In Antartica, by law, extreme recycling prevails

[nam78_two]

http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/39520/story.htm

In Antarctica, by Law, Extreme Recycling Prevails
ANTARTICA: December 18, 2006


MCMURDO STATION, Antarctica - There are no garbage dumps here, no piles of rotting trash or oozing waste, no incinerators belching smoke. That's because all refuse generated by the US Antarctic Program is shipped to the United States in an act of extreme recycling.


"Everything that comes down here has to leave," said Mark Furnish, head of US waste management in Antarctica. He is based at McMurdo Station, the biggest science center, with some 3,000 people resident in the peak spring and summer seasons.
The logistics are mind-boggling, since ships can't even get to McMurdo for much of the year. The base must also handle trash from the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station where garbage from winter residents was still being flown to McMurdo this month, just days before austral midsummer.

The one shipload of refuse that departs McMurdo annually carries about 4.86 million pounds (2.2 million kg) of waste, Furnish said. That includes 740,000 pounds (336,000 kg) of hazardous waste, 3.64 million pounds (1.65 million kg) of solid waste and 480,000 pounds (218,000 kg) of material that can be resold, he said.

[kestrel91316]

1. They even ship out the human waste. No poop left behind.

[eppur_se_muova]

2. Wow, that's quite a change from years ago. Good for them. nt

[lumberjack_jeff]

3. How is that "recycling"?

Taking it away is fine. A guy comes to my house once a week to do exactly that, but it ain't recycling.