The WE Recycle stadium recycling program hopes to double its recycling collection this football season, according to a press release.

Analis Fulghum, education and outreach coordinator for waste reduction and recycling, said the reason the office wanted to do increase recycling is because they looked at other universities and they doubled the amount they recycled in the first year.  In the first three years of collecting the recycling, the totals doubled each year as additional bins were added.

“Right now we recycle about 22 tons a season which equals 44,000 pounds,” Fulghum said. “So we’d like to double it as well.”

This is the University’s first year having the bagging program. WE Recycle has volunteers from the Wolfpack Club and Wolfpack In The House (WITH) on foot or in club carts at tailgating, distributing both trash and recycle bags to tailgaters. Tailgaters are supposed to leave their bagged recyclables and trash on the ground next to their site and the bags will be collected at the end of the game, according to Fulghum. 

The bagging program worked out well in the first football game of the season, according to Fulghum. 

“At the alumni lot, we were able to hand out bags through all the tailgaters and at the student lot we introduced the bags as well,” Fulghum said. “We had a lot of students that were very happy.”

WE Recycle started the N.C. State’s Stadium Tailgate Recycling Program in 2003 when Paul Mobley, then a freshman, saw a need for recycling collection at football tailgating.

“He was a Caldwell fellow who first started it,” Fulghum said. “He went around in his own vehicle, collecting cans in the students lot.”

Scott Warner, a graduate student in parks, recreation and tourism management, as well as an athletics media relations and marketing employee, said the Western Carolina game was the first volunteering opportunity the WITH program did with WE Recycle.

“Volunteers passed out recycling bags and trash bags,” Warner said. “We had about 40 volunteers walking around the tailgating area, distributing recycling bag and trash bags.”

Warner said the game was a successful event.

“As far as recycling goes everyone really respected the bags and wanted the bags,” Warner said. “They seemed to be really popular because they all ran out about relatively quickly once they hit the tailgate lot.”

WITH also had people distributing recycling bags both in the fan zone and in the fairground lot at the WITH booth, according to Warner.

“We always had a partnership with WE Recycle, where we encouraged people to find the recycling bins located near their tailgating area,” Warner said. “But this year we were actually proactive in passing out trash bags and recycling bags for that to happen.”

Warner said it’s definitely a growing program and WITH hopes to build on it in the future.

“Ever since former Coach Amato was at the University, he put a lot of emphasis on recycling, and just about each year we come close to breaking the record of the previous year for how much we are recycling,” Warner said.

Fulghum said they are now trying to encourage students and alumni to not leave their cans and bottles on the ground.

“We’re saying you have to bag it or bin it and that’s the only way we can get it to recycle.”