CCRRA collects “10 to 15 tons” per game. The bigger the game, the higher the amounts.
“It goes up slightly every year because people are learning and there are new fans. We’re glad to have them do it,” Shafer said.
As for other items being recycled, Shafer said the CCRRA is sticking with just bottles and cans — at least for now.
Centre County Government offices are closed on Monday, Sept. 4, in observance of Labor Day. The BOC will meet again at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 5, at the Willowbank Building. The meeting is open to the public and will be streamed live by C-NET.
